Lift Kit help

thunder039 · Post by **thunder039** » Mon Mar 26, 2012 9:11 am

cool thanks for your help. i dont realy care about a loose of power because there not going to be my every day rims as i have two sets of rims

taza · Post by **taza** » Mon Mar 26, 2012 1:06 pm

nachaluva wrote:What about 215/75/15 Geo AT-s...I think thats what Dulagarl has...
Will they fit or does he have the gen2 rear struts?

He has BFG's. You can get 215/75R15 in AT-S but they are only light truck tyres, so are BFG's though.

They wont clear the spring perch unless A. you modify the bottom of the rear strut like im going to soo or B. install 2nd gen foz struts. Since I have alrewady replaced my rear struts not long ago im not swapping to 2nd gen struts.

thunder039 · Post by **thunder039** » Mon Mar 26, 2012 1:50 pm

so the size of my tire choice is constrained by my 1st gen foz rather then my 2nd non lifted foz?

so what ever i can fit on my 1st gen with out modification to the strut, i can fit on my 2nd gen?

taza · Post by **taza** » Mon Mar 26, 2012 4:05 pm

thunder039 wrote:so the size of my tire choice is constrained by my 1st gen foz rather then my 2nd non lifted foz?

so what ever i can fit on my 1st gen with out modification to the strut, i can fit on my 2nd gen?

No. 15" rims won't fit on a 2nd gen foz without modifications to the brake calipers.
You can go bigger stock form on your 2nd gen rather than 1st. Going 215/70R16 though on your 2nd gen will make it noiceably slower so 215/65R16 would be sufficent without going stupid mod wise unless thats your plan..

Your 1st gen foz (like mine of course) you can go 215/70R15 (what im running), 225/70R15(these will clear it by about 2-3mm) or if you modify (lift the bottom of your strut) can go the biggest of 215/75R15 which I want

These are smaller than 215/70R16 so there won't be much difference in power and economy on your 1st gen.

Does this help? If you look at the rear sping perch (what the bottom of the spring sits in) on both of your forester you will see there isn't much room on your 1st gen compared to your 2nd gen.

thunder039 · Post by **thunder039** » Mon Mar 26, 2012 5:39 pm

yep this helps, i didnt know you couldnt run the 15's on the 2nd gen. ive got 16's on both now so i will get a tire to suit, probably 215/65r16 so that whay its just slightly bigger. did you loose much fuel economy with the bigger tires taza?

brad_e10 · Post by **brad_e10** » Mon Mar 26, 2012 7:19 pm

taza wrote:Its a good combination with that lift.

Is your 2002 a 2nd gen or 1st gen? Mines a gen 1 in my signature pic..

On a 15" rim on a Foz(gen 1) the biggest you can go is 215/70R15, but then it won't clear the sping perch without modification so forget about that.
You can go 215/70R15 (which is what im running) or 225/70R15. I would recommend either and I run Geolander AT-S tyres. Very very good tyres both on and offroad. Great in the wet on road, sand, mediud mud and excellent on gravel and rocks. Highly recommended, they are abit costly but well worth the money in my opinion.

Gen 2
you can go from the standard 215/60R16 to 215/65R15 which I would say are a good increase in size. You can also get 215/70R16 which are quite alot bigger but going this big will cause a noticable losse in power and economy. You can get both sizes in Geolander AT-S which I would recommend.

Taza

My forester is a 1st gen SF model.

Awk sweet. I did the maths and (if im correct) the 215/70R15 will give an extra 14mm in total wheel diameter over the stock tyres. This seems like a very small increase, almost pointless. Did you find it made a noticeable difference to your subi? The 225/70R15 will however give an extra 28mm over the stocks which seems more worthwhile. But im guessing it'll minimize the space between the spring perch to maybe a little too close?

taza · Post by **taza** » Mon Mar 26, 2012 7:47 pm

brad_e10 wrote:My forester is a 1st gen SF model.

Awk sweet. I did the maths and (if im correct) the 215/70R15 will give an extra 14mm in total wheel diameter over the stock tyres. This seems like a very small increase, almost pointless. Did you find it made a noticeable difference to your subi? The 225/70R15 will however give an extra 28mm over the stocks which seems more worthwhile. But im guessing it'll minimize the space between the spring perch to maybe a little too close?

I love my 215/70R15's they made a HUGE difference. I can't even explain but I did go from highway tyres to All Terrains at the same time. The size, ie. lift was a good first step but 225/70R15 would be the go. When you go bigger tyres too you will need 5, not 4. As your spare must be the same size otherwise you will stuff your centre diff like I have

225/70R15 will fit in the spare wheel well too.
I wouldn't say too close, as long as they clear at all you will be fine

taza · Post by **taza** » Mon Mar 26, 2012 7:48 pm

thunder039 wrote:yep this helps, i didnt know you couldnt run the 15's on the 2nd gen. ive got 16's on both now so i will get a tire to suit, probably 215/65r16 so that whay its just slightly bigger. did you loose much fuel economy with the bigger tires taza?

I would put 215/65R16 on both Foresters then. Power and fuel economy I didn't notice anything. Slightly in power but next to nothing.
I would say go for it but make sure you get 5 tyres for both

brad_e10 · Post by **brad_e10** » Mon Mar 26, 2012 10:46 pm

taza wrote:I love my 215/70R15's they made a HUGE difference. I can't even explain but I did go from highway tyres to All Terrains at the same time. The size, ie. lift was a good first step but 225/70R15 would be the go. When you go bigger tyres too you will need 5, not 4. As your spare must be the same size otherwise you will stuff your centre diff like I have
225/70R15 will fit in the spare wheel well too.
I wouldn't say too close, as long as they clear at all you will be fine

Aw yeah, didnt even think of the spare wheel ey. Hah.

Nice! think i'll go for the 225's then. I am only getting a 1 inch strut lift but I'm pretty sure that will allow enough space in the wheel arch for these tyres. What you reckon?

Just waiting on Subtle solutions to restock their lift kits. Hopefully not too far off

taza · Post by **taza** » Mon Mar 26, 2012 11:14 pm

brad_e10 wrote:Aw yeah, didnt even think of the spare wheel ey. Hah.

Nice! think i'll go for the 225's then. I am only getting a 1 inch strut lift but I'm pretty sure that will allow enough space in the wheel arch for these tyres. What you reckon?

Just waiting on Subtle solutions to restock their lift kits. Hopefully not too far off

Yep sounds good. Theres a guy in the Subie club of WA here with 225/70R15 and raised kings (1") but yes the 1" blocks and those tyres will be fine

General Grabbers might be the go for something decent and not rubbish in that size.

Subtle-Solutions · Post by **Subtle-Solutions** » Sat Apr 21, 2012 11:55 am

brad_e10 wrote:Just waiting on Subtle solutions to restock their lift kits. Hopefully not too far off

We will have our spacers back in stock on Tuesday of next week!!! If you are on our preorder/waiting list, you'll receive an email notifying you of the news next week.