Best way to go about lifting?

hello,

 

i wanna lift my 2005 legacy gt wagon

 

what is the best way to do so?

 

what year outback/forester struts/springs are direct swap?

 

right now the best i've come up with are 1" strut spacers.

 

thanks!

2005-2008 Outback struts / springs will bolt right up. Forester won't. No clue what that will do to your CV axles though. The Outbacks have a built in drivetrain drop (1 inch spacers) to help maintain the correct CV angles. I think you may be able to use previous generation Outback rear struts (whatever the Gen is that ended in 2004) too.

2005-2008 Outback struts / springs will bolt right up. Forester won't. No clue what that will do to your CV axles though. The Outbacks have a built in drivetrain drop (1 inch spacers) to help maintain the correct CV angles. I think you may be able to use previous generation Outback rear struts (whatever the Gen is that ended in 2004) too.

 

thanks! i was hoping for this exact response.

 

would you happen to know how much lift 2005 outback struts/springs would provide?

 

as for CV axles, i read on a couple sites that produce lift kits that you can get up to a 2" lift before you run into those types of CV angle problems.

This is the first time in 12 yrs on this forum I have ever seen anyone asking to lift the suspension on a LGT. Congrats.

I was hesitant to do the outback swap for fears of damaging the axles, so I bought rallitek 1in rasied springs for my lgt.

 

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Best picture I have with the stock wheels and tires

 

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This is the first time in 12 yrs on this forum I have ever seen anyone asking to lift the suspension on a LGT. Congrats.

 

lol thanks!

I was hesitant to do the outback swap for fears of damaging the axles, so I bought rallitek 1in rasied springs for my lgt.

 

i see. thanks for the idea.

 

do you know how much of a lift the outback swap would create? i was hoping to avoid swapping springs.

 

right now i'm thinking about doing just the strut spacers and seeing how that goes. 1" in the front and 1 3/8" in the rear.

thanks! i was hoping for this exact response.

 

would you happen to know how much lift 2005 outback struts/springs would provide?

 

as for CV axles, i read on a couple sites that produce lift kits that you can get up to a 2" lift before you run into those types of CV angle problems.

 

Somewhere around 3 inches. The struts are longer so there is some lift there. Unsure how much come from the Outback springs.

OB struts are about 1" longer on the body. OB also have taller tires, effectively that's about another 1" lift. The rest of the lift comes from the springs.

 

OB struts/springs should be fine. OBXT vs regular OB seems to have a different ground clearance according to Subaru (like 8.7" vs 8.4").

 

I think your CV axles will be fine...factoring in the 1" lift from the tires, you're really looking at a 2" lift in the body.

 

Conversely, OB guys have been lowering their cars with LGT hardware for a long time without seemingly ill effects on the CV's.

thanks everyone! I'll start looking for 2005 OB or OBX struts!

 

i know this is a bit off topic maybe, but if i needed to do something like subframe spacers, is that achievable on jack stands?

This is the exact post I was looking for! I just moved to Alaska and my 05 Legacy Gt is just to low for these roads! Thanks for all the info guys. Rally_Legacy keep me updated on your build I'll be doing my soon too.

This is the exact post I was looking for! I just moved to Alaska and my 05 Legacy Gt is just to low for these roads! Thanks for all the info guys. Rally_Legacy keep me updated on your build I'll be doing my soon too.

 

haha awesome, yeah i had a hard time finding info on lifting a legacy. the people responding here were by far the most helpful of all my google searching.

 

right now im planning on just doing a strut spacers kit i got from anderson design. not installed yet. ill post back whenever i do.

 

in the meantime, if i come across outback struts, ill get those instead.

 

i found some KYB struts, OE replacement for 05-08 outback. so im considering those. but theyre $330, and i'd still need to figure out springs and top hats. i could probably reuse my oem top hats but im not sure about springs. would probably look into king springs.

 

im not looking to mess with subframe spacers or cv axle issues for now...ill probably just do the strut spacer kit and see if thats enough clearance for me.

Primitive racing has lift spacers. I've been looking at their 1/2" ones for winter.

Rally_legacy I was looking at the same. I found some KYB for 288+ shipping ($50) so a little cheaper. I was thinking about using King as well for the rear. But I'm having a hard time finding front springs, any suggestions? Everywhere I've looked only has lowering springs.

 

Are you planning on using your legacy's stock springs in front with a spacer?

Rally_legacy I was looking at the same. I found some KYB for 288+ shipping ($50) so a little cheaper. I was thinking about using King as well for the rear. But I'm having a hard time finding front springs, any suggestions? Everywhere I've looked only has lowering springs.

 

Are you planning on using your legacy's stock springs in front with a spacer?

 

Hmm, thats odd you can find rear springs but not front. i haven't personally looked.

 

as far as the spacer plan, yeah. i would reuse the entire strut assembly. the spacers basically just go in between the top hat and the body mounting point. it just extends the strut mounting point down 1" in the front, and 1 3/8" in the rear.

 

this is the kit i bought https://andersondesign-fab.com/product/2005-2009-legacy-1-lift-kit/

thanks everyone! I'll start looking for 2005 OB or OBX struts!

 

i know this is a bit off topic maybe, but if i needed to do something like subframe spacers, is that achievable on jack stands?

 

Possible, but harder than a lift obviously, you really need a safe way to support the subframes while you get the body spacers in there.

Possible, but harder than a lift obviously, you really need a safe way to support the subframes while you get the body spacers in there.

 

hmm alright. yeah if its not safe i wont attempt it. i installed a trans mount on my wrx but took it to a shop for motor mounts, if that provides any context.

 

best i could do is 4 jackstands + a jack

Have you finished Rally_Legacy? I finally got everything in. I'll be replacing an axel and finishing up the lift this weekend. Pictures to come!

Have you finished Rally_Legacy? I finally got everything in. I'll be replacing an axel and finishing up the lift this weekend. Pictures to come!

 

Hey! Glad you wrote back....if you make your own thread definitely post it here!

 

I haven't finished yet, been driving the car and resolving some other miscellaneous issues, busy with life and stuff. My deadline to finish the lift is essentially before winter, so I have some time.

 

What route did you end up going with the strut/spring combo etc?

Have you finished Rally_Legacy? I finally got everything in. I'll be replacing an axel and finishing up the lift this weekend. Pictures to come!

 

bump! you take any pics?

The CV shafts should be fine with an inch lift. I put 1" spacers in the front and 1-1/4" spacers in the rear of my Forester with no other mods and it's been like that for about 3 years now with no issues.

 

The CV shafts should be fine with an inch lift. I put 1" spacers in the front and 1-1/4" spacers in the rear of my Forester with no other mods and it's been like that for about 3 years now with no issues

 

Awesome! Looks good. I'm doing 1" in the front and 1 and 3/8's in the rear. I'm almost done. I have the fronts in, hopefully finishing up the rears today. I'll post a lot of pics and a semi-review of the Anderson Fabrication kit I'm using.

I'm all done! Pics soon to come. Install became a bit more complicated than I bargained for but we're all set now.

I can't wait to see it! Hoping you paired it with some taller tires too.