07 LGT Wagon

Hey, everyone! Finally got my hands on an 07 LGT Wagon.

 

Mechanically there isn't anything wrong other than needing a new rear strut. I think I'm going to go with Koni yellows but do they come with a spring already?

 

Body and interior wise I think I'm going to need a lot more. I want to replace all the door cards. The center/rear armrest. And a new steering wheel. Also I will definitely need a new drivers seat as there's a HUGE tear.

 

Anyone know where I can get these items for a reasonable price? And are 05 doorcards the same as 07? I'll post pics soon.

...Mechanically there isn't anything wrong other than needing a new rear strut. I think I'm going to go with Koni yellows but do they come with a spring already?...

Springs are not included. If you want a daily driver type ride you can pair up the existing LGT springs with the Konis. Konis + stock LGT springs, combined with stiffer anti-sway bars and endlinks, a few bushings here and there, makes for a nice daily driver. I personally like this combination since I sometimes drive on unimproved roads and need all the suspension travel I can get.

Ahhh I see. If you were to put a spring what spring would you be looking at? I'm about 15 mins away from San Francisco but I barely drive there. I'm just trying to see what my other options are! Though your setup sounds like what I most likey will do.

That really depends on what you want and there are a lot of choices. I would avoid going too low; 0.5 - 1.0" is the most I would consider. Last time I looked around, for a firm ride, something like the King wagon lowering springs (one of the few springs made specifically for the wagon). Maybe the Epic springs, not sure if those are available now, might have to find them used.

 

https://www.google.com/search?q=site%3Alegacygt.com+wagon+lowering+springs+koni

I definitely don't want to lower them too much. So I think the stock springs sound pretty good. What swaybars and bushing would you recommend?

Hi crisjp3,

I have installed a set of Koni struts with the stock springs. It is firmer than stock and so much better as well. You can dial them up if you like but in my daily driver, I leave them almost on the soft setting. One of the best things I did was to replace the sway bar end links with Moog K750023. They are so much beefier than the stock setup and I could tell a difference right away. The struts went on later and that made it perfect for ripping around town. I was going to add a rear sway bar but I might skip it for now.

 

Keep in mind it is easy to overdo it with suspension mods. The advice I received was to do the end links, the struts, rear sway bar, with springs last. The only problem with this order is the labor side of things, once you install the struts you will pay again to do the springs which is about $250. Plus you will need an alignment as well. That being said I would add the springs that do not lower the car much at all like H&R or others. You want it to even out in ride height and not have the saggy butt look. I ordered and did not install the saggy butt 3/8" spacers because the bolts on the struts were not long enough. I now I have to tear it apart again and press out the old bolts and press in the new longer versions that should have shipped with the spacers in the first place. This means I will be spending more on labor again for a very inexpensive mod. So learn from my mistakes.

Link to the endlinks which are on sale for $18.

 

https://www.amazon.com/Moog-K750023-Stabilizer-Bar-Link/dp/B001ILOFUG/ref=pd_bxgy_263_3?_encoding=UTF8&pd_rd_i=B001ILOFUG&pd_rd_r=5S39N2SWB6KY74TMVKGT&pd_rd_w=HaeHU&pd_rd_wg=ZRw5Z&psc=1&refRID=5S39N2SWB6KY74TMVKGT

Remember, the adjustment on the Koni's are rebound only. Also, the adjustments are linear only in the middle of the range. I'd set them right in the middle and go from there. running them at full soft means an under-dampened car.

 

Again, I do not run them at full soft. You will be challenged by adjusting the rear Koni struts because they are buried in the trunk.

I definitely don't want to lower them too much. So I think the stock springs sound pretty good. What swaybars and bushing would you recommend?

 

There are quite a lot of choices. I have the Whiteline anti-sway bars. The Hotchkis tubular anti-sway bars seemed like a very good choice when I saw them, not sure if they are available right now. Infamous Performance (sponsor) had them at one time. You might want to inquire.

