Swapping wheels between Outback and Legacy?

[Pawl]

I have a 96 Legacy L wagon. My dad grabbed a 98 Outback a while ago for parts and I was considering swapping his wheels and tires over to my Legacy for winter (He has fairly new winter tires on there that seem to be in pretty good shape). I know the speedo will be off (I can deal with that), but I'm concerned about fitment. I'm new to wheels, and I don't know how to calculate how or if they will even fit.

[Huffer]

Fitment is the same. Virtually all Subaru wheels from 94-05 will fit your car - they are all 5x100 bolt pattern with an ET (offset) of 48-55mm.
The hub bore (center hole) is 56.1mm

The biggest issue you will deal with on OEM wheels is tire sizes.

[jey]

You can do a test fit to verify but there is not a lot of clearance in the wheel wells for the 2nd gen Legacy so I'm pretty sure you will rub with the big Outback tires.

[impreza_GC8]

Outback tires are too tall to clear the rear suspension on a regular Legacy.

[Pawl]

Hmm... so I'd have to swap the rear suspension from the outback too then? Sounds like fun.

Thanks for the quick replies. Saved me some trouble.

[impreza_GC8]

Hmm... so I'd have to swap the rear suspension from the outback too then? Sounds like fun.

Thanks for the quick replies. Saved me some trouble.

Yes. If you wanted the extra ground clearance. The reason for the issue is that the regular legacy strut is actually shorter than an Outback strut. This places the spring perch lower down on the strut body which places it closer to the top of the tire.

[Pawl]

Yes. If you wanted the extra ground clearance. The reason for the issue is that the regular legacy strut is actually shorter than an Outback strut. This places the spring perch lower down on the strut body which places it closer to the top of the tire.

So can I just replace the struts on the rear and then use the tires? Is it just struts, or do I need to use the OB springs or other OB parts?

[impreza_GC8]

From what I saw when I tried to put an OB wheel/tire on a Legacy the strut clearance was the only issue. There are a lot of body spacers and such that are incorporated into the lift on an Outback but from what I saw the shocks lower spring perch was the only limiting factor for tire clearance. I'm not sure if you can put a Legacy spring on an Outback shock. I mean, I know you CAN, but you will be compressing the shock more than it was designed for which could lead to premature wear.

[Pawl]

From what I saw when I tried to put an OB wheel/tire on a Legacy the strut clearance was the only issue. There are a lot of body spacers and such that are incorporated into the lift on an Outback but from what I saw the shocks lower spring perch was the only limiting factor for tire clearance. I'm not sure if you can put a Legacy spring on an Outback shock. I mean, I know you CAN, but you will be compressing the shock more than it was designed for which could lead to premature wear.

Interesting. So to be safe, I could swap out the spring and struts together from the OB in and I should be able to run the wheels/tires. does this mess with the driveline in any bad ways? Need to worry about the driveshaft or anything?

[impreza_GC8]

Need to worry about the driveshaft or anything?
No