04 WRX Wagon Suspension To A 95 Legacy Wagon (BK) Question

[Zangado1]

I just got a full set of 04 WRX Wagon complete set of shocks/struts/springs all assembled and ready to be mounted on the car looks like three nuts at the top of the tower and two at the bottom from what i can see of them laying in the back of my car now. My question is having all of the "top hats" and hardware all included and assembled is there anything i need to know or change before i go to my mechanic and tell him to bolt these on besides an allignment afterwards?Knowing that my 95 wagon is not the same car even though the conversion is proven to be successful reading about it here on the forum im still looking for something i might have forgot about Thanks....... :smt017

[Garrison]

Your butt will sag a bit, might consider a spacer

[Zangado1]

Your butt will sag a bit, might consider a spacer
What spacers do i need? Do you mean the "top hats" and if yes what year rear spacers do i need to look for to fix the sag? Thanks....

[Garrison]

No, I think the top hats are fine; the spacers sit on top of the top hats. You need maybe 3/8" or so. Hit up reason and he'll set you up.

[Zangado1]

No, I think the top hats are fine; the spacers sit on top of the top hats. You need maybe 3/8" or so. Hit up reason and he'll set you up.
Thanks,im reading that WRX wagon swaps to Legacy wagon swaps are ok,but if you put on rear WRX sedan rear suspension on a Legacy wagon rear then you get the sag. Im going to ask reason thanks. You find more info on the search for this topic with 02 and 03 WRX suspensions not too much about 04 swaps,i didn't think there was that much of a differance until the 05 -07 suspension was changed then you start to have more issues with changing top hats and camber bolts etc..

[Wiscon_Mark]

The DIY forum is not for questions. Topic moved.

[98legwag]

No, I think the top hats are fine; the spacers sit on top of the top hats. You need maybe 3/8" or so. Hit up reason and he'll set you up.
Thanks,im reading that WRX wagon swaps to Legacy wagon swaps are ok,but if you put on rear WRX sedan rear suspension on a Legacy wagon rear then you get the sag. Im going to ask reason thanks. You find more info on the search for this topic with 02 and 03 WRX suspensions not too much about 04 swaps,i didn't think there was that much of a differance until the 05 -07 suspension was changed then you start to have more issues with changing top hats and camber bolts etc..

Even with wrx wagon suspension the back will sag slightly. The back of our cars is heavier than the back of a wrx wagon. The better handling will more than make up for it. I have KYB GR2s for an 02 wrx wagon with the oem wrx wagon springs. You will also have to swap the rear wrx top hats left to right and visa versa.

These are the spacers mentioned before:
http://www.fastwrx.com/sabusp.html

[Zangado1]

No, I think the top hats are fine; the spacers sit on top of the top hats. You need maybe 3/8" or so. Hit up reason and he'll set you up.
Thanks,im reading that WRX wagon swaps to Legacy wagon swaps are ok,but if you put on rear WRX sedan rear suspension on a Legacy wagon rear then you get the sag. Im going to ask reason thanks. You find more info on the search for this topic with 02 and 03 WRX suspensions not too much about 04 swaps,i didn't think there was that much of a differance until the 05 -07 suspension was changed then you start to have more issues with changing top hats and camber bolts etc..

Even with wrx wagon suspension the back will sag slightly. The back of our cars is heavier than the back of a wrx wagon. The better handling will more than make up for it. I have KYB GR2s for an 02 wrx wagon with the oem wrx wagon springs. You will also have to swap the rear wrx top hats left to right and visa versa.

These are the spacers mentioned before:
http://www.fastwrx.com/sabusp.html
Thanks for your reply,when you say "switch the rear top hats from right to left and visa versa" what is the purpose of that and how do i know to make sure they are correct after the switch? One more thing,if you have done this conversion successfully on your 98 Legacy wagon do you remember which thickness of spacer you used so it sits level?