 

You could get away with just an upgraded rear sway bar as long as you keep it moderate. For instance Whiteline P/N BSR39Z which has two settings, soft & hard. You should install some reinforcement brackets on the rear if you upgrade the rear bar since this is a known weak spot on our cars. Look at AVO brackets P/N S1104M1HT001T. Somewhat expensive, but they do work well.

 

For bushings, our cars have front lower control arm main bushings that are prone to split and fail. I would look at replacing yours with something like the Whiteline KCA334 kit. This will improve your steering response and stability. May as well replace the other front LCA bushings at the same time.

 

If you keep the stock front anti-sway bar, I would replace your anti-sway bar bushings with polyurethane ones, for example Whiteline P/N W0405-21.

 

Definitely do the anti-sway bar endlinks, as was mentioned above.

 

Other bushings are possible, you'll have to inspect and see what shape yours are in.

VespaGTS what did you mean by

 

"Keep in mind it is easy to overdo it with suspension mods." Do you mean in terms of overall cost? Or just putting too much suspension mods for a car that doesn't necessarily need them?

 

Right now my driver side rear strut is shot. It's squeaking and definitely needs a replacement. The guy who sold it to me said it needs new bushings but I'm pretty sure it needs a whole new strut lol.

 

I was thinking since I'm going to have to remove it anyway why not add the endlinks/Strut and Spring combo/ and swaybar all at once. That way I don't need to go back and forth with alignment and pulling things apart etc like you mentioned.

...Body and interior wise I think I'm going to need a lot more. I want to replace all the door cards. The center/rear armrest. And a new steering wheel. Also I will definitely need a new drivers seat as there's a HUGE tear.

 

Anyone know where I can get these items for a reasonable price? And are 05 doorcards the same as 07? I'll post pics soon...

Keep an eye on the forum classifieds. There are cars being parted out from time to time. Of course, there are also websites like carpart.com. Even Craigslist or (gulp) Ebay.

 

The door cards seem pretty similar with some minor trim differences. For example, limited models have fake wood trim in a few spots and vinyl inserts for the armrest pads. Unlimited models have plain trim with cloth inserts. For black interior, the Legacy SE (Special Edition) black interior is similar to the Legacy GT base model. If you are trying to match tan interior, there are sometimes differences between model years.

 

2007 models had more buttons on the steering wheel. My 2005 steering wheel has none.

I guess what I meant was that it is easy to throw a whole bunch of suspension on the car and wind up with it being way too rough to be a daily driver. I also agree that the white line products are awesome. I will be adding a rear sway bar and AVO brackets in the future.

How did you get a 2007 gt wagon I thought they only made the usdm gt wagon in 2005? I could be completely wrong, anyways I agree, whiteline makes great products and the koni inserts are also quality. I had koni inserts and H&R springs and the ride was perfect, stiffer than stock but not overly so and instills confidence while driving. Of course I also had whiteline f&r sways and roll center kit and avo links, all of which I feel is a necessity at some point to get that tight and not too stiff ride that has great turn in and stays relatively flat in the corners compared to oem. You will need the 3/8" spacers for the rear in a wagon and yes the studs on the rear mounts are too short so order a set that comes with the longer studs. All of these things will give you a great ride height and a much better daily driver in my opinion. You could essentially get the shock inserts, springs, and roll center kit and install those all at once then get the alignment and save the sways for later as all of these parts can really start to add up. Happy modding man enjoy your wagon, I love mine

Sboarderk03, it was the MANUAL GT wagon they only made in '05.

 

Crisjp3 - FWIW, I've found the 1/2" saggy butt spacers perfect for my wagon with H&R springs. I routinely carry 3 kids in the back, and frequently cargo.

Sboarderk03, it was the MANUAL GT wagon they only made in '05.

 

Crisjp3 - FWIW, I've found the 1/2" saggy butt spacers perfect for my wagon with H&R springs. I routinely carry 3 kids in the back, and frequently cargo.

Hey, relative4, Can you estimate how much of a difference in ride height you have with H&R springs? How do you like them?

If memory serves, the difference is about 3/4", which is plenty for a daily driver.

