The Rot Wagon's now on 29.9" tires + a 4" lift kit from SJR, so in combination with this strut lift it's now a total ~11" taller than stock! NOTE: This mod covers most ALL Subaru models from 92-07... with the exception of the odd rear suspension setup on Baja's & the 98+ Legacy's.
@@chexmoto Not as much as I or any friends would've thought! The stock gearing is 4.11 if you can believe it! Some Foresters even have 4.44 gears & if I get a manual swapped in there that's what I'm after (other than the holy grail STI 6-speed).
I did this once! I had a 97 Impreza wagon 2.2 5MT, and my idiot ex wife blew up her 2002 Outback twice, which in those years they were riding in the forester struts, the elongated top hats gave that away. In 6 hours on the side of the street I swapped all 4 strut & mount assemblies, trailing arms brackets & brake assemblies, wheels & tires, and took the sway bars & end links but never got around to switching them. I got almost 4” of lift, it was an absolute blast on trails etc, and even without the sway bars it was still smooth on the highway. Eventually the trans gear shaft nut issue and body rot ruined the car, but it was SO much fun while it lasted and was absolutely worth the work it took.
I'd also recommend keeping the nuts on the rear strut facing towards the engine, it has helped me in the past to get a good open area to get an impact on if you plan on leaving the suspension on for awhile and it may have the chance to rust.
Something to keep in mind if you have to change the front control arms from Impreza to Foresters you're going to have to change the sway bar links as well
I just bought a 2005 Legacy, couldn't find an Outback in proper shape for the money. I live in the Swedish countryside and I searched for the vanilla 35mm H&R lift spring videos and got tons of these el cheapo stuff. Love it😁 I feel like I never will stray from Subaru after my Subaru Cherry now is popped😂 Great video, I wish all videos and handbooks could show bolt/nut sizes👌
Watched this video roughly 5 weeks ago. My front struts were shot, doubtful that there was any fluid left at all. Finally decided to stop at the scrapyard yesterday and picked up forester struts. Installed them today and I have to say I’m thoroughly impressed! Can’t wait to go wheeling now. The only issue that I have now is rear camber and toe. Didn’t even attempt to loosen the eccentrics today. I can just feel those bolts snapping 😖 anyways I wanted to come back and thank you for this tutorial! I subscribed right after finding this video. Keep on trucking
They are pretty large & I haven't heard of them breaking, but once you get them loose it should sort that alignment out for you. Happy to hear the video was useful 👍
For Subaru "sag butt" I always use polyurethane 3/8" or 1/2" cutting boards cut to fit. Just install them in between the strut and strut perch with longer high quality bolts. Easy enough to level out the lift using this method with 1-3 spacers depending on the amount of butt sag. Just need to find an Australian dual rage 5MT with an EG33!! Gotta love Japanese cars!
I think I'll end up upgrading the springs & doing some custom bracing of the struts. Dual range would be awesome! That or I thought it could be fun to custom build an auto: with 4.44 gears, manual valve body with a "shift kit", center diff lock switch, & a modified interlock shifter :D
HELP! Would love to do this project but I’m a bit of a noob. What are the Forrest control arms used for and in what situation would they need to be installed? Any advise or info would be greatly appreciated. Also, just want to say that this is One of the single most well executed tutorial videos I’ve ever seen. It’s nearly perfect in every way. There is no fat on it. No needless content. No stupid music. No pointless ramblings. The camera angles are perfect and show in great detail the process. Important info and processes are show clearly and explained. Monotonous tasks are fast forwarded. This is great content and I’ve been looking for a video exactly like this since of found out about the forester lift a few years ago.
Those control arms & trailing arms are only necessary if the caster is way out of alignment once the Forester struts are in. Caster on a Subaru is easiest explained as the amount by which the strut is leaning front-to-back when viewed from the side of the vehicle. Often times when lifting a vehicle the wheels will end up too close to the door sides of the wheel wells. Depends on the specific vehicle, but for example: If after the strut lift your front wheel is off-center, to the rear in the wheel well opening, then swap in the Forester control arm to correct it. Same goes for the rear tires: If after the lift they end up off-center towards the door, the swap in the Forester trailing arm to correct it. Hope that helps & thanks for comments on the video format! That's exactly what I was going for with the edit :)
Tinker oh awesome! Thank you for explaining! I am just so excited to try this. I have a 2004 outback sport that is pretty ruffed up and not worth a whole lot. The left rear strut leaked all of its oil out and is sagging pretty bad. Probably won’t pass inspection. I’m thinking, hey since i’m certainly not paying anybody to do this work on this valueless car, I can either do a pretty mundane patch job or... FUCK do an awesome project baby! This video popped in my recommended feed at the ideal moment. Tyty
Looks great with the extra lift. I'm sure that the new gap is going to be filled with more rubber, making it look and offroad even better. Thanks for the video.
Hey I loved your video so much I gave it a go. Swapped out the coil overs for forester ones. Your video was a big help. Unfortunately my car did not take the lift well and I've got some serious popping and clunking coming out of my front diff. I've since lowered it and the popping has decreased but is still present. Drained the front diff and found some metal shavings, but the car is super old so they could've been there before the lift. I'm curious if you or anyone else encountered a similar problem? So far I've seen loads of videos and forums on doing the lift, but nothing about the problems I've experienced afterwards.
I would say that's definitely an issue it had previous, because the struts won't effect the diffs, but hopefully you can swap one in there to get it going again to enjoy the new lift height :)
Good vid, nice you didn’t use spacers for that extra lift, interesting you washed the car afterwards and not before to muse it easier to seal out, but you new your stuff, good work, looking at doing this to my 96 Impreza hatch. This is all the lift Id want on that, have other project on an older model for something bit more ruggered. Good vid cheers.
Thanks! I ended up dropping the subframes 4" too after this strut swap. It's real tall now. Yeah it's perpetually dirty, especially with the farm roads out to that shop. It's an easy afternoon job to do this, even better if you have a good cordless kit.
awesome video man, got my sub. I've got a 90s subaru legacy on my channel that I've been converting into mad max style desert rig, about to weld some bars between the suspension coils as an improvised lift kit.
Tha ks gor the video i am doing exactly this to a 99 legacy outback sport, i think you have a point pivking up the stuff at a junkyard buy im looking at prices for new. As someone mentioned in order to retain the swaybar i think you have to use forester as well because it bends down the 1" or so more than the original (otherwise swaybar delete ftw)
I ordered 03-08 forester suspension from ebay. I have the same car as you. Next is to find some wheels and tires since I bought it while it was sitting on another cars low profile wheels. I'm having trouble finding the spacers I need for the suspension though.
Thanks! Doing this was heaps easier than the big lift kit I installed later, but glad I did because mine with ~260k on it was REALLY needing a bunch of rusty things underneath replaced.
The crank pulley tried falling off at first (part of why it was so cheap) but after that I was genuinely surprised how it sounded too! Not much power in the 2.2 single-port, someday maybe it'll get a turbo or WRX drivetrain.
Hey man! Love the video! So clear and fast! I have an 01 impreza I'm gonna lift... Curious on your build: everyone says drill a new hole for the rear top hats but you hit it with a quick file? No drill? Most people are using trailing arm spacers but your seemed like nothing extra was needed? HOW! LOL!
Thanks! That's what I was trying to pull off with the edit. No drill! Round file is plenty & is less of a handful to perform. Sometimes, depending on the individual chassis, you'll run into caster issues (where the tires get out of center in the wheel well, aka too near door or bumper) & that is where you can slap in the Forester rear trailing-arm or front control-arms to solve the issue.
