Dumb Question (maybe)

[WildernessJeep]

Several years ago I gave a spare car (Ford Taurus) to a buddy of mine as a wedding gift. He and his beautiful wife have been living in Colorado for the past few years and the Taurus didn't cut it, so he bought a Subaru Legacy Wagon. He is moving to Switzerland, and is going to return the favor to me by gifting me the Subaru.

It is a 2003 Subaru Legacy Wagon, with about 270,000 miles. It has the subaru paint issue, but no rust. For some reason the body panel is cracked open above the rear wheels in a triangle formation. Tires are good, and he just did the brakes.

I'm thinking I'll probably do the shocks and leaking power steering when it gets here. What other modifications and upgrades do I need to look for? Is there any tell-tale sign of impending disaster that is not economically feasible to repair?

Also, is a legacy wagon the forerunner of the Outback, or are they two different models?

Seems like a good forurm. Thanks in advance for all the help I'll be asking for.!!!

[rkrenicki]

The Legacy and the Outback are essentially the same car. It is much better to think of the Outback as a trim level for the Legacy. They both share the same chassis codes, in your case BH.

What makes the Outback an Outback is the following: Subframe spacers, longer struts, longer springs, body cladding, larger tires. If you take all of those out of an Outback (like I did), then you have a Legacy. If you put them into a Legacy, then you have an Outback.

Feel free to look around the Members Rides I section of the forum, you can see lots of examples of what you can do to/with this car.

[WildernessJeep]

Since I'm planning on doing the shocks/struts anyways, and these are presumably the OEM springs, would it be wise to replace the entire set? What upgrades are available? Is Subaru like most manufacturers where I can get much higher quality parts for less money than OEM?

[rkrenicki]

There are several aftermarket options for suspension, but if you are looking for strut replacements, I suggest KYB Excel-G and either reusing your OE springs or getting lowering springs (if you want to lower, that is).

If your springs are damaged in some way, replacements are available at the dealer or at a junkyard.

If you want to raise the car, outback springs on legacy struts will bring the car up an inch or so.

[Wiscon_Mark]

I would suggest OEM for struts. KYB is the manufacturer of Subaru struts, but I found the Excel-Gs to have significantly worse ride quality than OEM. They're nice for performance, but the ride doesn't really even out until you hit about 75MPH, which is speeding most places. Take my experience with a grain of salt, as this is with my Forester. It may be made different for the BH chassis.

Are the outback springs longer on the BH model? On the BG/BK, I thought it was just the struts. I know with Forester/Impreza, the springs are nearly identical in length (although not spring rate) and it's the struts that make the difference.

If you want to mess around with the power steering, consider replacing the steering rack mount bushings with some SuperPro (Whitelines also makes some, but they're more expensive) bushings. It can really improve steering feel.

As for handling upgrades, you can get some great bang for your buck with subframe lockdown bolts (I noticed a lot of improvement in rear end slop with the Kartboy set) and a rear swaybar upgrade can really tighten up body roll in the rear. I think these will do far more for handling (without compromising ride) than upgrading/lowering the springs/struts, and since you're in Colorado, it's probably good to keep the ground clearance.

Personally, I think the Legacy/Outback of that generation is a fantastic car. Very quiet, smooth, and excellent handling with that multilink rear suspension.

One other note: For a lot of info on the Legacy and Subarus in general, cars 101 (www.cars101.com (http://www.cars101.com)) is an excellent Subaru site for looking up trim, package, and other information. Also take a look at SLi 101 and the stickies in all the tech forums.

[rkrenicki]

but I found the Excel-Gs to have significantly worse ride quality than OEM.
At least on the BE, I found the ride of the Excel-G to be quite comfortable.


Are the outback springs longer on the BH model?
Yes, by quite a bit. Baja springs are even longer. They compensate for the longer strut travel.