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Swift, King or H&R with Stock Struts


MDSubie4

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Despite doing hours of searching the forum, I couldn't really find a satisfying answer. It seems that the measurements I'm getting from drops to the springs own spring rates / KG or pounds varies all over the map..

 

At the moment I bought an 05 Legacy 2.5 Turbo GT Wagon, the shocks were replaced(probably with orig replacement) I was told about 1 year ago while the springs are original at 95k miles. So I don't want to spend money on shocks, I only want to reduce the height and improve the handling with a stiffer spring with a 25-30 percent increase in rate. My biggest concern being any added weight in the trunk. I will be adding new 22mm front and 20. rear adjustable swaybars shortly from Whiteline.

 

What I see on the web is the following:

 

 

Swift Springs: F 241 pounds, R 370 pounds, Drop 1.2" front, 1.0" drop rear

Tein H-Tech: F 219 pounds, R 308 pounds, Drop 0.9" front, 0.9" drop rear

King Springs: No Rate data, only that overall rate is 20-30% more, front and rear Drops are 1.1"

STI Wagon Pinks: Don't know specs, Year/what car? Or drop or Spring Rate

JDM: Forget it to Canada.....

 

If any GT Wagon owners can chime in with their experience with any of the first 3 and their satisfaction with Swift/King/Tein's possibly on stock struts, I'd appreciate it. Biggest question was did your purchase drop as advertised, more than advertised? Pics would be terrific as well but optional.

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I was looking at H&R, Tein, or Swift Wagon springs for my OBXT. I also couldn't find much info by way of comparison reviews of any two of them. It seems like people get a set and then don't follow up after the initial install. And of course, when they first install them they love them. Then it seems like if people do post up after having them for a while, they're switching to coilovers.

 

I ended up purchasing the Teins for crazy cheap. I'll post up my impressions when I install them. They'll be going on JDM LGT (non-Spec B) Bilsteins with a 1" rear saggy butt spacer.

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  • 2 weeks later...

I have had Swift springs on my '06 sedan on stock shocks since my car was about 6 months old. I must admit as I've gotten older, they do feel stiff-ish to me, however I was told by a Swift rep switching to better quality shocks will improve ride quality. The stiff ride is not so bad that I've actually gone out and purchased replacement shocks, however.

 

The car sits lower than other lowered LGTs I've seen over the years. I love the way my car looks.

 

H2OSB

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I feel like a lot of people just throw lowering springs on old stock struts that were on their way out, and that is what the base their entire mentality on when it comes to lowering springs.

 

I'm looking at Swifts on stock replacements. I don't need the adjustment of coilovers for my car, but I am hoping to hear others opinions on this combo as well.

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I don't think you're referring to me, but for the record, that's not what I did. My car was brand new when I installed the Swifts on it. I used Swifts for two main reasons. At the time I bought the car, you could walk into a dealership in Japan and drive out with the same springs I bought, installed on your new car as an option (little did I know at the time, JDM GTs had/have Bilsteins and we got KYBs), and I really like Swifts approach to spring technology (smaller wire with different metallurgy).

 

 

Prior to my buying my LGT, and had a '96 Outback wagon with JDM take off suspension from an Impreza of some sort with pink springs and stock WRX wheels.

 

 

Anyway, I've owned the car since new and basically have had Swifts on it the entire time.

 

 

 

H2OSB

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No, I wasn't referring to you. I was just trying to keep this thread from going in that direction.

 

 

Apology accepted! JK JK, I'm not serious...just really really funnay

 

 

H2OSB

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I just got these springs under my OBXT this weekend. Here are my impressions after getting an alignment under her:

 

-------------

- H-Tech springs: honestly, I think the suspension worked better with the stock JDM LGT springs. I don't have the numbers off the top of my head, but the H-Tech's are right in between the USDM LGT spring rates and the JDM LGT spring rates, while riding about 1" lower. They feel fine, but I feel like the JDM Bilsteins (Non-Spec-B, Rev A) liked the JDM LGT springs more (obviously, they were valved or each other). But the stock setup offered more support and stability while also offering more travel. So with the H-Techs being a softer spring, they only firm up when they "take a set" on the bump stops. In my opinion, to make these springs work well, a larger set of swaybars would go a long way for controlling the side to side motion. But they're ok. I have to keep reminding myself that it's just a family truckster, and as a family car, it handles really well!

---------------

 

^ That was taken from my build thread here:

 

https://legacygt.com/forums/showthread.php/2008-outback-xt-big-louise-268872.html

 

The one thing to note is that I had installed the H-Techs on stock JDM LGT Bilsteins (Rev A), so it's a little different of an application than you were originally asking about, but those are my impressions nonetheless. I will also follow up with my thoughts on the spring as I put more miles on them.

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  • 1 month later...

I wanted to give my input to this even though its almost 2 months old. I have h techs on my 05 LGT wagon. They were on the car when I purchased it back in 2014. They're still going strong but the extreme saggy butt you get with these on a wagon is annoying. Ive got 1/2 inch spacers in the rear and it still sags a bit. Not to mention that any amount of weight in the rear causes the rear to sag. These were paired with Konis shortly after I bought the car and they ride great but handling isnt the best considering most would say the H-techs were "upgrades".

 

I'm actually looking for something to replace the Htechs so Ill be lurking here hoping someone can give us more input.

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My update on the H-Tech springs. In my opinion, they're not very good. The front doesn't have the spring rate to go with the shortened ride height, so they bottom out a a lot. The soft spring rate is mitigated by putting as large a sway bar as you can on the front, but it still crashes on bumps that hit both front tires at the same time. The other thing is that the only sway bars available these days are either Cusco or AVO - both are only 23mm on the front. But with the Cusco bars on, the front is acceptable.

 

The rear however, sags a lot (as mentioned above). A stiffer rear sway bar doesn't help here. I finally got fed up with it continuing to sag lower a month and a half later, that I put my JDM LGT springs back on the rear. Now, this is going on an OBXT, but I had them with a 1" rear spacer, and they were still low in the rear. After putting the LGT springs back on the rear with a 3/8" spacer, I have suspension again! It basically restored the height to the level the H-Techs were at when I first installed them. And I know these aren't going to sag since they are already old springs.

 

So my final setup is H-Techs on the front and JDM LGT springs on the rears with the JDM LGT Bilsteins and Cusco bars. It feels pretty good!

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