You made it look so easy! Thanks. If I wanted to lift the front 1" and the rear 1.25", would I have to do is cut a nylon template the shape of the strut's side against the car's body and cut an identical shape part made out of it, for instance?
Sure! If you could get your hands on the sheet metal "dust covers" that go over top of the struts you'd have yourself a perfect template to trace for some strut top spacers. This car now has some big 4" aluminum spacers on top of the struts & subframes, rolling on nearly 30" tires ;)
Probably up to 26" depending on your wheel offset & tread width. If you want bigger the rear wheel well's easy to trim, but the front can be more tricky... requires letting some anger out with a mallet on the lower-rear of the front wells. Oh & CV's are no issue, you can get away with still running the Impreza CV's but Forester CV's are even better since they're a touch longer.
One more question: would you trust a repaired engine to be reliable, with 197.000 miles on it? (For 'repair', I mean rings, valves, bearings, including crankshaft's, rods', gaskets, etc.)? Is it worth @ $4.000 + tax Canadian, roughly .80 US? In my case, it's that, or a $2.000 CND cylinder heads gasket job. Advise? Thanks for your time, Tinker.
Help, I bought one already lifted that needs the shifter linkage fixed and then front axles are clicking. The mechanic is fixing the linkage, but he says the front axles have been replaced. He thinks it's the lifted angle that makes them click. He thinks there may be a spacer required somewhere in the suspension. The tech at the Subaru dealer thinks there's an after market longer axle that's needed. What say you Tinker, or other enthusiasts?
@@sppilu Happy to help. Best option for that vehicle would be spacer blocks, instead of used struts like this video. I think you can go up to 2" or 3" spacers before risking CV-axle issues.
making older subarus look sick. i have a 98 outback legacy i'm replacing the whole front suspension soon, got it at 186k and it's at 216k. really curious what all is compatible with this thing, might just hit up the scrap yard instead of a stock replacement.
I noticed how you pointed the difference in size of the front lower control arm rear mount and bushing, but you never showed installing the control arm. Is it a direct bolt in or did you need to fabricate a spacer to accommodate the difference in height? I recently installed brand new Forester struts front and rear and found that the rear has good lift but the front is higher than the stock Impreza struts but the car is 2 in lower in front. Will the Forester control arms take up this difference?
The Forester arms are just for fixing camber / caster issues from the increased height, but not always necessary! (in my case I did not need those arms and just kept them for spares) I think from what you're experiencing that 1 of 2 things are happening: Either you were given Impreza struts instead of Forester, OR you have Forester struts with bad springs (sag is common on high mile cars, especially on non-OEM replacement units).
Great video!! Couldn’t you have swapped the top hats from the original struts so you wouldn’t have to file those holes out in the rear? Curious cause I wanna do this to my 96
I’m trying to buy struts for my 2004 Impreza wagon , but Is there a difference between the automatic and manual cars struts , some struts specifically say “for automatic cars” so I’m confused
Ok, so I've toyed with the idea of doing this to my 2005 Impreza OBS for a while but never seriously until seeing this video. a lot of questions answered just watching it let alone reading the comments below. My big question though is this: would lifting it noticeably alter the fuel economy, or cause any weird wear and tear over time and lots and lots of miles...like CV joints? I feel like someone told me once that lifting it could result in a couple other problems eventually
Glad it was helpful! Changes in fuel economy will be dependant on what tire you decide to up-size to, so the larger the more negative effect on mpg. Wear & tear such as CV's will be a non-issue since this mod only changes you from Impreza to Forester height suspension. Larger tires though will cause increased wear on wheel bearings & brakes, but so long as you don't make a huge jump to something like 29-31" tall you're unlikely to even notice 👍
Great video. Shame I just replaced the rear struts before wanting to do this. How would I go about researching compatibility for my model year impreza? Example, mine is 2013.
Totally new but not entirely uninformed to Subaru’s. Does anyone know if the “outback” version of the legacy sedan has longer struts that the normal legacy, or spacers, or what?
Loved this video man! Ever since my brother bought a Jeep with the same battlewagon style; I was thinking of doing the same thing to my 98 OBS as well, I'm guessing good used parts are the way to go for saving some cash ? I live in an area with rough roads and heavy weather (especially in the winter) so it'd be super helpful.
Will the older forester rear struts work on my outback sport (impreza) and not give me lift? I cant find loaded struts for my specific car but I can for the Forrester. Thanks
Odds are you’re not reading things on this anymore but, did you have any camber issues without the arms installed? I’m looking at doing this but can’t find any arms in my area!
I did not have camber issues with this build, but was warned by many people that it can happen. Also you can find those arms (if you want them) fairly cheap on Ebay or Car-Part.
I was doing a major Subaru Frankenstein to my 97 Impreza wagon. I put a JDM ej20k from the same year under the hood. I used a 04 WRX front crossmember. I had trouble putting in 02 Forester control arms the bushings look a little stressed. It didn't quite line up had to persuade it a little bit. Do you think I should use different control arms up front? I know in the back I will have to use Forester trailing arms or a block lift. I would appreciate your input.
@@northamerican4x4adventurer65 That's unusual, as I was under the impression that was a straight forward install even on the turbo crossmembers. Maybe the arms you have are damaged? But I would try Impreza arms next if it were me.
I did not, seems to be vehicle dependant. My suspension's caster setting was pretty good afterwards, so I saved them for trail spares. But I have heard of some vehicles very much needing them afterward, not sure what causes this.
@@Tinker1837 Awesome ! Mine is a wagon just like yours, so I think I'm good to go. This car was pampered and the springs are in good shape, so I just ordered 3" top-mount spacers (not for inside the springs coils) and the 1" 100mm to 114.3mm wheel spacer/adapters for my Kumho mudders. I also have a set of 2" thick 114mm to stack against the 1". They don't make them thicker than 1" for the 100 to 114.3 config', for some reason. Should still get a good ride, but I still may get the Forester parts one day and try to go up another 4". LOL ! Depends on how tough these spacers turn out to be.
Was thinking about doing this, i was just wondering how much the ride quality and handling gets effected after something like this, obviously theres gonna be more body roll but does it feel like your gonna flip when you take a corner a bit to quick? Also would this work well on the 05 impreza sedan?
Actually you should end up with the same if not less body roll due to the springs in those struts having a higher rate (more stiff) due to being from a heavier Forester.
I do believe so, yes. The shock cartridge in the strut body's different as far as I know. Don't get me wrong, it's not much. There are several simple upgrades for them though. I'd like to fit mine with a set of king springs, an "inverted" STI cartridge, & weld on some bracing in the weak spots of the strut body to save bending when really bashing trails hard.
does cutting the hose bracket mean the struts can no longer be used? or can you bend the metal back and weld it up if you need to put the originals back?
Still useable, just allows you to remove struts without also disconnecting your brakes & then bleeding them (which is a terrible design choice honestly). Right! The way I carefully slit them with the saw blade would allow you to bend them right back if you like.
I have a quick question for you. I have a 1996 impreza outback sport, and I was going to put a lift on it with forester struts and an sjr lift kit. I bought 05 forester struts for it and was able to get the fronts on but the rears don’t seem to work. The rear knuckle and hub doesn’t move/bend enough to line the top bolt hole up. I can get the top mount studs in place as well as the bottom bolt hole. Would you happen to have any suggestions? Or should I try struts from the 97-02 model forester?
