Sporty Daily Driver Full Suspension Refresh

I’m putting together a plan for a full suspension refresh. I have a good idea of where I think I want to go, but want confirmation on final direction and parts selection to get the most for what I want of the car. When I built my engine I was shown I didn’t need an AOS. Looking for that kind of advice here.

 

 

 

Main goal is a little stiffer than stock, playful car that brings enjoyment to the mundane. I’d like it to do well at the occasional mountain run, and maybe a future autocross. Very unlikely that I’ll do any track days with it. I can deal with an increased level of NVH, but I don’t want a no-compromised racecar that eventually makes me cringe if I need to run to the store. To that end, I don’t want to cheap out too much on parts, but also need to be smart with dollars and a limited budget. Here’s what I’m thinking:

 

 

- - KW v2 coil overs. I’ve thought Konis/H&R for a number of years, but honestly the dollar jump from Konis to KW doesn’t feel too terrible (I have a source) if it means I have more adjustability in the suspension to really dial in the comfort/firmness balance. I also like the idea of just bolting on the new part and not having to adapt the strut housings for the Konis. I have this feeling that the KWs are right around the entry level for a quality coilover that won’t ride like crap, and offers benefits over a strut/spring assembly.

- - Front top hats – Whiteline KCA409 - I’ve read these aren’t great in the longevity department. Are those one-off occurrences or should I be looking at a different option? I like the added adjustability. I’d hate to go for an alignment and find out I can’t quite get dialed in. Should I just find a cheaper option?

 

- - Planning to buy Mevotech arms and replace bushings with Whiteline. It doesn’t add a ton of cost, and it gives me the benefit of being able to remove the control arms as is, and just bolt in the new units. If I can save a few hours by prepping these ahead of time, that’s worth it to me.

- - Rear control arm bushing – WhitelineW53353 or KCA334? I have a feeling I would do just fine with the non-adjustable unit, but the price difference isn’t huge. Would I be happier with the added caster adjustability?

- - Inner control arm bushing – Whiteline W0506

- - Whiteline Roll Center KCA313

- - Stock front sway bay with Moog end links. I know a stiffer fsb adds understeer, something I can’t see myself wanting to do.

- - Rear Top Hats – KYB – I haven’t seen a lot of popular aftermarket pieces, so I currently have these to save $50 over the OEM units.

- - Rear Trailing Arm bushings – Whiteline W63398 Front, and W63394 Rear

- - Front link – Whiteline W63393

- - Rear link – Whiteline W63395

- - Upper Link – Whiteline W63396, and either W63397 or KCA399. Without KTA124 kit, will I overall benefit from KCA399, or is that still way more kit than what I need for a basic set up? I’ve read the rear can be difficult to dial in; it seems this one may get it to good enough.

- - Rear Diff & Support - Whiteline KDT903 & KDT927 – these are the inserts, which I believe is the more straight forward install.

 

 

I’m also planning on the STi steering rack, which I think plays nicely with the Whiteline Bump steer kit. With that process I’m looking at the Energy Suspension steering rack bushing kit. Is this kit inferior to the Whiteline? Or is Whiteline just x amount of dollars more expensive for the name?

 

 

That last thought also makes me wonder if there are other areas I should be shopping for alternatives to Whiteline. Am I paying for the name or a higher quality product?

 

Along with all this I’m planning on a set of Michelin AS3s. After a few years of running Super Sports, I’ve realized I don’t need to ultimate grip level of a pure summer tire. Is there anything in my above list that will be hampered by running an all-season? With the car I’m a little more after driving enjoyment rather than ultimate pace. Similar to the BRZ coming with prius tires or whatever it came with. Made the car feel more alive and you didn’t need to be breaking the law to engage the general demeanor.

Am I missing anything? I currently have Group N motor, transmission and pitch stop mounts. I don’t think there’s anything that will still be untouched bushing wise.

I have Koni's and HnRs and they're as comfy as stock, full-stop, at least to me. I'm 21, FWIW. I work at a dealer and opted to get my dealer discount from Subaru with OEM tophats.

 

I wouldn't recommend coilovers on our cars unless you need the ride height adjust-ability if you aren't tracking the car. Konis come with a range of stiffness and I opted for mine in the middle. Stiff doesn't feel too much worse, but you can tell that you've stiffened up the struts when messing with the little knob on top.

 

About your arms and bushings, I'll speak for what I've done on my car.

