lowering springs recommendations/suggestions please

Pinks are rated at 15 mm (.6") drop with Bilsteins, but the drop in front will be closer to 1" w/ the stock struts and likely with Konis due to the use of KYB style tophats.

 

this sounds about like what I am going for - nice little drop but a decent ride. Where is a good place to source the springs and struts?

Rallitek Springs on Bilstein HD struts. Good improvement over stock with minimal drop.

 

Rallitek's website quotes:

"Legacy 2.5i and GT will ride approximately 1.1 inches lower in Front and 0.9" Rear (SpecB ride height is about .9" lower in front and rear)"

 

They do offer these for wagons too, but don't say how much of a drop, but from the pics on their site, IMO it makes the sedan look sexy and the wagon look pretty ghetto.

 

I mention all this because I have an Outback even higher than the LGT wagon, and am also looking for MINIMAL drop with increased handling. Don't think for me the Rallitek's meet the criteria.

Rallitek's website quotes:

 

IMO it makes the sedan look sexy and the wagon look pretty ghetto.

 

 

Same drop = sexy and ghetto???

I don't know about ghetto...see post 308, but this setup works. I am playing with the camber on the front, gonna actually take it out of OEM max. (-.6 now which is max OEM) Adding the adjustable rear control arms has allowed me to really experiment. A friend that races SCCA Auto Cross runs his daily driver at -1.5 with minimal wear as long as he breaks the tires down and swaps sides every other rotation. I am going to move the front to -1 and see what that does for me, lookinf for that "flickability";)

I guess it all depends on what you are looking for. If you want to maintain stock appearance and ride so you can share the daily driver with the little lady or if you want to eat up the twisties on the way to work and play every day.

Most of you really disliked the Tien's, I don't know if it was a different car or personal experience, or if it was word of mouth but I have not found the ride to be bad for what I use the car for, and on the interstates it is awesome. More testing to do and I really have not started playing with the shocks...yet:rolleyes: So far it is good for me.

Same drop = sexy and ghetto???

sexy on the sedan and ghetto on the wagon.. maybe they are the same part for both, so the wagons sag a bit lower? Just something about lowering a wagon too much... I feel that body style is less forgiving. but there are people who like that. I just don't want that on my Outback. This is a thread about lowering as little as possible but I don't mean to rag on the guys who have their wagon dropped

Edited December 7, 2009 by lufusol

Donn't really know why anyone would want to lower an Outback. I have an 2004 VDC that I use in the snow and bad weather...unstoppable, stock and in perfect condition. My 2 cents. Don't mean to argue with anyone but there were others in this thread that did not go minimal. The information I tried to bring to this thread is not to disagree or mock, but to give information to the LGT owners about my experience so all could make a decision on what to do for personal taste/satisfaction.

I've seen some pics of lowered outbacks that look pretty good. But it does seem like fighting mother nature. But there have been more perverse attacks on mom than lowering your outback. On the other hand lowered wagons and sedans do seem to look better when they are lowered (even though I initially resisted the concept). The front especially is too high on both. And Eibachs, Ralliteks, HTechs and Pinks seem to be the mild lowering alternative (I went with BC BR coilovers that are working pretty well). I think confusing sexy and ghetto was the same problem Hugh Grant had.

Glad to see some clear thinking. To each his/her own. Bring it here, let us see it, tell us how you did it, we all learn. Speaking of that....any pics. How is the handling? Was it a lot more expensive than springs and dampners? Hugh Grant hmmm.

BC BR's are around $1000. My local go-fast shop quoted me $1100 installed. They also have an arrangement worked out with Import Image online, however.

Rallitek's website quotes:

"Legacy 2.5i and GT will ride approximately 1.1 inches lower in Front and 0.9" Rear (SpecB ride height is about .9" lower in front and rear)"

 

They do offer these for wagons too, but don't say how much of a drop, but from the pics on their site, IMO it makes the sedan look sexy and the wagon look pretty ghetto.

 

I mention all this because I have an Outback even higher than the LGT wagon, and am also looking for MINIMAL drop with increased handling. Don't think for me the Rallitek's meet the criteria.

Rallitek has one set of springs for the Legacy. They work on both the sedan and wagon.