I did not, so they've just been spares. I adjusted my alignment pretty easily after this strut lift, but after the big 4" kit on top it ended up a bit out of whack... I have a new set of knobby tires on the way so I'll have to get it dialed in here soon!
Awesome job man, just did this to my 01 Impreza. My tire size is 245 45 17. It hits in the front fender when I turn. What tire size would you recommend I switch to? I also have spacer adapters for the rims that were from a Wrx? Would appreciate you're opinion thanks
Thanks! I left my tires at the time at stock size, because I intended to go much farther with the lifting (now on 30" tires w/4" more lift), so I can't say for sure since I went from small right to rather big.
I had to do a little bit of strong arming to get mine in there, & it doesn't have antisway bars which made it easier as well. Using the arms from the same vehicle as the struts can help!
Everything you saw spread out on the blacktop in the beginning was a bit of a mashup of years, since the most inexpensive option was the salvage yards near me, so I ended up with 04 05 and 06 parts. I recommend finding the newest possible parts, both because they'll have less rust + the later years are taller :D
So I am trying to put 04 forester struts on my 98 obs and I can’t get the front new struts to line up with the bolts. I think I have my control arms preventing me from dropping down the caliper. In your video looks like you have yours removed. Is it ok for me to take mine off and leave off?
I left my lower arms in place & found that with Subaru front suspension's if the lower arm is binding up it helps to wedge a prybar into the gap above the inner bushing & lean down on it.
This is EXACTLY what I want to do to my 2007 Impreza wagon. Is it possible to buy all those Forester parts new from an OEM replacement company instead, rather than getting it from an aftermarket offroad company ? I am in the south, and all the mid 2000's Foresters are still on the road here. LOL
@@Tinker1837 I want to transfer my new Kumho mud terrain 27" diam's with ION black 14" rims to it. I had them on my Dodge minivan with 1 1/2" wheel spacers, and I can buy the 100mm x5 to 134mmx5 spacers for less than $100 to do that. I had a little grinding to do on the outside of the calipers on the Dodge for inner wheel clearance. But I liked not losing the smaller diameter for gear ratio efficiency. I'll be looking into your liftkit solution as well. Thanks man !
Hell yeah sounds like a good plan! I have 15" x 8" Jeep wheels on mine now with some 1" adapters to convert from the 5x100mm to the new 5x4.5in setup. Luckily the big WRX brakes fit so well under there that you could almost change pads with the wheels mounted. It's on roughly 30" tires now, but thankfully the car has 4.11 gears so it still gets around good... well, unless you're cruising 75+ on the highway then it kinda sucks. Didn't really build it for high speed anyway, more for crawling trails. Until it gets an STI or WRX drivetrain! :D
Did you have issues with your sway bar links clearing your rims/tires? I have 215/45/17 rims and my sway bar links rub against my wheel when i turn the wheel all the way (such as when parking).
@@russianrawkit I removed my anti-sway bars completely, because I planned on the big lift kit after this mod, & I wanted to upgrade to much thicker bars later on (to handle the much taller ride height it has now).
@@Tinker1837 Thanks, I ended up removing the anti sway bar as well as I couldnt eliminate the rubbing.. May put them back on if I can find some longer links or a way to drop the bar an inch or so. I'm having an issue with my CV clicking when turning at slow speeds... did you get anything like this?
Not too sure honestly what parts interchange the Subaru models after 2008... that's when the big platform changes rolled out & Subaru's lost quite a bit of the "lego" quality.
@@Tinker1837 I found a couple reports where people have done it with same generation. I think there was just a little tinkering but nothing major to make them fit. Thank you
Ebay! Took a lot of digging around & a little repair to get them all working right. Worth it in the end I think, might even sneak some LED's inside them later on, just to up the output. Here's the video on them: th-cam.com/video/N7EvZ9bvv64/w-d-xo.html
Nice ride man!! I have the same one SAME color!! Anyways how much perfomance would you say is lost from lift?? Also would it be alright if the rear only was lifted??? Im gonna lift mine but its also my daily driver so im trying to find that sweet spot of having a lift and maybe still being able to do 80-90 mph
@@Tinker1837 Ayo! update! So i did get the struts in i got brand new ones. Small problem ive got this odd rattling sound from the rear only. both sides it seems. I double checked all the bolts and nuts (wasnt very many) everything is tight. Rattle only noticeable on bumpy roads, no rattle on pavement. Its not super loud but definitely noticeable. Any ideas?? Should i be worried or just turn up the radio??
Do you know how many miles the replacement struts had on them? I found a set for $275but they have 192k miles on em, for that price it might be worth it to get new aftermarket struts. Any advice there?
My struts in this video were quite low, since they were replaced on the donor vehicle. The trick is to check the shock seals and wear from the dust cover rubbing on the shock body, those are usually good markers for age if you don't have exact mileage. But yes I agree that if that $275 set is original to the car then they will be a wreck. Go with a good name brand (kyb, bilstein etc) with replacements if you can, and avoid the noname stuff vs low mile originals.
Tinker I’ve since found some cheaper (but fairly low mileage) forester struts and threw them in my 03 Impreza OBS. The rear strut bolt patterns matched perfectly, no need to file the holes out! The only issue I’ve come across is the caster issue in the back, I’ve read that you can fix it with trailing arm brackets from a 99 outback. Do you know if the forester trailing arms are longer if the bracket on those drop the bolt point lower than on an Impreza?
I am going nuts trying to find information on interchangeability with Subaru's. Either I can't find specifics or everyone has a different opinion. Maybe you can help. I have a 2003 Legacy L wagon. I would like to definitely get some lift on it. I see you mention oddball rear suspension on 98+ Legacy's. Will 2003 or somewhere within immediate years Forester struts and springs fit my Legacy or even Outback struts and springs. If so, is there something special that needs to happen? Will I experience caster or camber issues? Would just an alignment be needed or will I need to replace arms etc? Will plates be needed in my case of lifting the Legacy to make up for difference?
I'm honestly not sure on anything to do with those car's suspension systems since they differ in layout so much more than any Subaru's I've wrenched on.
I attempted this and followed your video. Picked up Forester struts dirt cheap at a junkyard and everything in the front bolted up fine but had problems trying to get the sway bar links to bolt back up as they were not long enough after the struts picked it up. My question is did you have this problem or did you just remove the sway links?
They are very challenging to get in there, but on my build I removed both anti-sway bars completely due to the 4" lift kit that followed this work. Much more flexible without them, but of course more of a handful on the street (although it should go without saying this sort of work has negative handling effects). I would like to eventually get much thicker bars to replace them, with quick disconnect ends for trail runs.
@@Tinker1837 I actually thought of maybe making some customized links out of a turn buckle or something or making a personalized sway bar. I bought a 98 Ipreza Wagon for $500 and currently using it as a daily driver.... thanks for the feedback. Let me know if you figure something out and Ill do the same ..
@@vincentgagliardi2291 That sounds like a great idea! I was thinking of something similar. Maybe a left & right hand threaded pair of rod ends + a bolt with holes to accept a hairpin style cotter.
Depends on the vehicle, but yes this is something the case. On mine I removed them both completely because I knew I was going to add quite a bit more lift on top of these struts.