[98legwag]

I think I was wrong. Its the front top hats, and they just need to be rotated since the bolt pattern is reversed for the wrx. I didn't bother getting the spacers. This is how my car sat after 45 mins of driving after the install. The front has settled down a little more.

https://sl-i.net/FORUM/

[Zangado1]

I think I was wrong. Its the front top hats, and they just need to be rotated since the bolt pattern is reversed for the wrx. I didn't bother getting the spacers. This is how my car sat after 45 mins of driving after the install. The front has settled down a little more.

https://sl-i.net/FORUM/
It looks great the way it sits,i can live with that. As Mark said on this post earlier he thinks that it is an optical illusion that there is sag in the rears of our cars because the WRX suspension is properly fitted and our wheel wells have made it look like their is sag due to the WRX suspension being fitted. And about the top hat switch,When you go to fit the WRX suspension on the Legacy is it apparent in the install that you need to switch left to right in the front or back of the car or is it something that guys have just figured out that it works better for the conversion? How much of an improvement was the conversion,night and day or just a little better? Thanks for your help....

[Wiscon_Mark]

Actually, the optical illusion I'm talking about has nothing to do with the suspension. It's the the way the fender arches are constructed. The fronts are higher than the rears. I drew a straight line across the door moulding and then measured to the top of the arches. The front clearly has more height than the rear. This has nothing to do with the suspension as I'm measuring off the body and not the ground. A > B

https://sl-i.net/FORUM/images/imported/2012/09/f2hAS-1.jpg

[Zangado1]

Actually, the optical illusion I'm talking about has nothing to do with the suspension. It's the the way the fender arches are constructed. The fronts are higher than the rears. I drew a straight line across the door moulding and then measured to the top of the arches. The front clearly has more height than the rear. This has nothing to do with the suspension as I'm measuring off the body and not the ground. A > B

https://sl-i.net/FORUM/images/imported/2012/09/f2hAS-1.jpg
Ok,so it is the body/fenders that make up for the illusion and the spacers if you decide to install them is for a visual affect not because of the suspension....

[Wiscon_Mark]

I'm not saying the WRX suspension doesn't sag a little more than the purpose built Legacy suspension, but my stock suspension on my Outback looks saggy because of the fender lines - I really think the whole "the Legacy is sooo much heavier in the rear" thing is overblown.

[98legwag]

I'm not saying the WRX suspension doesn't sag a little more than the purpose built Legacy suspension, but my stock suspension on my Outback looks saggy because of the fender lines - I really think the whole "the Legacy is sooo much heavier in the rear" thing is overblown.

I wouldn't say its a lot heavier.




I think I was wrong. Its the front top hats, and they just need to be rotated since the bolt pattern is reversed for the wrx. I didn't bother getting the spacers. This is how my car sat after 45 mins of driving after the install. The front has settled down a little more.
It looks great the way it sits,i can live with that. As Mark said on this post earlier he thinks that it is an optical illusion that there is sag in the rears of our cars because the WRX suspension is properly fitted and our wheel wells have made it look like their is sag due to the WRX suspension being fitted. And about the top hat switch,When you go to fit the WRX suspension on the Legacy is it apparent in the install that you need to switch left to right in the front or back of the car or is it something that guys have just figured out that it works better for the conversion? How much of an improvement was the conversion,night and day or just a little better? Thanks for your help....

I think its worth it. My car was on the original struts with about 140k on them. Just be prepared to spin the front top hats to make them line up right. They are made to spin anyways for steering. Also, the mounts/holders for the brake lines on wrx struts are different. Its nothing a hose clamp or cable tie won't take of. Make sure to mark the settings on the camber bolts so you can get it close to right when you put in the new struts.

[Zangado1]

I'm not saying the WRX suspension doesn't sag a little more than the purpose built Legacy suspension, but my stock suspension on my Outback looks saggy because of the fender lines - I really think the whole "the Legacy is sooo much heavier in the rear" thing is overblown.

I wouldn't say its a lot heavier.




I think I was wrong. Its the front top hats, and they just need to be rotated since the bolt pattern is reversed for the wrx. I didn't bother getting the spacers. This is how my car sat after 45 mins of driving after the install. The front has settled down a little more.
It looks great the way it sits,i can live with that. As Mark said on this post earlier he thinks that it is an optical illusion that there is sag in the rears of our cars because the WRX suspension is properly fitted and our wheel wells have made it look like their is sag due to the WRX suspension being fitted. And about the top hat switch,When you go to fit the WRX suspension on the Legacy is it apparent in the install that you need to switch left to right in the front or back of the car or is it something that guys have just figured out that it works better for the conversion? How much of an improvement was the conversion,night and day or just a little better? Thanks for your help....

