Official Lowered Outback Thread V2

Finally made moves!!!!! I got the BC BR series coilovers with swift springs. I know that the coilovers can be harsh, so I got the swift springs in hopes that they will give it a smoother ride.

 

I also got:

white line rear sway bar

Moog end links

white line adjustable lateral arms

White bump steer correction ball joints

Legacy lower control arm

Legacy bump stops

 

I’ll send over some photos after they’re installed. After moving, I don’t have a flat street in front of my house, so I can’t work on my own car anymore. Getting a garage is impossible in NYC.

 

 

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Finally made moves!!!!! I got the BC BR series coilovers with swift springs. I know that the coilovers can be harsh, so I got the swift springs in hopes that they will give it a smoother ride.

 

I also got:

white line rear sway bar

Moog end links

white line adjustable lateral arms

White bump steer correction ball joints

Legacy lower control arm

Legacy bump stops

 

I’ll send over some photos after they’re installed. After moving, I don’t have a flat street in front of my house, so I can’t work on my own car anymore. Getting a garage is impossible in NYC.

 

 

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Hot doggy! We have extremely similar set-ups. Did you end up scooping LGT or OB-specific coilovers?

 

After about 5K miles, I finally adjusted mine the other day from 7-clicks to hard to 7-clicks from soft. With 16 clicks, there is a significant difference in damping. I had no idea what to expect, since this is my first set of coilovers. They are extremely comfortable compared to what they were. I cannot wait to play around with them some more.

 

What are the spring rates for your Swift Springs?

This showed up on /r/sportwagon the other day. Personally I like it. The interior is vastly improved over my 08 (at least the drivers seats). It just got added to the slot of replacement options.

 

Lowered 2020 OBXT

https://imgur.com/gallery/Ik6LtjX

Edited March 19, 2020 by jonnyt88

Damn, that looks good! But no turbo+MT option keeps me away from newer Outbacks.

Here's the Outback with BC Coilovers BR Series and Swift Springs. The spring rates were their recommended rates. I think it's 8K front, and 6K rear, or vice versa.

 

Parts installed:

- BC BR Coilovers

- Rear Bump Stops

- Rear Upper Control Arms

- Whiteline KTA124 Rear Control Arm Assembly

- Whiteline KCA313Front Roll centre/bump steer correction kit

- Whiteline BSR39Z Rear Black Sway Bar

- Moog K750023 Stabilizer Bar Link Kit Rear

- WhiteLine Sway Bar Front Endlinks (Previously had Moog in front and ruined after 2 years)

- White Line LCA Lower Inner Bushing

- White Line LCA Lower Inner Front Bushing (Both previous LCA bushings were ruined after 2 years)

Looks great!! MEATY!

I feel like 08's are finally coming into style!

Looks great!! MEATY!

 

Yea, it's too meaty!!! The car just gets hungry and eats the tires up Plus, I'm a woodworker and load the car at least once a month with wood and power machines (including chop saw, band saw, cast iron table saw, etc)

 

Need to step down to a smaller profile tire, but I would like to keep the factory OB diameter.

 

I have 245/45 on 18x8.75", which is the same as factory diameter. I think I'll get a 225/50 next time, which makes me sad to give up some width. Will this help the tire slope inwards and help with my car's hunger for tires, or would it not effect that much?

 

I've already done some heavy cutting and rolling of the fenders. I would like to take it to an alignment shop but I damn covid-19 closed all the shops and left my out of a job. I guess I'll just dial in more camber for now.

You need an alignment.

Yea, it's too meaty!!! The car just gets hungry and eats the tires up Plus, I'm a woodworker and load the car at least once a month with wood and power machines (including chop saw, band saw, cast iron table saw, etc)

 

Need to step down to a smaller profile tire, but I would like to keep the factory OB diameter.

 

I have 245/45 on 18x8.75", which is the same as factory diameter. I think I'll get a 225/50 next time, which makes me sad to give up some width. Will this help the tire slope inwards and help with my car's hunger for tires, or would it not effect that much?

 

I've already done some heavy cutting and rolling of the fenders. I would like to take it to an alignment shop but I damn covid-19 closed all the shops and left my out of a job. I guess I'll just dial in more camber for now.

 

Try to add some negative camber. Not only will your car handle a lot better, it’ll keep your shoulders from rubbing. Since I Autocross mine, I run fairly aggressive negative camber at -2.8 front, -2.3 rear. No rubbing issues, even with 245 tires. I don’t think you would need to go that drastic, but a little would be beneficial. These cars love negative camber. I’ve put 40k on my normal daily tires with this alignment and I have zero abnormal wear.

Yea, it's too meaty!!! The car just gets hungry and eats the tires up Plus, I'm a woodworker and load the car at least once a month with wood and power machines (including chop saw, band saw, cast iron table saw, etc)

 

Need to step down to a smaller profile tire, but I would like to keep the factory OB diameter.

 

I have 245/45 on 18x8.75", which is the same as factory diameter. I think I'll get a 225/50 next time, which makes me sad to give up some width. Will this help the tire slope inwards and help with my car's hunger for tires, or would it not effect that much?

 

I've already done some heavy cutting and rolling of the fenders. I would like to take it to an alignment shop but I damn covid-19 closed all the shops and left my out of a job. I guess I'll just dial in more camber for now.

 

You need an alignment.

 

Front camber is easy, since there is a bolt for that. Rear camber, you'll need parts.

 

If you have the time, and a flat place to work, you can do your own toe settings in the garage. I was doing it back before there were youtube videos to teach... It won't be perfect, but will be a big improvement after you mess with the camber.