 

I have the KTA124 kit and the handling upgrade from that is tremendous. Highly recommended. I also did a rear sway bar around this time. My car has had four Kartboy endlinks on it since I replaced my thrashed ones a year or so ago and those were also a big upgrade. I have the stock front sway bar and wouldn't mind an upgraded one in the front to get some feel in the steering, but it's lots of fun to get the oversteer-prone handling response of the car with the setup it has now.

 

I have Whiteline rear upper control arm bushings and only noted added firmness. Go OEM for these.

 

I otherwise have OEM bushings in the suspension. In hindsight I wish I had done the front LCA bushings in polyurethane for steering feel and whatnot, but oh well. All of my bushings are new, OEM.

 

I have the Whiteline roll center correction kit and would recommend using this if you lower the car. You're gonna wreck your ball joints soon enough if you use OEM ones on a lowered car anyways.

 

Order in which I did these things:

 

Tires

Sway bar links

All bushings aside from rear UCA bushings.

Konis and H&Rs

Rear sway bar

Rear lateral link set

Roll center kit

Probably some more stuff, but there's a lot of it.

 

I opted for stock top hats. I'd just recommend keeping these OEM or KYB on a daily. You're gonna have lots of adjustability for a -1 to -2 degree alignment with these modifications.

 

 

As for tires, I also have AS3s and they're the limiting factor in grip with my mods, apart from driver skill. Definitely don't spend all this money on suspension mods and get all-seasons. The Falken Azenis FK510 is inexpensive and a decent daily-driver tire. Really can't stress enough that much of these mods are wasted if you get all-seasons. The AS3s are a decent all-rounder, but you should be looking at having two sets of wheels and tires to get the most out of this car.

 

Edit: Read more of your condensed stuff. The diff bushings are NOT worth it. I did those and yes, shifts feel better, but the NVH increase is too much for my liking. Combined with the Group N trans mount, they're not my thing. When the diff comes out for a 6-speed swap I will definitely be sticking to OEM for those instead of poly.

Edited June 23, 2020 by Pleides

100% agree with Pleides tire comment. Arguably, the most important link of chain would be the weakest if you put on all seasons following all of the suspension modifications. Lot's of good tires out there. I'd recommend MPS4S, but that is a super biased response. I also don't have any experience driving on a different summer tire. The Falken Azenis FK510s mentioned above have positive reviews, good stats, and are significantly cheaper.

 

I would like to come back to this, after I get my WL roll center correction kit and STi rack installed.

 

Reserved.

Most of the time I agree about tires. I'm also heavily biased to Michelin (I work for the company that sells and mounts all imsa tires) and currently run super sports. What I've noticed is I don't typically drive fast enough to warrant a full summer tire. I've seen was the as3 can do, and it rivals the uhp tires from a generation back. Unfortunately the as4 is still a ways from 17" sizes.

What did you think of the Falken Azenis FK510s?

Also check out Dunlops Signature HPs. I had these on the car before my MPS4S and was very happy with them as well, for a sporty all season.

If you don't drive fast enough to warrant upgraded tires, why upgrade the rest of the suspension?

 

I'm of the opinion you should start getting the handling characteristics you want starting with tires. I've only opted to replace half the shit on my car that I have because the old stuff was completely thrashed. My tires squeal at half the limits of the suspension. Don't get me wrong - the AS3+ is a pretty good tire at doing everything for 15-20K of daily driving with occasional backroads, but it's the first handling "bottleneck" you want to eliminate. If you're gonna go with all-seasons, put some Konis and H&Rs and the roll center kit on there, then do everything else OEM. Gives you a nice stance, handles better, and doesn't exceed the capabilities of the AS3+. Much nicer ride quality as well with less NVH. Little dulled on the steering response and feel, but that's what you get with all-seasons.

Part of the catalyst of upgrading is so many parts are trash on mine. Torn bushings galore and now squeaking with any weight transfer. Figured if I'm in there why not look at something "better."

 

I 100% agree tires will help raise overall grip limit and enable faster cornering speeds and reduced stopping distances. If I'm honest, I don't need to be going that fast on a regular basis. But what I can build for is overall feel, which doesn't have to equal faster.

 

Tires will wear out and I can switch those easy enough. If I get to the end of a pretty good tire in the as3, I could very well decide a uhp is next. What I don't want to do is buy suspension parts twice.