On my Jetta, I had Neuspeed Sport springs, their middle stiffness, which were awesome for handling but almost impractical; I had to pretty much stop for speed bumps. So I had no plans to drop any cars after that. I had two GT wagons with stock suspension. This one came with the H&Rs, and I instantly fell in love. The best way I can describe the height and stiffness is perfect. Somebody not familiar with these cars wouldn't know it wasn't stock. Firm but not hard, low enough to corner but not problematically low once I added the spacers.

NB: Once you have the springs, you'll find the Whiteline RSB with AVO braces and Moog links is a MUST. $300 very well spent.

VespaGTS - Gotcha, I'll keep that in mind. I agree with you that I don't want the ride to be too low and too stiff. And I do carry family/friends/kids at the back plus cargo too.

 

Sboarderk03 - All I know is that the 07 wagon was pretty rare as well. I think the only difference's I could find was that it no longer used the banjo bolts for the turbo system, had TPMS sensors, and had the SI-Drive like the STI's which by the way is awesome.

 

Anyone know the actual production numbers of the 07 LGT wagon? I've searched but no luck. I can definitely say I jumped on this wagon because I could never find a 07 like I could find a 05-06.

 

relative4 - Do you have any pictures for comparison? the 1/2" spacers sound more usable to me.

 

I'll be posting pics in about 30 mins or so.

...I think the only difference's I could find was that it no longer used the banjo bolts for the turbo system...

2007+ models do have the banjo bolt filters, just in a different location. The one for the turbo oil line is under the turbo inlet pipe, in a vertical orientation. Supposedly, there have been fewer problems with this design, but the filters are still used.

Here's how it looks right now, with about 100 lbs of cargo in the back.

I went with the Koni yellows and 1" drop epic springs from "m sprank" he's in SOCA. his site is www.infamousperformance.net

 

I have them set a 1/4 to 1/2 turn off firm on my wagon. I have stock sway bars and car corners fairly flat. They've been on there for a long time now.

 

Get the 1/2 rear spacer.

 

 

http://www.infamousperformance.net/koni/koni-sport-suspension-kit/11401671/i-1893314.aspx

Here are the major problems I see in the interior. Everything else just needs a bit of cleaning. The previous (original) owner was a surfer, snowboarder, mountain biker. And It definitely shows, I didn't know that surf wax could get so deep into the seats

I went with the Koni yellows and 1" drop epic springs from "m sprank" he's in SOCA. his site is www.infamousperformance.net

 

I have them set a 1/4 to 1/2 turn off firm on my wagon. I have stock sway bars and car corners fairly flat. They've been on there for a long time now.

 

Get the 1/2 rear spacer.

 

 

http://www.infamousperformance.net/koni/koni-sport-suspension-kit/11401671/i-1893314.aspx

 

That sport suspension kit you linked to is the combination of Koni Sport struts/shocks + H&R Springs. A pretty good deal. Similar to what relative4 showed on his car.

 

I looked up some info on the H&R springs. They are claimed to lower 1.5 - 2.0" which seems like a lot more than I expected. Our cars only have like 3.0" of rebound shock travel. Can anyone confirm the drop is really that much? Riding around on the bumpstops does not sound like a great idea.

I looked up some info on the H&R springs. They are claimed to lower 1.5 - 2.0" which seems like a lot more than I expected. Our cars only have like 3.0" of rebound shock travel. Can anyone confirm the drop is really that much? Riding around on the bumpstops does not sound like a great idea.

 

Nah, max 1" for a sedan. Bit more on the back of a wagon, thus the spacers.

That's good to know. I'll be definitely looking them up.

That sport suspension kit you linked to is the combination of Koni Sport struts/shocks + H&R Springs. A pretty good deal. Similar to what relative4 showed on his car.

 

I looked up some info on the H&R springs. They are claimed to lower 1.5 - 2.0" which seems like a lot more than I expected. Our cars only have like 3.0" of rebound shock travel. Can anyone confirm the drop is really that much? Riding around on the bumpstops does not sound like a great idea.

 

https://i.imgur.com/t132UAf.jpg h&r sport springs on koni's with my wagon. Never hit the bump stops afaik.