Are these strut tops interchangable??

LIFTED · Post by **LIFTED** » Wed Aug 31, 2011 9:51 pm

Ok If you have been following my other thread I found it difficult to undo the nuts holding the struts in, but I have finally had success:)
I have also manage to swap the front struts from 97 Outback into my 92 Liberty

BUT.........

The rear strut transfer is just not happening.

The 3 top bolts on the Outback strut are spaced differently and don't line up with the holes in the Liberty.
See pic below The bottom strut is the Outback and the top is the Liberty.

What I would like to know is ...
1. are these tops/caps with the 3 bolts in interchangable? Can I swap them between struts?
2 Why does the top on the Liberty one spin? and the OB one doesn't?
3 I had a go at trying to undo the top nut But I couldn't work out how to stop the top/cap spinning with the nut (I wasn't going to undo it completely as I know its loaded up with the compressed spring)
4 I thought these OB struts were supposed to just fit in to the 92 Liberty any ideas why they don't (I think this car may have had air suspension in the past)
5 If I have to buy spring compressors do I need 2 per spring
6 tips and suggestions welcome

This strut change is becoming bigger than Ben Hur

I've uploaded some footage of the struts on you tube.
http://youtu.be/gu7UQf8Bi-U

woody.t · Post by **woody.t** » Wed Aug 31, 2011 11:29 pm

strut tops are not inter-changable with the current springs, looking at the types of springs you have there mate id say go get yourself a drill and or file and just elongate the holes in the strut tower to fit the hats currently on the struts.. as for the spining doesn't matter in the rear as the wont turn while in motion like the front but i believe the liberty ones are just the hats used from the old air suspension coupled with a spring hat which just happen to allow the spin.

vincentvega · Post by **vincentvega** » Thu Sep 01, 2011 12:22 pm

As you have discovered Gen1 and Gen2 rear strut tops have a different bolt pattern.

In my car I run FWD struts in the rear with Gen1 AWD strut tops so I dont have this problem.

If you dont want to drill your strut towers to suit the new bolt pattern you could just get yourself a suitable set of strut top lift blocks and fit them to the coilovers.

are the coilovers in good condition?

LIFTED · Post by **LIFTED** » Sat Sep 03, 2011 7:04 pm

I'm down south with my family at the moment with no Internet connection. I had to sneak away to see how this thread was going. I really want to be at home working on my car and sorting out this strut thing. They seem in good condition I'm going to visit a few wreckers when I get back next week and see if they have any lib tops that will fit the springs and bolt pattern. If not then I'll probably make some new holes, just hopeing the caps will fit inside the body as the big centre hole in the body of the car looks smaller than the centre of the strut.
Will the taller rear struts affect the camber of the rear wheels?

LIFTED · Post by **LIFTED** » Mon Sep 05, 2011 9:57 pm

I'm back from my little down south break.
Vincentvega yes I think the coil overs are in fairly good condition, I drove the OB car with them in and the car felt OK.
On my lunch break today I went to a suspension shop and he agreed that it would be very hard to find hats with the smaller bolt pattern that would also be able to accommodate the wider OB springs.
He also answered my question about would the longer rear struts affect the camber yes slightly, he suggested putting in some camber pin bolts similar to the ones that are found in the top bolts on the front struts.
He also suggested if I go the drilling new holes option to drill them about 5mm inwards to the centre of the car to help with the camber and also more to the rear of the car to help with the castor.
Full 4 wheel alignment to cost $120 and a pair of camber pin bolts $120 hmm I might pull the old front camber pins out of the OB and see if they fit in the rear.

LIFTED · Post by **LIFTED** » Thu Sep 08, 2011 7:12 pm

Yay finally got my Liberty lifted today.
I wanted to avoid drilling out the body to fit my OB struts in my Liberty so I visited a few wreckers with diameter measurements of my OB springs and a template of the top bolt pattern I needed.
I found some that seemed to measure up OK from a 98 Impreza and they ended up fitting perfectly. So if any one else decides to do this 94 to 2000 Impreza strut top hats and top spring perches fit onto 97 rear OB struts with then will fit into the rear of a 92 Liberty Wagon.
I was quite surprized at the amount of lift I got, if I get time on the weekend I'll put the OB rear arm trailing mounts on the liberty.
Then it's of for some wheel alignment.
Heres some before and after pics.
Before

After

PS I've put the old Lib struts in the OB and now have a lowered unlicenced OB

LIFTED · Post by **LIFTED** » Thu Sep 08, 2011 7:29 pm

OB strut with Impreza top hat and spring perch

wheel gap before

Wheel gap after

Post by **TOONGA** » Thu Sep 08, 2011 8:19 pm

looks good but please put the hubcaps back on

TOONGA

woody.t · Post by **woody.t** » Thu Sep 08, 2011 8:44 pm

get some better rims on her for sure... the impreza look like they give more lift then the outback strut tops aswell, but i ppersonally like the outback tops as they make the car sit more level.

LIFTED · Post by **LIFTED** » Thu Sep 08, 2011 9:58 pm

Yeah i think the Impreza strut tops gave just over a cm or more lift in the rear. I could put the Impreza tops on the front as well. But I like the old school bogan jacked up rear look:twisted: maybe I could add some tyres with big thick white writing on:twisted::twisted::twisted:
It's OK Toonga the silver plastic hub caps are back on;)
I'm going to run with those wheels on for a while as I want to work out city and country base line for fuel economy(I haven't driven the car much as I was sorting out insurance and then it's been on car stands) before I stick on some bigger rims and tyres.

LIFTED · Post by **LIFTED** » Thu Sep 08, 2011 10:46 pm

Yeah i think the Impreza strut tops gave just over a cm or more lift in the rear. I could put the Impreza tops on the front as well. But I like the old school bogan jacked up rear look:twisted: maybe I could add some tyres with big thick white writing on:twisted::twisted::twisted:
It's OK Toonga the silver plastic hub caps are back on;)
I'm going to run with those wheels on for a while as I want to work out city and country base line for fuel economy(I haven't driven the car much as I was sorting out insurance and then it's been on car stands) before I stick on some bigger rims and tyres.

Post by **TOONGA** » Fri Sep 09, 2011 8:50 am

LOL thats a signature pic if ever I saw one

TOONGA

RSR 555 · Post by **RSR 555** » Sun Sep 25, 2011 9:34 pm

mainbreak wrote:

LOL... I wouldn't have bothered with the MSPaint on the rear quarter.. kinda makes it Non-Bogun spec.

Glad to see the car is in safe hands.. that last owner was a bit dodgy

LIFTED · Post by **LIFTED** » Sun Sep 25, 2011 11:40 pm

RSR 555 wrote:LOL... I wouldn't have bothered with the MSPaint on the rear quarter.. kinda makes it Non-Bogun spec.

Glad to see the car is in safe hands.. that last owner was a bit dodgy

:mrgreen::mrgreen:

d_generate · Post by **d_generate** » Mon Sep 26, 2011 1:47 am

I used Impreza tops on my Foz struts, had to pack them with a thick washer and a shim to stop them banging but after having them in and out 4 times I finally got it right, they have a different collar to Impreza's.

LIFTED · Post by **LIFTED** » Mon Sep 26, 2011 8:59 am

Yes I forgot I too had to add a couple of washers to each one as there was a bit of space about 5mm between where the top thread ends and the top of the spring perch.