 

The wagon looks lower because the rear fender is cut a little different and it's carrying an extra 100 lbs. or so.

 

I believe the only option for the OB is the Megan Outback coilover.

 

Cheers!

I agree that the best thing about these forums is exchanging information about what we do with our cars, what seems to work and what doesn't. Everyone's tastes are (hopefully) a little different and there is no right or wrong approach.

 

I opted for the coilovers because some were available at only a little more than new struts and springs. I got mine from Import Image for less than $1,000 and it seemed new springs/struts were going to be at least $800. I've never used coilovers before and wasn't sure what to expect. The BC BRs seem to be built really well. At first though they were either pretty harsh or pretty bouncy (depending on damper settings). I think this may be due to inadequate spring/damper travel relative to some of the others available. But I learned a bit about using preload (mostly from motorcycle websites) to compensate for this (it basically enhances the amount of spring travel avail for bump absorption)and now find them to be pretty civilized. I haven't usually been that adventurous about working on my cars but playing with them has really been a learning experience for me. I'm now figuring that I could actually do the install myself.

 

I have them set at a pretty modest ride height (not too pimpy or too DTMish) of 13.75" front and rear, measured from fender arch to wheel center. I have my AVO 20mm sway bar set to full stiff. The car sticks amazingly well even with my new Goodyear Eagle GT all season tires. It's definitely a lot more fun than the stock springs/struts especially on twisty mountain and canyon roads. I've got a little more understeer than I'd like and need to talk with my alignment guy to see if some of it can be dialed out with some toe or other adjustments.

 

Overall I'm pretty happy with them at this point. Since I haven't tried a strut/spring combo on the car, I don't know which best optimizes the ride/balance tradeoff. One thing I really like is that you can adjust ride height generally independent of spring travel. And you can easily adjust the dampers and ride height (lowering the center of gravity) if you want to focus your driving more on the handling side.

 

I'd post pics but haven't figured out how to attach my 2-3mb jpegs to the posts.

anybody running H & R 's ? can't really find anything about them, except what manufacturer is saying in their web site.

Hallelujah brother.. Yes lowering an outback is "fighting MOM" (giggle) but - if you have ever driven one on stock suspension at 85 on the highway in strong crosswinds you would understand. Even a 1-2 inch drop would still sit higher than Legacy Wagon (I think) and would be a big center of gravity improvement, without sacrificing pothole worthiness, rad snow clearance, and of course there's the winter package, heated seats/mirrors/wipers I don't think you can get all 3 on a Legacy, or correct me if i'm wrong. And finally the cladding looks cool. IMO Oh and not for nothing, I would want the higher spring rate and dampening that comes with performance springs/struts/shocks, obviously the OB still rolls a good bit even with big sways. They do help a lot but I'm hungry for more. Not everyone takes their OB offroading, though I think it's also cool you can go the other way and lift it for that purpose. Hell people put subframe lifts on cars less worthy than the OB and take them crawling.. so if you don't "get it" you're not alone, but let us have our fun eh

I'd post pics but haven't figured out how to attach my 2-3mb jpegs to the posts.

You need a good freeware/open source image viewing program with basic editing functions so you can shrink those puppies:

http://www.techsupportalert.com/best-free-digital-image-viewer.htm

Edited December 14, 2009 by lufusol

anybody running H & R 's ? can't really find anything about them, except what manufacturer is saying in their web site.

I'm curious too, they seem to be for the Legacy Wagon though not Outback. I looked on fredbeans and TEIN also makes some springs that are very little drop (again, for a Legacy Wagon), so for my outback it would definitely still be a big drop... Would bilsteins fit as long as I got the spec.b tophats? That would lower it even more though, at that point my OB might look slammed, even though plenty of "just a legacy" wags run bilsteins and various springs and aren't slammed. I wonder but I have to guess that would be too much lowering for my taste. ARGHAGSHGHD

 

edit: oops got a bit carried away and forgot this is NOT a "lowering your Outback" thread... sorry guys Maybe I should just buy another car and stop trying to have so much fun with my primary work vehicle

Edited December 14, 2009 by lufusol

If you want to lower an Outback why not just put stock Legacy suspension in it??