I’d suggest poly for the front control arm bushings and the Whiteline KTA124 kit, plus the Whiteline roll center correction kit. Beyond that, just go OEM. The rest of the bushings last a decent bit longer than the bushings those kits replace (apart from the roll center kit, which should always be installed in conjunction with lowered suspension). The front control arm bushings will help steering feel as well

I have full whiteline except for the cobb/hotchkiss swaybars and kartboy solid swaybar mounts. Still on oem arms and steering. Bc racing c/o.

 

On a bumpy road, my vision blurs. On a smooth road, it's an awesome ride. Even as a daily, its a fun setup. However, stop/go traffic gets old. Most of my driving involved highway commuting. For long cruises, it's worked out well.

 

I went from 17" enkei rpf1/pf01 with michelin supersports to a heavy 19" wheel with michelin as3. I like the look of the wheels and hate the experience of the as3. They uniformly sucked at everything. I should say that I view traffic as a game of tetris, so I expect 100% from my car all the time.

 

Direzza or ventus are cheaper substitute for the supersports. Idk about wear since I never used them.

 

You want over steer, stiffen the rear bar. However that doesn't help the turn-in, the roll-center kit and the caster change did more to improve turn-in than the rear bar. We found reducing the rear bar actually helped turning more. At high torque loads, sure, throttle oversteer is a requirement but you'll make the evening news' darwin award segment doing that on the street.

 

Replacing the diff bushings & transmission/shifter bushings made shifting more precise, however, it became a bit more finicky. As well the noise level ratcheted up.

 

Coilovers dont have to be harsh, it's just the out of the box experience. Coilover require setup and tuning to fit your driving style. Once setup correctly, they are as hard or soft as you want them to be. Mine have had the same setup for years as I drove the track setup on the street, minus the slicks.

I was hoping you would chime in. How much of the vision blur is due to BC coilover compared to the full poly suspension? (Sorry if that's a stupid question).

 

 

 

I experience almost zero stop/go in my daily commute. Should also mention I'm sticking with 17s.

 

 

I currently have a whiteline rsb as stiff as it will go. I think with Michelin super sports I'm over-tired, so I can't really tell a difference at the speeds I drive. Which I would then think either drive faster (bigger oops when oops happens and bigger $ during inevitable LEO encounter) or go with a less sticky tire and get the car moving around a little. The main thought I have while driving is that I wish the car wouldn't pitch so greatly during acceleration & shifting, and that it would feel less floaty while changing directions.

 

If I gt with the Konis I'd feel better about going with a PS4S. (Non-Michelins carry a bit of a stigma at work). Would the KW be a better option than strut/springs if the uhp tire was part of the equation?

 

And aesthetically, I'd like for it to be lower but not slammed. I have visual tastes, and don't mind paying for it.

Edited June 25, 2020 by seanyb505

So I'm 1 and a half years to the date of starting this thread, and I'm finally about to start wrenching lol

 

Basic headlines are:

- KW Coilovers. Source through work made this a way more attractive option.

- STi steering rack & damper

- Mevotech front arms with superpro anti-lift kit

- Whiteline bump steer kit

- JDM rear aluminum arms & linkage

- Whiteline KTA-124 adjustable links kit

- Just about every whiteline bushing offered for the car

- Currently on Michelin as4. A really good tire that does it's best against the all season stereotype. I may switch to whatever the next gen BFG UHP is if that comes out before these wear out.

 

I've inspected current hardware and bought oem replacements for anything that looked just too crusty. For a Pennsylvania car it's honestly not too bad underneath. I don't think I've broken any bolts since I've got it in 2012.

 

Hopefully I don't get too many unexpected road blocks. Just need to research the FSM and find some more good write ups.

Sorry never followed up. Vision blur is mostly from being setup very stiff. We were trying to limit body roll at speed as well as finding precise turn-in for auto-x. At this point, my suspension solution is 10 years old. The same parts are still being used in pretty much the same way.

 

Tires continue to be the best thing to change on a daily. The super sport tire has been through multiple generations at this point. You being a fan and having access to the company or other experts, it never hurts to call Michelin and ask for their advice.

 

The suspension components you have picked out are going to add alot of nvh. Picking a touring tire is going to improve the ride over a sport tire. An all-season tire is still pretty much an all-suck tire. I drove the super sports in snow on more than one occasion even doing an autox in the snow with them. If you need snow tires, buy them on cheap rims. Otherwise a nice "summer" tire is going to be way more fun.

 

Kw? that's the coilovers? Don't over lower the car, as that affects the ride quality. Try to keep stock height with mid-range stiffness.