@@Tinker1837 what are the pros vs cons for lifting a car? i was about to buy a 2008 subaru impreza 2.5 premium hatchback and to me it looks like it needs more height for better off road driving, i want to use it for everyday use but also like going camping in the woods
I am having the worst time putting these in haha. Seems like there still needs to be a good 5 inches of clearance for the two fastening bolts to slip into the strut. Any help?
That happens sometimes if your bushings are worn out then they'll bind & fight you. Best option is getting a second hand to lean on the arms so you can slip a bolt in. Once you have 1 started the 2nd will do e in easily.
@@Tinker1837 its a good mile pretty much. I'm thinking i gotta tense the coils maybe but im afraid itll just have wayy too much pressure once I let it go
@@JK-zt8wk Must be the rears I'm guessing? The fronts go in super easy while the rears take about 3 times as long since you're fighting all the links. Forester struts are as tall as they get, so I doubt you've used the wrong struts.
@@Tinker1837 i must be a dang ol anomily. Can i email you a bit? I got a pic and i can send you which ones I got. Maybe we can both solve this and get me sky high
How well does this lift do at highway speeds? I'm looking to do something similar to my Impreza sport for scca rallyx and don't want to trailer the car in between. Was there a sway bar that needed adjusted at all?
Harufire Surprisingly good! I tossed the sway bars in favor of suspension flex, so it has plenty of body roll but not unmanageable. Personally I find that kind of driving experience pretty fun, like a tiny trophy truck :) No reason you couldn't upgrade the bars & build extended links for them though! A handful of little heim joints & some tube is what I intend to weld up in the future for quick release sway links, once I get my hands on bigger bars.
@@Tinker1837 this before has a few years old , and I am just curious about how did you end fixing the problem of the sway bar and links , did you made your own or get a new ones aftermarket , the links from the forester does not fit on the impreza ?? I am asking you this because I am thinking to lift my 2002 impreza 2.5 wagon , but after watching all the videos that are doing the same as you , they always has problems with geometrics of the car and rubbing tires , do you think in this times, three years after this video , there is a kit that you just can plug and play for this kind of lifting ?? Thx a lot
another quick question if you would ? i recently lifted mine on 02 struts and shocks and when turning sharply and sometimes taking off i hear a weird rear end noise have you heard of this?
@@jackpancake3725 I have not heard of that, & I would have a look at the usual suspects based on what sort of noise: Wheel bearings, CV axles, Anti-sway bar, Strut top-hats etc.
It's actually completely custom, because it used to sound terrible! It didn't have the unequal length exhaust manifolds that give it the "Subaru rumble" so I built my own header & full system. It has straight 1.75" primaries into a hi-flow racing cat with a flex joint & v-band, then 2.5" back with just a cheap resonator & " turbo style" muffler.
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The Rot Wagon's now on 29.9" tires + a 4" lift kit from SJR, so in combination with this strut lift it's now a total ~11" taller than stock! NOTE: This mod covers most ALL Subaru models from 92-07... with the exception of the odd rear suspension setup on Baja's & the 98+ Legacy's.
I have a 98 impreza wagon, would this swap also work on that year>
Ken Kidd Yep!
How much power are you losing with the added rotational inertia of the tires?
Awesome video man 👍🏻. Would this be the same process for an 05 Impreza wagon?
@@chexmoto Not as much as I or any friends would've thought! The stock gearing is 4.11 if you can believe it! Some Foresters even have 4.44 gears & if I get a manual swapped in there that's what I'm after (other than the holy grail STI 6-speed).
I love that there's no editorial blathering on and on. Just wrenchin.
I try hard to keep that going for my videos! No need to shove my ugly mug in the lens when the subject is the vehicles themselves 👍
@@Tinker1837 thank you. subbed for that
Kudos on not using power tools, not everyone has them so this appeals greatly to newcomers as well as enthusiasts with new projects.
Thanks & yeah I had both electric & air power just a few steps away, but I figured most don't so why not try & film it that way.
@@Tinker1837 After I got a $200 Milwaukee impact wrench I will never go back lol. Forget all that wrenching.
It's funny cause I have cordless in packs and what not but something about just using hand tools lol
This might be the best how to car video of all time! Not one selfie cam!
I did this once! I had a 97 Impreza wagon 2.2 5MT, and my idiot ex wife blew up her 2002 Outback twice, which in those years they were riding in the forester struts, the elongated top hats gave that away. In 6 hours on the side of the street I swapped all 4 strut & mount assemblies, trailing arms brackets & brake assemblies, wheels & tires, and took the sway bars & end links but never got around to switching them. I got almost 4” of lift, it was an absolute blast on trails etc, and even without the sway bars it was still smooth on the highway. Eventually the trans gear shaft nut issue and body rot ruined the car, but it was SO much fun while it lasted and was absolutely worth the work it took.
I'd also recommend keeping the nuts on the rear strut facing towards the engine, it has helped me in the past to get a good open area to get an impact on if you plan on leaving the suspension on for awhile and it may have the chance to rust.
I'll have to try that next time, because my usual default is to keep any exposed threads to the rear to try & save garbage building up on them.
I dont even own an impreza but this video was supercool.
I think you just saved me about 2K on Rally suspension. only wanted a high lift for the looks! Cheers mate! :)
Oh nice! Glad it was helpful, because for me it was one the biggest "bang for the buck" mods I've done in a while.
@@Tinker1837 Great video man.. You just did the same for me lol. I was about to spend over a grand.
@@anangelsarrow556 Glad you liked 👍
This was background noise while I was pooping... then the hacksaw came out and now I’m subscribed!
It's a fitting if you think about it, because of the build starting out as a real piece of crap... and now a proper polished turd!
Something to keep in mind if you have to change the front control arms from Impreza to Foresters you're going to have to change the sway bar links as well
Hey do you know thr compatibility for control arms? I have an 06 impreza and I don't know if forester ones will fit
I just bought a 2005 Legacy, couldn't find an Outback in proper shape for the money. I live in the Swedish countryside and I searched for the vanilla 35mm H&R lift spring videos and got tons of these el cheapo stuff. Love it😁
I feel like I never will stray from Subaru after my Subaru Cherry now is popped😂
Great video, I wish all videos and handbooks could show bolt/nut sizes👌
Super excited to lift my Impreza this weekend. I have all the pieces finally 😎
I am sure you will like the way it looks / performs with the lift :)
Watched this video roughly 5 weeks ago. My front struts were shot, doubtful that there was any fluid left at all. Finally decided to stop at the scrapyard yesterday and picked up forester struts. Installed them today and I have to say I’m thoroughly impressed! Can’t wait to go wheeling now. The only issue that I have now is rear camber and toe. Didn’t even attempt to loosen the eccentrics today. I can just feel those bolts snapping 😖 anyways I wanted to come back and thank you for this tutorial! I subscribed right after finding this video. Keep on trucking
They are pretty large & I haven't heard of them breaking, but once you get them loose it should sort that alignment out for you. Happy to hear the video was useful 👍
Hey. I just did this to my 05 impreza outback thankyou so much for the easy to understand video.
this was very helpful. I need my 2013 Impreza raised because I'm having trouble getting the and out of the car as my knee arthritis worsens.
For Subaru "sag butt" I always use polyurethane 3/8" or 1/2" cutting boards cut to fit. Just install them in between the strut and strut perch with longer high quality bolts. Easy enough to level out the lift using this method with 1-3 spacers depending on the amount of butt sag. Just need to find an Australian dual rage 5MT with an EG33!! Gotta love Japanese cars!