Anyone have any options for the first-gen Legacy? (man I haven't been around in a while...)

If you want to lower an Outback why not just put stock Legacy suspension in it??

 

Well that would LOOK about right, enough to effectively lower the center of gravity too, but I'd still be riding on a crappy floaty stock suspension. I want something better. Just like everyone else in here

 

I mean really if I wanted to lower it as cheap as possible I could just throw in Leggy wagon springs, I believe the KYB struts/shocks are even the same, maybe not though. I guess if I wanted moderate improvement I could do a Legacy GT Wagon stock suspension from a newer model year that has significantly less miles on it (than my 97k).

 

But I want less roll and better handling! I already did the Rallitek front/rear sways and I want MORE. And I want it cheap. I WANT IT ALL!!

Edited December 18, 2009 by lufusol
i want i want i want... that is what i sound like. imagine having to listen to that all day.

The front stocks are the same but the rears are longer. Just slap some Bilstein HD's in with some stock LGT springs

Swapped out the Swifts for some Eibachs...

 

First pic: On Swifts

http://i165.photobucket.com/albums/u80/dankdawson25/IMG_0728.jpg

 

Front and Rear measurements, Swifts.

http://i165.photobucket.com/albums/u80/dankdawson25/IMG_0725.jpg

http://i165.photobucket.com/albums/u80/dankdawson25/IMG_0726.jpg

 

Front stock, Swift, and Eibach spring

http://i165.photobucket.com/albums/u80/dankdawson25/IMG_0736.jpg

 

Rear Swift ready for tear down

http://i165.photobucket.com/albums/u80/dankdawson25/IMG_0729.jpg

 

3/8" Saggy bottom spacer and the extended stud compared with the OE

http://i165.photobucket.com/albums/u80/dankdawson25/IMG_0732.jpg

 

Rear Eibach, spacer and new studs ready for install

http://i165.photobucket.com/albums/u80/dankdawson25/IMG_0733.jpg

 

Finished results. Eibachs with 3/8" SBS in the rear.

http://i165.photobucket.com/albums/u80/dankdawson25/IMG_0737.jpg

 

Front and Rear measurements with Eibachs

http://i165.photobucket.com/albums/u80/dankdawson25/IMG_0738.jpghttp://i165.photobucket.com/albums/u80/dankdawson25/IMG_0739.jpg

 

Overall Im a happy camper:)

Edited December 20, 2009 by noswad
added pics of Eibach measurements

Noswad, very nice job and write up. Your ride is essentially my twin. I did the same in taking out my slammed swifts and going up a bit (IONS) in my case. Question, did you black out the rear tails ? at least the orange part.

Noswad, very nice job and write up. Your ride is essentially my twin. I did the same in taking out my slammed swifts and going up a bit (IONS) in my case. Question, did you black out the rear tails ? at least the orange part.

 

Thanks! I also considered the iONS for the wagon, but I think they are like twice the price of the Eibachs (even though Eibach doesnt make a "wagon specific" spring) and with the spacers it sits just right and rides great too.

 

My tails are some of ( i believe) the last of the Secreates. Someone else asked me the same question:lol:

 

Next step is to eventually find some cheap-o stocker struts and throw in some Konis....dont want to take the chances of messing up mine and not having another set.

Just a few pics if you are tenative about the Koni's ..not really a haed mod. Pretty straight forward.

I'll second that , not a difficult mod. Hard to go wrong. Quite worthwhile as well

Thanks! I also considered the iONS for the wagon, but I think they are like twice the price of the Eibachs (even though Eibach doesnt make a "wagon specific" spring) and with the spacers it sits just right and rides great too.

 

My tails are some of ( i believe) the last of the Secreates. Someone else asked me the same question:lol:

 

Next step is to eventually find some cheap-o stocker struts and throw in some Konis....dont want to take the chances of messing up mine and not having another set.

 

 

 

How is the ride quality, swifts vs. eibachs?

I'll second that , not a difficult mod. Hard to go wrong. Quite worthwhile as well

 

Yeah it doesnt look too difficult, but from what I understood the directions on where to measure from and cut were a little sketchy... Thats why I said Id like to do this on another set of stockers. Are the directions not screwy about where to measure and cut?