 

For learning to drive on the new setup, do some autox. You don't have to try for fast times, just give you an understanding of what the car will do before you need to depend on it.

Coming back to this, as my car contains a good bit of what you listed (see build thread). I have limited experience in modifying my own cars and using various parts. I had Energy Suspension poly bushings on at the time I previously replied, and I now have Whiteline almost everywhere under the car now, minus trailing arm and diff bushings. I enjoy the stiffness/adjustability brought by the rear bushings and arms. The only way for my too maximize feel in the rear would be with installing my WL trailing arms, new diff bushings (considered WL inserts, and new OEM), a strut tower bar, Cusco chassis bracing (installing this afternoon).

 

The front, as of last Thursday was completed with the ball joints from WL's bump steer kit, and MOOG inner tie rods. Everything up front is now brand new and feels phenomenal. The only things factory are the subframe, knuckles, and sway bar as I also didn't want to increase understeer.

So I finally got the car back on the road this past Monday. We only did a basic eyeball alignment to get it to the shop.

 

First impressions after a little more than 100 miles:

- My old suspension was old. And rotted away. This is definitely stiffer than what I imagine it was before things rotted away. I don't hate it, just notice it. Roads aren't too bad here so it's not irritating. I think I can live with this long term.

- Even after the alignment, it pulls to the right. I can let go of the steering wheel in gentle right hand interstate bends. 50mph on a narrow backroad requires attention, otherwise I'm constantly yanking the steering wheel left.

- I installed the KWs at 8 clicks (toward softer) from full hard front and 6 clicks (middle) on the rear. It feels bouncy so I will likely go two clicks softer front and rear. Maybe 4 on the rear to make it same as front.

- I'm only a smidgen lower than before. I didn't want to go too low, and my old suspension was up to an inch saggier than that bright sunny morning in June of 2004 when it rolled into the world.

- Steering way heavier than before. I knew it would stiffen, I didn't know this much. I used to think my steering wheel was way light, especially in comparison to my wife's FX35. I'd say I caught up to that and then went a little further. The pull to the right doesn't exactly help that.

 

So I've got some bugs to work out. I'll continue to try to post a little more detail on the installation processes and experience, as well as a full parts list and current alignment sheet.

ive got a 3rd gen but like you did a bunch of polymer and the 15 sti steering rack all at once and have the same comments now on my car. Id have to agree the biggest thing ive noticed with the STI rack is that it is very stiff and heavy compared to the original rack in my car. Givent the higher ratio i was expecting some change but nothing as dramatic as it actually was. on the upside less steering input is needed for turns, but holy moly is it way heavier than expected.

So I finally got the car back on the road this past Monday. We only did a basic eyeball alignment to get it to the shop.

 

First impressions after a little more than 100 miles:

- My old suspension was old. And rotted away. This is definitely stiffer than what I imagine it was before things rotted away. I don't hate it, just notice it. Roads aren't too bad here so it's not irritating. I think I can live with this long term.

- Even after the alignment, it pulls to the right. I can let go of the steering wheel in gentle right hand interstate bends. 50mph on a narrow backroad requires attention, otherwise I'm constantly yanking the steering wheel left.

- I installed the KWs at 8 clicks (toward softer) from full hard front and 6 clicks (middle) on the rear. It feels bouncy so I will likely go two clicks softer front and rear. Maybe 4 on the rear to make it same as front.

- I'm only a smidgen lower than before. I didn't want to go too low, and my old suspension was up to an inch saggier than that bright sunny morning in June of 2004 when it rolled into the world.

- Steering way heavier than before. I knew it would stiffen, I didn't know this much. I used to think my steering wheel was way light, especially in comparison to my wife's FX35. I'd say I caught up to that and then went a little further. The pull to the right doesn't exactly help that.

 

So I've got some bugs to work out. I'll continue to try to post a little more detail on the installation processes and experience, as well as a full parts list and current alignment sheet.

 

 

 

With the KTA124 rear lower control arms, did you opt for the camber bushings (KCA399) or standard ones (W63397) for the upper outer bushing? I'm curious if there's any benefit to having camber adjustment on both the upper arm and lower arms for the rear.

Kca399 with camber adjustment. My thinking was I didn't want to get to the alignment and somehow end up not having enough adjustment. Which sounds stupid considering kta124. I usually over think things so I'm sure I had a reason. The price difference wasn't a factor, I don't think.