I think I'll end up upgrading the springs & doing some custom bracing of the struts. Dual range would be awesome! That or I thought it could be fun to custom build an auto: with 4.44 gears, manual valve body with a "shift kit", center diff lock switch, & a modified interlock shifter :D
HELP! Would love to do this project but I’m a bit of a noob.
What are the Forrest control arms used for and in what situation would they need to be installed? Any advise or info would be greatly appreciated.
Also, just want to say that this is One of the single most well executed tutorial videos I’ve ever seen. It’s nearly perfect in every way. There is no fat on it. No needless content. No stupid music. No pointless ramblings. The camera angles are perfect and show in great detail the process. Important info and processes are show clearly and explained. Monotonous tasks are fast forwarded. This is great content and I’ve been looking for a video exactly like this since of found out about the forester lift a few years ago.
Those control arms & trailing arms are only necessary if the caster is way out of alignment once the Forester struts are in. Caster on a Subaru is easiest explained as the amount by which the strut is leaning front-to-back when viewed from the side of the vehicle. Often times when lifting a vehicle the wheels will end up too close to the door sides of the wheel wells. Depends on the specific vehicle, but for example: If after the strut lift your front wheel is off-center, to the rear in the wheel well opening, then swap in the Forester control arm to correct it. Same goes for the rear tires: If after the lift they end up off-center towards the door, the swap in the Forester trailing arm to correct it.
Hope that helps & thanks for comments on the video format! That's exactly what I was going for with the edit :)
Tinker oh awesome! Thank you for explaining! I am just so excited to try this. I have a 2004 outback sport that is pretty ruffed up and not worth a whole lot. The left rear strut leaked all of its oil out and is sagging pretty bad. Probably won’t pass inspection. I’m thinking, hey since i’m certainly not paying anybody to do this work on this valueless car, I can either do a pretty mundane patch job or... FUCK do an awesome project baby! This video popped in my recommended feed at the ideal moment. Tyty
Happy to help :)
Looks great with the extra lift. I'm sure that the new gap is going to be filled with more rubber, making it look and offroad even better. Thanks for the video.
Oh yes & this is just the start of the lifting, more to come!
Great way to make enough space to store your boot!
Just couldn't resist poking fun at the shoe in the fender gap thing I used to see on forums :P
And here I am fretting about little 10mm patches of surface rust on my '89 GL wagon..
The name "Rot Wagon" wasn't too hard to come up with for this project haha!
Hey I loved your video so much I gave it a go. Swapped out the coil overs for forester ones. Your video was a big help. Unfortunately my car did not take the lift well and I've got some serious popping and clunking coming out of my front diff. I've since lowered it and the popping has decreased but is still present. Drained the front diff and found some metal shavings, but the car is super old so they could've been there before the lift. I'm curious if you or anyone else encountered a similar problem? So far I've seen loads of videos and forums on doing the lift, but nothing about the problems I've experienced afterwards.
I would say that's definitely an issue it had previous, because the struts won't effect the diffs, but hopefully you can swap one in there to get it going again to enjoy the new lift height :)
Im lifting my 95 impreza with some HDPE now for just a temp kinda thing. need it ready for a rally soon.
Lift all the things!
Good vid, nice you didn’t use spacers for that extra lift, interesting you washed the car afterwards and not before to muse it easier to seal out, but you new your stuff, good work, looking at doing this to my 96 Impreza hatch. This is all the lift Id want on that, have other project on an older model for something bit more ruggered. Good vid cheers.
Thanks! I ended up dropping the subframes 4" too after this strut swap. It's real tall now. Yeah it's perpetually dirty, especially with the farm roads out to that shop. It's an easy afternoon job to do this, even better if you have a good cordless kit.
All i got to say is Thank You!
Happy to help!
the boot and thumbs up made me lawl
I've heard that's an important test to do after any suspension work haha
awesome video man, got my sub. I've got a 90s subaru legacy on my channel that I've been converting into mad max style desert rig, about to weld some bars between the suspension coils as an improvised lift kit.
Tha ks gor the video i am doing exactly this to a 99 legacy outback sport, i think you have a point pivking up the stuff at a junkyard buy im looking at prices for new.
As someone mentioned in order to retain the swaybar i think you have to use forester as well because it bends down the 1" or so more than the original (otherwise swaybar delete ftw)
Wow! Excellent video!
Thanks! Hope it's helpful :)
I enjoyed watching this. Thanks!
Glad you liked :)
I ordered 03-08 forester suspension from ebay. I have the same car as you. Next is to find some wheels and tires since I bought it while it was sitting on another cars low profile wheels. I'm having trouble finding the spacers I need for the suspension though.
Mine came from ebay & be sure to use good ones! Cheap spacers are scary when you change tires this much haha
Did this with my 1999 Legacy Post Wagon. Home made Outback.
Nice! Exactly what I hope people do with theirs.
Sweet sped up video man, thinking of doing this type of lift to my 02 outback sport that i daily with 310k on it, shes a tank
Thanks! Doing this was heaps easier than the big lift kit I installed later, but glad I did because mine with ~260k on it was REALLY needing a bunch of rusty things underneath replaced.
@@Tinker1837 oh im sure. I live in maine im all too firmilair with rusty shit haha
Kinda have an idea of what I'm getting myself into. I'm buying a 99 legacy outback with a 3 inch lift with 30 inch wheels.
Oh nice! 30's are pretty big 👍
For $.300.00 that engine sound is smooth. Nice buy.
The crank pulley tried falling off at first (part of why it was so cheap) but after that I was genuinely surprised how it sounded too! Not much power in the 2.2 single-port, someday maybe it'll get a turbo or WRX drivetrain.
It does have nice torque though for n/A
Hey man! Love the video! So clear and fast! I have an 01 impreza I'm gonna lift... Curious on your build: everyone says drill a new hole for the rear top hats but you hit it with a quick file? No drill? Most people are using trailing arm spacers but your seemed like nothing extra was needed? HOW! LOL!
Thanks! That's what I was trying to pull off with the edit. No drill! Round file is plenty & is less of a handful to perform. Sometimes, depending on the individual chassis, you'll run into caster issues (where the tires get out of center in the wheel well, aka too near door or bumper) & that is where you can slap in the Forester rear trailing-arm or front control-arms to solve the issue.
Tinker would you recommend just putting the extra parts on anyway to be safe?
Love your projects, man. Sub'd.
Hey thanks!
Did you do another video for the control arms?
I did not, as mine did not end up needing them to fix any camber/caster issues from the increased height.
I live in a swamp. So I need to do this and I wanted a snorkel. Idk if I want the supercharger after that
Snorkels are a great idea for you then! And a supercharger would be way fun too
Nice editing
Thanks, tried to make it right to the point.
wouldn't it affect at rear the top hats might move around especially when you off road?
Oh no, trust me they are well tight in the new bolt pattern. It's been thru some very hard trail runs & they've yet to move even a little 👍
I’ve read that swapping to Impreza top hats on the rear can be done so that you don’t have to enlarge the holes in the strut tower. Is that true?
True!
You made it look so easy! Thanks. If I wanted to lift the front 1" and the rear 1.25", would I have to do is cut a nylon template the shape of the strut's side against the car's body and cut an identical shape part made out of it, for instance?
Sure! If you could get your hands on the sheet metal "dust covers" that go over top of the struts you'd have yourself a perfect template to trace for some strut top spacers. This car now has some big 4" aluminum spacers on top of the struts & subframes, rolling on nearly 30" tires ;)
What size tire can you fit with just the forester strut lift? And are the CVS gonna be a issue with just the strut lift?