Agreed. It's not the camber that wears the tires, it's the toe, which you can string in your driveway. I've run -2 degrees all around on my street car for years without any weird wear. Just keep an eye on the toe settings.

Thanks for the suggestions!

 

I'll try to give it an alignment... Maybe.

 

I live in Brooklyn, the road in front of my house has a bad sideways incline (which is damn impossible to find a spot, I'm parked in front of my apartment for the first time in 12 days). I usually do work in front of my stoop on the sidewalk with just enough room to remove a tire and block all pedestrian traffic just so I can run a 100' extension chord for power tools. Neighbors and people with strollers hate me.

 

Luckily i have camber plates for the front, so that should be easy. I have adjustable arms in the rear. I'm scared to jack up the car, since I've tipped it over once on an uneven road. And the local Pep Boys doesn't have an even parking lot. The local Autozone has some SHADY characters there lol

 

Any thoughts on adjusting front camber using the lower bolts vs camber plates?

 

Any thoughts on adjusting front camber using the lower bolts vs camber plates?

 

oh, you are in a good position!

 

Think like a stance guy. They want paper thin fender to tire fitment and that dope demon camber....

The stance guys use both.

 

The lower bolt can push or pull the wheel out. The camber top plate can tilt the top of the wheel in or out. When you mess with it, you'll see what I mean.

 

Mark stuff with different colored sharpies. Take pictures. Then Go for it. Do Science.

 

And finally, share back with us.

 

Don't worry about toe until the camber works, but don't drive too much either.

 

I haven't watched the youtube videos on how to DIY toe these days, but my thought is if you can find some of those plastic cafeteria trays, put the front tires on those. If the toe is way out, you need to de-tension the front suspension occasionally as you adjust it, and these trays are very low friction. twist the steering left to right, recheck your toe, and tweak. you're saving thousands over the alignment rack down at the shop.

I have zero tire wear on my tires and I run -13 degrees of camber. Your toe is killing your tires. I also do my own alignments since no shop is willing to do it. Pm me with any questions, I’ll be happy to help

 

 

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She just sits so pretty

FebrezeMe, damn that looks good. Digging those headlights.

 

Rebourne, nice pointers. I was thinking that I could use the lower bolts to push the tire in or out.

 

And the tip with the plastic trays is genius. I was wondering how to change toe without jacking up the car since every time the car is lifted and placed back on the ground, the suspension is not settled.

 

I think I’ll also stack wood under the car to get it level since I have street parking.

 

I’ll give it shot sometime this week and report back. Again, it’s hard to tell if I avoid rub when all of the tires are mangled up already.

 

 

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When I lived in Boston, I would go to a parking garage for things like that. To hold the string, I used jack stands, and for slip plates, you can stack a bunch of plastic grocery bags under the front tires and they will move freely. If I was in Brooklyn, I'd look at the parking lots near the water in the Redhook area.

FebrezeMe, damn that looks good. Digging those headlights.

 

Thank you! It took me a whole Saturday. A little Satin black VHT, some very specific yellow paint, 80mm rings, 6in LED strips, some thing wire, and a lot of patience, only to question it all at the end. Ultimately, I'm extremely happy with the outcome. I have had a bunch of ppl approach me about them.

I accidentally posted this in the wrong group(what did you to your OB), sorry for the redundancy!

 

Just made ramps for my car to keep it level using scraps from my wood shop. Used the left over wood for wheel chocks. This is to help keep it level while doing alignments.

 

The street in front of my house in Brooklyn had a 3.5” slope to the driver side, then a stockpile of dog shit (I hate working under the car with wiffs of shit breezing in). To make matters worse, on a couple of occasions I’ve accidentally crawled on poop and cockroaches. Didn’t notice until my roommates told me!

 

To help set camber, I’ve cut a piece of angle iron to the length of the diameter of my rims and attached a magnetic angle finder that I use to true my table saw blade.

 

I will be doing the string method to align. It seems to be accurate enough, this guy on YT did and took to an alignment shop and he was spot on.

 

 

Next step, wait for a sunny day and start aligning!

 

 

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Boom! I wish I had access to tools like that!

So I attempted to align the car yesterday and noticed that my newly installed white line sway bar is in contact with the exhaust... bummer.

 

Anyone run into this issue? It may be my eBay exhaust’s fault which was in contact with one of the rear arms until I replaced it with a white line adjustable arm since it had more clearance.

 

Other issue is the jamb nuts on the inner tie rods are seized. I left them soaking in Pb blaster overnight. I’ll try again tomorrow, and will bring out the torch if I must.

 

 

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Here’s a nice photo of my street side NYC garage.

 

 

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Just need to mark the exhaust and give it a nice ball peen hammer lovin

 

I think it was MotorTrends Engine Masters show that tested bashing headers with a hammer on the engine dyno, what and what did not effect power. It took a crazy amount of damage to kill power.

So I attempted to align the car yesterday and noticed that my newly installed white line sway bar is in contact with the exhaust... bummer.

 

Anyone run into this issue? It may be my eBay exhaust’s fault which was in contact with one of the rear arms until I replaced it with a white line adjustable arm since it had more clearance.

 

Other issue is the jamb nuts on the inner tie rods are seized. I left them soaking in Pb blaster overnight. I’ll try again tomorrow, and will bring out the torch if I must.

 

 

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Some of the bolts/nuts are dummy-hard to break loose. Anything suspension related on these cars, and I take a torch to it. You'll probably want to save yourself the frustration and torch it.