 

I do know the tech did use it, but they have to remove the wheel to adjust it. I think that particular step bumped the price of the alignment fwiw.

Ok, so updates. Also, recap.

 

I was able to take off the week between Christmas and New Year’s to finally tackle the project. The original goal was to take a week off during February. Then March. Then April. Then “well I’m not going to do this during summer.” Then September, October, November, then “well I’m not going to do this during dead of winter.” Then the week after Christmas turned into a glorious week of low 70s for the high.

 

Ideally I planned to start on the Thursday before Christmas, though I had to finish a painting project in the garage:

Not too shabby final result.

 

I more used this as an excuse to see what would be involved if I wanted to do some basis bumper repaints in the future.

 

 

 

Anyway, once that was out of the way..

 

 

Last time on the 248k mile suspension:

 

And off it forever!

 

 

 

 

It slow going at first. Since I was removing the entirety of the rear suspension, whole exhaust came off:

 

 

 

 

At the last second, I decided I wanted to try to do all this without breaking the brake lines. Just maneuver a bunch of stuff over and under:

 

 

 

 

I don’t have many pics of the rear subframe coming out. It was mostly straight forward. There wasn’t anything I wasn’t replacing or working on in some form, so everything from the driveshaft back came out:

 

 

 

We dropped the little brackets holding stuff together, the trailing arm front brackets, rear trunk pan brace, rear shocks, and finally the 4 subframe bolts. With a regular jack under the diff, it just became a matter of dropping it as slowly as possible. Since I planned to reuse the axles and didn’t plan on replacing the seals, we tried to be gentle with the whole assembly.

 

Subframe assembly out and next to newness:

 

 

 

The only things going back on the car are rear diff and axles, hubs, parking brake assemblies. (Brakes staying the same but they’re not pictured here. )

 

Then began one of my favorite kinds of car work – putting together entire assemblies from new, clean parts.

 

 

 

 

“Oh you’re not going to paint your diff gold? Cause Subaru?” Fine here’s a gold splotch.

 

 

Getting close:

 

 

 

During this time I replaced the rear diff fluid. I had loosened the fill plug on the car before hitting the drain plug. A ½” drive breaker bar without a socket did the trick.

 

The fluid was at latest 9 years and 92k miles old and the first time I had done this change. For reference the fluid I had was old Subaru extra-S that I bought from Fred Beans lol. That’s how long ago I thought, I should change the rear diff fluid. I have some Motul Gear 300 that I intended to put into the 5spd, but with the 4 day delay that remains on the shelf.

 

Gratuitous “There’s nothing back there!” shot:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Few pictures were taken during the reinstallation of the whole sub frame. Much like mating a transmission to an engine in car, it became about 15-20 minutes of forward, back, side to side realigning. Once we got the subframe mostly in place, we started the 4 chassis bolts, and then began work on the rest of the mounting points.

 

I had a little scare on one of the trailing arm bracket bolts. I could start 1 or two of the 3, but the 3rd one had a ton of resistance. Oh no. This is how you strip out a chassis nut, my worst fear on the entrie project. I asked my friend to see if he could get that side better aligned while I re-positioned all the brake lines, e-brake, and abs wiring around the trailing arms. Apparently he got it because it’s now torqued and I haven’t crashed yet, 3 months later. Or there’s only 2 bolts really tightened.

 

New stuff all up in there:

 

 

 

With the rear fully torqued, I moved to the front. Much like the rear, plans were to keep little of the stock suspension and steering.

 

My helper took a few days off so I was on my own for what seemed like a much simpler job of front suspension. With the help of the special Subaru ball-joint tool I was able to break down the driver’s side in relative short order. I did this with the strut and knuckle still on the car, so I had to use hand tools with the ball-joint puller rather than an impact gun on the bench. Still, worked well enough. What I assume were 17 year old, 248k mile ball joint:

 

 

 

 

More to come!

Awesome picture rotations. And text disappears when clicking edit. Oh well. Rotate your phone.

Great job. Her back side looks niiiice[emoji6]

 

Sent from my SM-G996U using Tapatalk

I did this on the race wagon, except dropped both front & rear. steam cleaned the entire underside before putting it back together.

 

Your car is looking good

Oh front side you say? Stay tuned to see today's exciting conclusion!

 

 

 

Anyway, I was surprised the ball joint wasn’t rustier. The ball joint/knuckle bolt didn’t break either. It was cruddy, but not chemically rusted in place. I cleaned the threads on the knuckle (M8x1.25) and used new Home Depot hardware.