Probably up to 26" depending on your wheel offset & tread width. If you want bigger the rear wheel well's easy to trim, but the front can be more tricky... requires letting some anger out with a mallet on the lower-rear of the front wells. Oh & CV's are no issue, you can get away with still running the Impreza CV's but Forester CV's are even better since they're a touch longer.
One more question: would you trust a repaired engine to be reliable, with 197.000 miles on it? (For 'repair', I mean rings, valves, bearings, including crankshaft's, rods', gaskets, etc.)? Is it worth @ $4.000 + tax Canadian, roughly .80 US? In my case, it's that, or a $2.000 CND cylinder heads gasket job. Advise? Thanks for your time, Tinker.
Help, I bought one already lifted that needs the shifter linkage fixed and then front axles are clicking. The mechanic is fixing the linkage, but he says the front axles have been replaced. He thinks it's the lifted angle that makes them click. He thinks there may be a spacer required somewhere in the suspension. The tech at the Subaru dealer thinks there's an after market longer axle that's needed. What say you Tinker, or other enthusiasts?
Clicking is a sign of CV damage. Forester axles are slightly longer.
Hi
Is that working on 2004 legacy (2.0 saloon) as well?
Great video, thx
Sadly no :( Those have a very different rear suspension, shared with the Baja's, that is not nearly as easy to lift for cheap.
@@Tinker1837 sorry to hear, but thx anyway
@@sppilu Happy to help. Best option for that vehicle would be spacer blocks, instead of used struts like this video. I think you can go up to 2" or 3" spacers before risking CV-axle issues.
So basically to lift a vehicle you can just use struts from another vehicle and retrofit then?
Yep! Lucky that so many Japanese cars have tons of interchangeable parts.
making older subarus look sick. i have a 98 outback legacy i'm replacing the whole front suspension soon, got it at 186k and it's at 216k. really curious what all is compatible with this thing, might just hit up the scrap yard instead of a stock replacement.
I noticed how you pointed the difference in size of the front lower control arm rear mount and bushing, but you never showed installing the control arm. Is it a direct bolt in or did you need to fabricate a spacer to accommodate the difference in height? I recently installed brand new Forester struts front and rear and found that the rear has good lift but the front is higher than the stock Impreza struts but the car is 2 in lower in front. Will the Forester control arms take up this difference?
The Forester arms are just for fixing camber / caster issues from the increased height, but not always necessary! (in my case I did not need those arms and just kept them for spares) I think from what you're experiencing that 1 of 2 things are happening: Either you were given Impreza struts instead of Forester, OR you have Forester struts with bad springs (sag is common on high mile cars, especially on non-OEM replacement units).
Hi friend I realized that the elevation of 03-08 is the highest question how much he gives me an elevation above the original of the impreza!
This is all shown in the video in the subtitles.
Thx
Great video!! Couldn’t you have swapped the top hats from the original struts so you wouldn’t have to file those holes out in the rear? Curious cause I wanna do this to my 96
Thanks :) And oh yes, for sure! I just saw it as an opportunity to be able to quickly accept either type (especially for trail-side repairs).
Thank you!!! Hey does this same apply to the gc8 impreza? I have 2001 2.5rs. Can I still swap this easily?
Yep!
I’m trying to buy struts for my 2004 Impreza wagon , but Is there a difference between the automatic and manual cars struts , some struts specifically say “for automatic cars” so I’m confused
That is odd, no difference there that I am aware of.
JDM SF5 struts should work fine eh? Same year and model as yours
Do believe so, not sure there's much difference in the JDM struts aside from maybe build quality.
Ok, so I've toyed with the idea of doing this to my 2005 Impreza OBS for a while but never seriously until seeing this video. a lot of questions answered just watching it let alone reading the comments below. My big question though is this: would lifting it noticeably alter the fuel economy, or cause any weird wear and tear over time and lots and lots of miles...like CV joints? I feel like someone told me once that lifting it could result in a couple other problems eventually
Glad it was helpful! Changes in fuel economy will be dependant on what tire you decide to up-size to, so the larger the more negative effect on mpg. Wear & tear such as CV's will be a non-issue since this mod only changes you from Impreza to Forester height suspension. Larger tires though will cause increased wear on wheel bearings & brakes, but so long as you don't make a huge jump to something like 29-31" tall you're unlikely to even notice 👍
Great video. Shame I just replaced the rear struts before wanting to do this. How would I go about researching compatibility for my model year impreza? Example, mine is 2013.
I would dig into the forums for that, because I'm almost clueless beyond '08 with Subaru.
Totally new but not entirely uninformed to Subaru’s. Does anyone know if the “outback” version of the legacy sedan has longer struts that the normal legacy, or spacers, or what?
The best I can tell from asking around it's little to no difference.
Loved this video man! Ever since my brother bought a Jeep with the same battlewagon style; I was thinking of doing the same thing to my 98 OBS as well, I'm guessing good used parts are the way to go for saving some cash ? I live in an area with rough roads and heavy weather (especially in the winter) so it'd be super helpful.
Glad you liked! Yes I use as much second hand parts as I can to keep costs down on this project.
Will the older forester rear struts work on my outback sport (impreza) and not give me lift? I cant find loaded struts for my specific car but I can for the Forrester. Thanks
I do believe that Forester struts will some lift on any chassis other than the Foresters.
Odds are you’re not reading things on this anymore but, did you have any camber issues without the arms installed? I’m looking at doing this but can’t find any arms in my area!
I did not have camber issues with this build, but was warned by many people that it can happen. Also you can find those arms (if you want them) fairly cheap on Ebay or Car-Part.
If I add the 08 Forrester struts to the back will I gain that much? I currently have a 1 inch spacer lift in the back but I still get wheel rub.
Yes it should, but I wonder why you are getting rub already... especially in back 🤔
Love the look
It's been fun having a "ratty style" project.
Did you ever end up using the Forester control arms?
I did not, & alignment was pretty good (before I added the huge lift kit on top of all this(
I was doing a major Subaru Frankenstein to my 97 Impreza wagon. I put a JDM ej20k from the same year under the hood. I used a 04 WRX front crossmember. I had trouble putting in 02 Forester control arms the bushings look a little stressed. It didn't quite line up had to persuade it a little bit. Do you think I should use different control arms up front? I know in the back I will have to use Forester trailing arms or a block lift. I would appreciate your input.
@@northamerican4x4adventurer65 That's unusual, as I was under the impression that was a straight forward install even on the turbo crossmembers. Maybe the arms you have are damaged? But I would try Impreza arms next if it were me.
So, did you have to use the Forester front control arms to correct anything ?
What about the trailing arms and brackets ?
Thanks.
I did not, seems to be vehicle dependant. My suspension's caster setting was pretty good afterwards, so I saved them for trail spares. But I have heard of some vehicles very much needing them afterward, not sure what causes this.
@@Tinker1837 Awesome !
Mine is a wagon just like yours, so I think I'm good to go. This car was pampered and the springs are in good shape, so I just ordered 3" top-mount spacers (not for inside the springs coils) and the 1" 100mm to 114.3mm wheel spacer/adapters for my Kumho mudders. I also have a set of 2" thick 114mm to stack against the 1".
They don't make them thicker than 1" for the 100 to 114.3 config', for some reason.
Should still get a good ride, but I still may get the Forester parts one day and try to go up another 4".
LOL !
Depends on how tough these spacers turn out to be.
