With the front struts removed it was time to pull apart the front struts to keep the original top hats. problem was our cheap spring compressors from autobarn were unable to compress the springs sufficiently to remove the top hats. this was because the original springs have limited number of coils to attach to.
once removing the front springs with alternative methods the new springs went in with ease because they have an extra coil.
on removal of the rear struts we found plenty of coils to attach the spring compressors to but the spring diameter was too small to allow our compressors to sit properly. at this stage we gave up and went down to visit our local Fulcrum shop in Capalaba where we had the car booked in for a wheel alignment.
The Fulcrum blokes were happy to fit these springs up for us even though we didn't buy the bits through them, while we waited. when they got the first strut apart we found that the factory self leveling struts use a tapered spring while the non self leveling (that we were swapping to) uses a spring that stays the same diameter. this means that the tops hats don't fit. Subaru want $165 for new top hats, so we tried the local wreckers and managed to find a set of gen 3 liberty sedan struts that would work. so $55 each later we took them back to fulcrum where they finished fitting the springs to the struts.
another useful mention: the manual recommends using the scissor jack to separate the rear suspension arms allowing fitment of the lower bolt. makes life very easy.
alignment wise there are options to add castor pins, adjustable top hats for the front and eccentric bushes in the rear suspension arms to improve on your alignment.
we were happy with the results fulcrum managed with the standard suspension adjustment.
i can't praise Fulcrum Capalaba more for their customer service, helping fit the rear springs free of charge in one arvo and managing good alignment specs.
So after much mucking around and hair pulling our Outback has 240mm clearance under the bash plate.
now to see if we can fit some second hand 215/70r16 on spare rims for dirty weekends
