BK Legacy L spring stiffening (BG Outback springs?)

[slingshot]

I often put a lot of weight in the back out of my 1998 BK Legacy L and drive cross-country on Interstate freeways. This weight results in draggy-tail, and an acute angle on the rear axle inner CV boots--which tend to wear out. I have also installed a used Outback trailer hitch for occasional use, so it sometimes bottoms out on driveway entrances while loaded.

I am wondering if there is an easy way to stiffen the rear springs. The rubber spring doughnut spacers available at auto stores have a smaller diameter than the Legacy rear coils, so they rapidly work themselves inside the coils where they no longer stiffen the springs. The Legacy suspension does not appear to have any place to put overload springs. I have not found any source or cross-reference table for bottom or top spring spacers, or installation instructions.

In a "Chassis and Suspension" thread on "Outback Lowering", one person said that they put "Legacy struts on all 4 corners keeping the Outback springs", which "brought the [98 Outback] down around 2 inches and with the firm spring rate of the Outback springs, the car handles awesome.".

As most of the Legacy and Outback suspensions are the same--as the Outback I (BG) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Subaru_Outback was originally a Legacy II (BD/BG/BK) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Subaru_Le ... eration%29 (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Subaru_Legacy_%28second_generation%29) trim level, I would not think that putting rear Outback springs on a BK Legacy L would cause a ratings or fitting issue. I note that the "Basic Suspension Overview" post discusses potential handling issues, but I would think that those would be less significant than the effect of carrying load.

In short, I wonder if rear 96-99 BG Outback springs would improve the load handling of a 98 BK Legacy L. I do not want to change the height of my Legacy L, just to maintain the original height under increased load, e.g. in all-weather cross-country freeway travel. Any comments on part identification (e.g. number of spring spirals) would be useful.

[Huffer]

Most of the height gain from an Outback is in the strut/shock. The body is longer and the spring sits "higher" on the strut in relation to the ground. The overall size of the spring is the same as the Legacy one. You can install rear Outback springs into the Legacy L wagon, but expect a small height gain. Any spring from 96-99 BG chassis will fit on your BK.

If you don't want to deal with a raised height, then your only other options are:
1. NEW factory springs - typically a spring that is 15 years old is going to sag more under load. New ones are more resistant to this because they have not been compressed and uncompressed 1000s of times.

2. Paranoid Fabrications makes a "saggy butt" spacer which is designed to raise the rear of the vehicle and is marketed at people who have swapped to WRX suspension or who want to avoid bottoming out.

3. PF also make a strut top spacer which effectively raises the body of the car up from the top of the strut - it achieves a similar result as the saggy butt spacer but in a different manner. This actually moves the entire strut housing further from the body of the car.

4. Airbag suspension specifically designed for offroaders.

I think if you are planning on hauling a LOT of weight a LOT, then you should probably look into a trailer or a dedicated vehicle - maybe a Baja if you wanted to stay Subaru.

[Wiscon_Mark]

GT springs are stiffer, but may lower the car a bit.

You could look into some of the 02-03 WRX springs as they're 100% compatible with the Legacy struts & tops (04-07 WRX requires tophats specific to those springs but will still work). There may be some stock height stiffer springs available that would work for you. The aftermarket is much larger for the GD Impreza.