But at least some help arrived:

 

 

 

The control arm bushings had definitely seen better days (passenger pictured, but driver’s wasn’t that much better:

 

 

That definitely helped explain the shuddering I was getting during left hand interstate bends.

 

The next bit was probably the most frustrating part of the who project – getting the front control arm back on. I had switched to mevotech arms for bling and having the ability to cut bushing pressing from the heart of the project. I’d had the mevotech stuff removed, and replaced with superpro anti-lift and caster adjustment rear bushing.

 

I’d read the function design performed better than Whiteline, so I decided to try the super pro kit. This kit isn’t entirely adjustable. You push in the bushing and that’s it. Hope you like it where it is. It definitely does drop the rear of the arm from the chassis, which I believe changes the geometry to keep things from moving too much during acceleration. I’m sure I got sold. I love the way it drives, but, I probably could have done fine with the Whiteline. More detailed thoughts in a later thoughts and contemplations post.

 

Anyway once the rear was attached, good luck getting the front bushing lined up. Eventually with the help of a jack I got it. I should also note I did this with the ball joint installed in the knuckle, but not the arm. Everything was loosey goosey, which I assumed would help me get things lined up. Still not sure I did that right.

 

Anyway, new aluminum arm installed:

 

 

 

Passenger side was just as difficult plus more. The axle became over extended, and the rear bracket to chassis bolts were tight. So tight, that I had to clean the threads before I could hope of getting that bolt in. Then the anti-lift kit kinda came undone and had to be held in place. All while trying to line of the front bushing.

 

 

 

 

With help back after a day or two, I was finally able to move onto the front coilovers. For the most part this was easy and straightforward. The KW instructions were not as clear as I’d prefer for my virgin c/o install, and I didn’t really have anyone there to point out any mistakes. We paid attention to the orientation of the stock washer, though I can’t remember which way we did install. But it’s right. I picked up a rubber strap wrench to help getting the top nut torqued. I think we’re still a few ft/lbs short.

 

The KW v2 has two adjustable components, ride height, and rebound. For rebound, I you’re supposed to turn it all the way to hard, then back off to where you want it. We did this on the fronts, not the rears. So the rear is set to 6 out of 12, and the front is at 8. I need to adjust these. But more detailed thoughts in a later thoughts and contemplations post.

 

Final Front suspension:

 

 

 

When we completed both sides we moved on to the STi steering rack and solid u-joint shaft. I don’t have any pictures of that as it’s already well documented.

 

My eyeball garage alignment left me with not a ton of adjustment on the outer tie rods, but since I got it where I wanted I decided to leave it until alignment time to have a professional opinion on state of it all.

 

To keep the steering wheel straight I duct taped the steering wheel to the column trim. That way if it did move during install, I’d at least see which direction based on distortion of the tape. It wasn’t exactly a perfect install, and this was the result:

 

 

 

No worry, I needed to center the rack anyway and re-clock the ujoint. (Somehow the rack was installed a few degrees to one side, because we took poor measurements of the stock rack. The car needed an alignment prior to all this, so it was a bad starting point anyway lol).

 

The final part of the week was replacing a shift linkage that was causing massive shifter play. I used the turn in concept poly one cause I thought I might as well go full racecar. Once I figured out a basic set of punches was required, the double spring retainer guys came out easy enough and I was able to complete that task. Old & new:

 

 

 

Nothing fell out, it was just like that on the car lol.

 

With everything bolted back together, I gingerly dropped it back on the ground.

 

 

 

 

Hm. That’s a bit low in the rear for my tastes. Height adjusted per eyeballs:

 

 

 

After alignment, settling, car wash, and 08 outback tail lights, it sits almost exactly as it did with the worn tired suspension haha. Befores and afters:

Before:

After:

Before:

After:

 

 

 

 

 

Full parts list, Second impressions, Current state and next steps, and Individual part contemplations to come.

So I guess the forum just hates portrait oriented cell phone pics. Did someone knock over the speak and spell and not put it back?

 

 

Ok clicking on the rotated picture displays it correctly. In case the scissor jack pic doesn't make sense, or you're wondering why I glued my car to the garage wall.

Edited April 3, 2022 by seanyb505

the picture loading part of the forum has not transitioned well to modern cellphone cameras. My iphone, between being stupid about jpeg vs jpg file extensions and massive file sizes, is a bust for uploading pics.

impressive work for a set of jackstands and a bunch of time.