Humm!!! you've given me an idea for a buddys scooby doo thank you very much Tinker.
Happy to help, wanted more people to see how easily it can be done for cheap!
Was thinking about doing this, i was just wondering how much the ride quality and handling gets effected after something like this, obviously theres gonna be more body roll but does it feel like your gonna flip when you take a corner a bit to quick?
Also would this work well on the 05 impreza sedan?
Actually you should end up with the same if not less body roll due to the springs in those struts having a higher rate (more stiff) due to being from a heavier Forester.
Does the strut swap give you any more actual travel, or is the strut shaft just taller on the Forester struts?
I do believe so, yes. The shock cartridge in the strut body's different as far as I know. Don't get me wrong, it's not much. There are several simple upgrades for them though. I'd like to fit mine with a set of king springs, an "inverted" STI cartridge, & weld on some bracing in the weak spots of the strut body to save bending when really bashing trails hard.
does cutting the hose bracket mean the struts can no longer be used? or can you bend the metal back and weld it up if you need to put the originals back?
Still useable, just allows you to remove struts without also disconnecting your brakes & then bleeding them (which is a terrible design choice honestly). Right! The way I carefully slit them with the saw blade would allow you to bend them right back if you like.
@@Tinker1837 sweet, thanks for the info! Was looking to do this to my OB wagon and this video was very informative.
@@chuckNORRIS950 Glad to hear it could be of some use, & hopefully not too boring... can be tricky finding that balance of info + fun!
Could I use forester struts on my 09 Impreza outback??
Not sure on 08+
Did you have to disconnect the sway bars?
I have a quick question for you. I have a 1996 impreza outback sport, and I was going to put a lift on it with forester struts and an sjr lift kit. I bought 05 forester struts for it and was able to get the fronts on but the rears don’t seem to work. The rear knuckle and hub doesn’t move/bend enough to line the top bolt hole up. I can get the top mount studs in place as well as the bottom bolt hole. Would you happen to have any suggestions? Or should I try struts from the 97-02 model forester?
Best trick with that is to remove the anti-sway bar link (or the bar itself)
What year are the struts, trailing arms and control arms from
Did you ever install the trailing arms, or you were able to adjust the camber enough with just the bolt?
I did not, so they've just been spares. I adjusted my alignment pretty easily after this strut lift, but after the big 4" kit on top it ended up a bit out of whack... I have a new set of knobby tires on the way so I'll have to get it dialed in here soon!
Awesome job man, just did this to my 01 Impreza. My tire size is 245 45 17. It hits in the front fender when I turn. What tire size would you recommend I switch to? I also have spacer adapters for the rims that were from a Wrx? Would appreciate you're opinion thanks
Thanks! I left my tires at the time at stock size, because I intended to go much farther with the lifting (now on 30" tires w/4" more lift), so I can't say for sure since I went from small right to rather big.
Holy shit that's big hahaha awesome dude
I purchased 2004 struts and am having trouble aligning the strut the the knuckle. Any recommendations? I was thinking of getting 04 trailing arms
I had to do a little bit of strong arming to get mine in there, & it doesn't have antisway bars which made it easier as well. Using the arms from the same vehicle as the struts can help!
What year forester struts did you get
Everything you saw spread out on the blacktop in the beginning was a bit of a mashup of years, since the most inexpensive option was the salvage yards near me, so I ended up with 04 05 and 06 parts. I recommend finding the newest possible parts, both because they'll have less rust + the later years are taller :D
Haha good info! And what’s the newest year struts we can swap out on these subies?
So I am trying to put 04 forester struts on my 98 obs and I can’t get the front new struts to line up with the bolts. I think I have my control arms preventing me from dropping down the caliper. In your video looks like you have yours removed. Is it ok for me to take mine off and leave off?
I left my lower arms in place & found that with Subaru front suspension's if the lower arm is binding up it helps to wedge a prybar into the gap above the inner bushing & lean down on it.
Could I put these struts on my 96 legacy wagon?
I do believe so! I don't think the Legacy's changed to that funny rear suspension setup until 98-99
Hey, man. Great video. What camera did you use for this?
Thanks! And the camera was just a GoPro Hero6.
Do the forester trailing arms bolt straight up?
They sure do! Same 3-bolt pattern, but once you place them side by side you'll see the difference is in the height of the stamped steel section.
This is EXACTLY what I want to do to my 2007 Impreza wagon.
Is it possible to buy all those Forester parts new from an OEM replacement company instead, rather than getting it from an aftermarket offroad company ?
I am in the south, and all the mid 2000's Foresters are still on the road here. LOL
You could do that for sure & maybe even many of them straight from Subaru if you want the best factory versions of the parts.
@@Tinker1837 I want to transfer my new Kumho mud terrain 27" diam's with ION black 14" rims to it.
I had them on my Dodge minivan with 1 1/2" wheel spacers, and I can buy the 100mm x5 to 134mmx5 spacers for less than $100 to do that.
I had a little grinding to do on the outside of the calipers on the Dodge for inner wheel clearance. But I liked not losing the smaller diameter for gear ratio efficiency.
I'll be looking into your liftkit solution as well.
Thanks man !
Hell yeah sounds like a good plan! I have 15" x 8" Jeep wheels on mine now with some 1" adapters to convert from the 5x100mm to the new 5x4.5in setup. Luckily the big WRX brakes fit so well under there that you could almost change pads with the wheels mounted. It's on roughly 30" tires now, but thankfully the car has 4.11 gears so it still gets around good... well, unless you're cruising 75+ on the highway then it kinda sucks. Didn't really build it for high speed anyway, more for crawling trails. Until it gets an STI or WRX drivetrain! :D
Did you have issues with your sway bar links clearing your rims/tires?
I have 215/45/17 rims and my sway bar links rub against my wheel when i turn the wheel all the way (such as when parking).
Same exact car btw. 00' Impreza OBS with SG forester struts.
@@russianrawkit I removed my anti-sway bars completely, because I planned on the big lift kit after this mod, & I wanted to upgrade to much thicker bars later on (to handle the much taller ride height it has now).
@@Tinker1837 Thanks, I ended up removing the anti sway bar as well as I couldnt eliminate the rubbing.. May put them back on if I can find some longer links or a way to drop the bar an inch or so.
I'm having an issue with my CV clicking when turning at slow speeds... did you get anything like this?
Will this work on a 2011 obs impreza with 2011 forester struts?
Did you ever need a trailing arm spacer with this set up?
I did not, was a very straight forward swap for me.
Tinker thanks for the reply. Ill start hunting forester struts in our wreckers 😂
@@qwerty123096 Lift all the things! 😀
Do you know if forester struts will fit a 2012 WRX? I want more lift. I'm 4.5" taller than stock now with 28" AT tires but I want 30".
Not too sure honestly what parts interchange the Subaru models after 2008... that's when the big platform changes rolled out & Subaru's lost quite a bit of the "lego" quality.
@@Tinker1837 I found a couple reports where people have done it with same generation. I think there was just a little tinkering but nothing major to make them fit. Thank you
@@dariconeill7783 Ah okay, & seems like it's worth a try if you can get your hands on a set of Fozz struts to test/measure.
Trying to lift a 05fx35 like this any help I like your car cool
Hopefully it's less rusty than mine!
Where did you get your roof head lights dude ??
