qwertyb22 Posted January 17, 2008 Share Posted January 17, 2008 I'm a noob (of course) and after finally parting ways with my beloved VW 1.8t, am enjoying my new car a ton (even though its only the 2.5SE...). One of the first things that needs doing on my Legacy is upgrading that stock suspension, and I'm liking the sound of the Bilstein/Pink combo. I've searched over the forums, and honestly I think I'm a bit more confused now than before. Namely, the Bilstein/Pink combo seems to get rave reviews, however there seem to be multiple generations floating around. I'm looking at Bilstein HDs but after reading that there are concerns that there is less travel in this setup than the Spec.B's, want to confirm that some of you guys are running this setup without problems bottoming out. Also, with regard to the top hats, the website I'm buying from says I'll need Spec.B top hats, yet everyone here seems to use JDM parts, are these one and the same? And if not, whats the difference? And finally, what is the realistic drop I should expect? 15mm is like just a hair over half and inch front and rear, and the pics I've seen (Bosco's especially) look a good bit more than that. Thanks for the help guys! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
qwertyb22 Posted January 21, 2008 Author Share Posted January 21, 2008 Bump for some help... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sactojesse Posted January 22, 2008 Share Posted January 22, 2008 Did you read unclemat's FAQ? http://legacygt.com/forums/showthread.php?t=61108 I'm looking at Bilstein HDs but after reading that there are concerns that there is less travel in this setup than the Spec.B's, want to confirm that some of you guys are running this setup without problems bottoming out. Also, with regard to the top hats, the website I'm buying from says I'll need Spec.B top hats, yet everyone here seems to use JDM parts, are these one and the same? And if not, whats the difference? And finally, what is the realistic drop I should expect? 15mm is like just a hair over half and inch front and rear, and the pics I've seen (Bosco's especially) look a good bit more than that. Thanks for the help guys! The Bilstein HDs purportedly have the same travel (130 mm) as the JDM Bilsteins and USDM Spec B Bilsteins. There was some misinformation earlier that they only had 108 mm of travel, but that notion has since been dispelled. It doesn't matter whether you call them JDM tophats, Spec B top hats, or Bilstein top hats. They're the same thing, because all JDM LGTs used the Bilstein style top hat used on the USDM Spec B and, for that matter, Legacy 3.0R. Regarding their drop w/ pinks, I'm running Bilstein HDs w/ pinks in the front on my LGT wagon. Based on my experience, I'd estimate the drop to be around 3/4" (19 mm) or one finger width's difference. I can't comment on the difference in the rear though, because I'm using JDM LGT wagon springs in back. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rexster Posted January 22, 2008 Share Posted January 22, 2008 even if the HDs do have slightly less travel than the subaru bilsteins (which is debatable) they don't need as much because they are valved more aggressively and they react/recover much faster than the subaru versions. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tedduc Posted January 22, 2008 Share Posted January 22, 2008 I believe the tophats for the typical Bilstein HD + Pink combo are the US Spec B parts. Anyway, I got my Bilsteins and tophats through King of Parts, and I have to say the Pink/HD combo is fantastic. The car feels glued to the road with this combo and is way more confidence inspiring than the stock setup. I'm also running the JDM 20mm RSB, so I'm done with the handling, as I think it is now perfect for a daily driver. I think my drop was probably around 1", maybe a little less. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
qwertyb22 Posted January 23, 2008 Author Share Posted January 23, 2008 Thanks guys, I appreciate the help. Tedduc, thats exactly the setup I'm thinking I'll install. Glad to know it works well for a daily driver! Can't wait to get started... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
boostsr20 Posted January 23, 2008 Share Posted January 23, 2008 even if the HDs do have slightly less travel than the subaru bilsteins (which is debatable) they don't need as much because they are valved more aggressively and they react/recover much faster than the subaru versions. Really? I would have thought the Spec B's would have been stiffer. Especially the REv A's. The HD's aren't meant to be valved that stiff. Thats why Bilstein has a Sport line also. Which I've been waiting for them to release the LGT version. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RaceComp Engineering Posted January 25, 2008 Share Posted January 25, 2008 We run the Pinks + Bilstein HD on our Spec B....love it. Definitely an improvement over OEM Spec B struts. Yes you need Spec B/JDM tophats, or you can get the new Group N tophats that were recently released. They're pretty firm. - Andrew Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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