I think its worth it. My car was on the original struts with about 140k on them. Just be prepared to spin the front top hats to make them line up right. They are made to spin anyways for steering. Also, the mounts/holders for the brake lines on wrx struts are different. Its nothing a hose clamp or cable tie won't take of. Make sure to mark the settings on the camber bolts so you can get it close to right when you put in the new struts.
I have a friend installing them at his garage with an alignment at the same time so i will let him know about the top hats in the front to make it work, also the brake lines being fastened. So how did it turn out after your install,did it make a huge improvement all around?

[98legwag]

It made a nice difference.

[Zangado1]

It made a nice difference.
Cool,thanks for all your help...I can't wait for the install on tuesday...

[Wiscon_Mark]

I wouldn't say its a lot heavier.

To clarify, I wasn't aiming that at you necessarily. I just hear a lot of people assume the BK/BG is a lot heavier the the GD wagon (forgot the actual chassis code) and it really isn't. It's probably about 30 - 50lbs difference in the rear at the most.

[98legwag]

I know it was aimed at me. The Impreza wagons look smaller but I think the overall max curb weight is less than 100 lbs less then the max curb weight of a bg/bk/bd.

[Wiscon_Mark]

Nope.


04 WRX wgn M 3165
95 L AWD wgn M 2915


http://forums.nasioc.com/forums/showthr ... urb+weight (http://forums.nasioc.com/forums/showthread.php?t=915025&highlight=curb+weight)

[98legwag]

I think what I read also included Outbacks and what not. It was Wikipedia. Fail on my part.

[Wiscon_Mark]

Well, it certainly does make a difference what year & trim it is. The 99 Outback limited Auto was almost 3,300lbs.

[Zangado1]

I think what I read also included Outbacks and what not. It was Wikipedia. Fail on my part.
I got my suspension installed this morning and it was a breeze of an install for the tech,no switching of top hats or any issues he just had to use the grinder to get the brake lines off of the front strut brackets,no sag in the back of the car and it looks like it dropped about an inch all around. Then came the allignment and according to him my car had it's original suspension in the car and had never had an allignment before in its life. So he needed a torch and some PB Blaster to loosen some of the nuts on the front end. The only issue he ran into were the camber bolts,in the 95 Legacy struts and the 04 WRX struts he measured them and they are identical but the issue is that he said the camber bolts were not long enough to get it into the "0" degree mark so he got them as close as possible to that mark and it wound up being a whole range out. He said not a problem for now but keep an eye out for inside tire wear because im set up for aggressive cornering until i get some after market camber bolts that are longer. Did you or anyone run into this camber bolt issue when you got the allignment done aftarwards?

[98legwag]

Nope. We marked the camber bolts before taking the old struts out. When I got it aligned the next day they didn't have to touch the camber.

[Zangado1]

Nope. We marked the camber bolts before taking the old struts out. When I got it aligned the next day they didn't have to touch the camber.
That's weird he marked my bolts too before he took them out but he still couldn't get it diled in where it is supposed to be according to the Subaru specs...Curious if this issue ever happened to anyone else doing this conversion?

[Wiscon_Mark]

I know mine (the camber bolts) were completely rusted on my OB. Probably is good to get some new ones anyways.

[Zangado1]

I know mine (the camber bolts) were completely rusted on my OB. Probably is good to get some new ones anyways.
Im looking into WHITELINE 14MM CAMBER ADJUSTABLE BOLT KIT on e-bay now for $65 for a pair. Seems like they are the brand everyone is using in our Subies on here.

[Wiscon_Mark]

You could also get the Eibach ones for a lot cheaper: http://www.rallysportdirect.com/Eibach- ... mber-Bolts (http://www.rallysportdirect.com/Eibach-5-81260K-Camber-Bolts)

[Zangado1]

You could also get the Eibach ones for a lot cheaper: http://www.rallysportdirect.com/Eibach- ... mber-Bolts (http://www.rallysportdirect.com/Eibach-5-81260K-Camber-Bolts)
Good looking out Mark.way better price,better brand and some awesome answers to good questions and testimonials on the page as well. Thankyou again for your help and guidance.