10 replies to this topic

[crjohnson]

Hi all, 

 

I have a set of gen 4 bilstien sedan springs lying around and also a set of standard gen 4 Liberty KYB struts. 

 

Has anyone ever seen bilstein springs fitted to OEM struts?? THEN seen this combo fitted to a Gen 3 Outback?? I've tried to research but without any luck... 

 

I'm guessing that I'll need some saggy bum spacers for the rear OR leave the rear using standard Outback struts and fit the KSRL-29 king springs instead (picked up for a bargain recently).  

 

 

[Robbks]

The spring perches on the Bilstein STruts are at different heights to the OE KYB's
so you're going to have some funky heights going on.

A full set of Gen3 Bilsteins with springs, or even better STi Pink springs would be a nicer handling option compared to mix-n-match with old flogged out gear
 

[crjohnson]

Ok thanks, that sorts out the bilstein springs on oem strut question! 

 

I am looking to lower the outback but probably not to gen 3/4 bilstein heights. Probably just the oem gen 4 strut/spring height. When/if I want it to handle even better I'll look for some whiteline sway bars and go from there.. 

[Liberty]

Im selling my Gen IV Bilstein struts and RS-R springs if you're interested.

http://www.subyclub....nd-rs-r-springs

Oops, scratch that. I just read the 'sedan' bit.

[crjohnson]

In the mean time I might give this combo a shot:

 

Front:

Standard Liberty sedan struts and springs

 

Rear:

Standard sedan struts, king springs KSRL-29 which are standard height springs for libertys, might help reduce the saggy-butt.. 

[crjohnson]

G'day all,

Been a while since I didn't anything to the wagon, still slowly building the new engine, heads are together and waiting, just need to sort out the crank cleaning.

 

Had a chance to install some gen 4 liberty struts yesterday though. They have ksrl-29 king springs on the rears which are supposed to be standard height sedan and 'low' wagon springs. I hoped they would basically result in a standard height gen 4 strut+spring combo for the outback but maybe a little stiffer.   

 

I expected about 50mm drop front and rear but somehow dropped the front about 72mm and the rear 50mm, not sure where the extra front drop came from! Going to make up some 5mm strut spacers for the rear as it seems to hit the bump stops pretty easy going (slowly) over speed humps. Plus i'll try get some liberty bump stops installed too..  

 

Seems to handle a bit better too, now looking to make or buy a 20mm rear sway bar and see how the rear likes a wet round about!

 

 

 

 

 

[Zac]

Looking nice.

 

Always likes how the wheels fit in the flared arches  when lowering an outback

[crjohnson]

Cheers, it looks good but shit to drive! Hits the bump stops way too easily, even with some 5mm spacers.. Plus 1 of the rear tyres rubs the guard a fair bit.

Next plan is to put the king springs in standard rear struts, hopefully the rear doesn't look too high!

[crjohnson]

Well the king springs are in (standard outback struts) and now it looks like it's back to standard height, not "30mm lower" than standard as king spring says.. How annoying!

Started at 404mm arch to axel, dropped to 338 with lib struts and king springs, now it's 400mm.. Wtf.. Guess it's going to have to stay like tha for a while cause I cbf pulling them out again haha

[cowie165]

Are you a machinist? Sounds like you made your own spacers? That's very cool.

[crjohnson]

Bringing this back from the dead a little for anyone else's future reference.

 

I found some BH5 (wagon) bilsteins and STI pink springs on import monster, rebuilt the front struts with new seals and pressed an extra 30mm long bushing into the top. The original bushes barely showed any wear at all really but the strut it self does have some. Hopefully they'll last another 50-100,000km?? I used valvoline valplex EP grease too. 

 

Before: gen4 front struts and standard springs (bh9 tophats). Standard bh9 outback rear struts with KSRL-29 'low' king springs. 

 

 

 

AFTER: BH5 wagon bilsteins with STI Pink springs, 5mm spacers added to rear struts

 

 

Results:

Front: went from 342mm axle to arch UP to 362mm.

Rear went from 380mm axle to arch down to approx 360-365. 

 

Car feels good and much more flat, haven't had a decent drive around some twistys yet. I'll need to get an alignment and try to sort out the rear camber and toe as they wont be great. MIGHT even look at doing a HALF body drop in the rear. Not sure if its even possible but it would be easy to make some spacers to whatever length provided the bolts and tail shaft are ok?? 

 

EDIT: On the weekend I removed the rear subframe/body spacers (and swapped the LCA front brackets to liberty units), put in some alloy 11mm spacers (stock is 32mm) but there was basically no change to the ride height. I was hoping for 10-15mm lift but I guess due to the locations of the pivot points and angles of the arms, it doesn't work out like that at all. Next I'll try to see if the tailshaft will be ok with no spacers and go from there.