Ebay! Took a lot of digging around & a little repair to get them all working right. Worth it in the end I think, might even sneak some LED's inside them later on, just to up the output. Here's the video on them: th-cam.com/video/N7EvZ9bvv64/w-d-xo.html
Thank you!@@Tinker1837
Nice ride man!! I have the same one SAME color!! Anyways how much perfomance would you say is lost from lift?? Also would it be alright if the rear only was lifted??? Im gonna lift mine but its also my daily driver so im trying to find that sweet spot of having a lift and maybe still being able to do 80-90 mph
With this strut lift it's no change really, but when I lifted it 4" higher yet with 29" tires it kinda runs out of gear beyond 75mph
@@Tinker1837 Ayo! update! So i did get the struts in i got brand new ones. Small problem ive got this odd rattling sound from the rear only. both sides it seems. I double checked all the bolts and nuts (wasnt very many) everything is tight. Rattle only noticeable on bumpy roads, no rattle on pavement. Its not super loud but definitely noticeable. Any ideas?? Should i be worried or just turn up the radio??
do you get any vibrations after the lift
Nope! Still no broken or worn out CV's even after more lift & beating on it *fingers crossed*
You should have shown the size comparison of the old and new struts side by side, would have been nice to see. Otherwise good video
Do you know if i can do this with my 2015 impreza (not a wrx)? about to grab a strut spacer kit but figured id ask!
I'm not sure on a 2008+ because a lot changes after that point.
Do you know how many miles the replacement struts had on them? I found a set for $275but they have 192k miles on em, for that price it might be worth it to get new aftermarket struts. Any advice there?
My struts in this video were quite low, since they were replaced on the donor vehicle. The trick is to check the shock seals and wear from the dust cover rubbing on the shock body, those are usually good markers for age if you don't have exact mileage. But yes I agree that if that $275 set is original to the car then they will be a wreck. Go with a good name brand (kyb, bilstein etc) with replacements if you can, and avoid the noname stuff vs low mile originals.
Tinker I’ve since found some cheaper (but fairly low mileage) forester struts and threw them in my 03 Impreza OBS. The rear strut bolt patterns matched perfectly, no need to file the holes out! The only issue I’ve come across is the caster issue in the back, I’ve read that you can fix it with trailing arm brackets from a 99 outback. Do you know if the forester trailing arms are longer if the bracket on those drop the bolt point lower than on an Impreza?
I am going nuts trying to find information on interchangeability with Subaru's. Either I can't find specifics or everyone has a different opinion. Maybe you can help. I have a 2003 Legacy L wagon. I would like to definitely get some lift on it. I see you mention oddball rear suspension on 98+ Legacy's. Will 2003 or somewhere within immediate years Forester struts and springs fit my Legacy or even Outback struts and springs. If so, is there something special that needs to happen? Will I experience caster or camber issues? Would just an alignment be needed or will I need to replace arms etc? Will plates be needed in my case of lifting the Legacy to make up for difference?
I'm honestly not sure on anything to do with those car's suspension systems since they differ in layout so much more than any Subaru's I've wrenched on.
I attempted this and followed your video. Picked up Forester struts dirt cheap at a junkyard and everything in the front bolted up fine but had problems trying to get the sway bar links to bolt back up as they were not long enough after the struts picked it up. My question is did you have this problem or did you just remove the sway links?
They are very challenging to get in there, but on my build I removed both anti-sway bars completely due to the 4" lift kit that followed this work. Much more flexible without them, but of course more of a handful on the street (although it should go without saying this sort of work has negative handling effects). I would like to eventually get much thicker bars to replace them, with quick disconnect ends for trail runs.
@@Tinker1837 I actually thought of maybe making some customized links out of a turn buckle or something or making a personalized sway bar. I bought a 98 Ipreza Wagon for $500 and currently using it as a daily driver.... thanks for the feedback. Let me know if you figure something out and Ill do the same ..
@@vincentgagliardi2291 That sounds like a great idea! I was thinking of something similar. Maybe a left & right hand threaded pair of rod ends + a bolt with holes to accept a hairpin style cotter.
i seen a video where someone said in order to lift if you give up sway bars this correct?
Depends on the vehicle, but yes this is something the case. On mine I removed them both completely because I knew I was going to add quite a bit more lift on top of these struts.
@@Tinker1837 what are the pros vs cons for lifting a car? i was about to buy a 2008 subaru impreza 2.5 premium hatchback and to me it looks like it needs more height for better off road driving, i want to use it for everyday use but also like going camping in the woods
I am having the worst time putting these in haha. Seems like there still needs to be a good 5 inches of clearance for the two fastening bolts to slip into the strut. Any help?
That happens sometimes if your bushings are worn out then they'll bind & fight you. Best option is getting a second hand to lean on the arms so you can slip a bolt in. Once you have 1 started the 2nd will do e in easily.
@@Tinker1837 its a good mile pretty much. I'm thinking i gotta tense the coils maybe but im afraid itll just have wayy too much pressure once I let it go
@@JK-zt8wk Must be the rears I'm guessing? The fronts go in super easy while the rears take about 3 times as long since you're fighting all the links. Forester struts are as tall as they get, so I doubt you've used the wrong struts.
@@Tinker1837 i must be a dang ol anomily. Can i email you a bit? I got a pic and i can send you which ones I got. Maybe we can both solve this and get me sky high
@@JK-zt8wk Hmmm well I can't figure out how to message with this anymore, looks like the function's been entirely removed.
Super cool
Thanks!
How well does this lift do at highway speeds? I'm looking to do something similar to my Impreza sport for scca rallyx and don't want to trailer the car in between. Was there a sway bar that needed adjusted at all?
Harufire Surprisingly good! I tossed the sway bars in favor of suspension flex, so it has plenty of body roll but not unmanageable. Personally I find that kind of driving experience pretty fun, like a tiny trophy truck :) No reason you couldn't upgrade the bars & build extended links for them though! A handful of little heim joints & some tube is what I intend to weld up in the future for quick release sway links, once I get my hands on bigger bars.
@@Tinker1837 this before has a few years old , and I am just curious about how did you end fixing the problem of the sway bar and links , did you made your own or get a new ones aftermarket , the links from the forester does not fit on the impreza ?? I am asking you this because I am thinking to lift my 2002 impreza 2.5 wagon , but after watching all the videos that are doing the same as you , they always has problems with geometrics of the car and rubbing tires , do you think in this times, three years after this video , there is a kit that you just can plug and play for this kind of lifting ?? Thx a lot
How much lift would you guess would come from am 98 forester?
Roughly same as the car in the video, within a 1" or 1/2"
question !! are the rear trailing arms and a arms reallly necessary i see you said they’re optional but what issues lie ahead with out using them ?
Nope! They can be good to have if you run into issues with getting it aligned, but most cars should not need them 👍
another quick question if you would ? i recently lifted mine on 02 struts and shocks and when turning sharply and sometimes taking off i hear a weird rear end noise have you heard of this?
@@jackpancake3725 I have not heard of that, & I would have a look at the usual suspects based on what sort of noise: Wheel bearings, CV axles, Anti-sway bar, Strut top-hats etc.
So this won't work with a 2011 Impreza?
I do not believe so, perhaps with considerable modification, but not a straight swap like the older Subaru's.
Love the sound! What is it (Muffler)?
It's actually completely custom, because it used to sound terrible! It didn't have the unequal length exhaust manifolds that give it the "Subaru rumble" so I built my own header & full system. It has straight 1.75" primaries into a hi-flow racing cat with a flex joint & v-band, then 2.5" back with just a cheap resonator & " turbo style" muffler.