[Chris Consiglio]

Just had my 05 OBXT suspension totally overhauled and the difference is tremendous... but there's a problem.

I went the route of keeping all of my stock springs, and pairing them with Koni sport adjustable struts designed for the Legacy. Obviously this meant overcompressing the springs into shorter struts. This worked wonders for the front, because I used Outback donor struts for the Koni inserts... so I only lost 1/4" of ride height up front, and the handling is incredible.

The problem is with the rears. Overcompressing my stock OB springs into the Koni rears resulted in lowering by 3/4" (I expected more), and an incredibly stiff rear... so stiff that I don't think the springs are allowing enough travel in the struts to damp the oscillations of the springs. The firmness adjustment seems to have no effect. Whether on full soft setting, halfway between, or full stiffness, the ride feels like I'm just bouncing on the springs, causing me to pogo in my seat whenever there are slight variations in road smoothness. If I hit a pothole at more than 30 mph, the front takes it like a champ, but it feels extremely harsh in the rear, and the oscillating rear feels kinda dangerous when hitting any bumps while taking a curve at speed.

Are the rear OB springs just too much to squeeze into LGT Koni's? What are my options here if I don't want to lower the rear more than another 1/2" or so (I should mention that I already have 1" strut spacers installed in the rear - which is currently giving me about a 1/2" rake due to loss of 1/4" in front and net gain of 1/4" rear)?

 

[RoughDiamond]

Any indication that the rear springs are NOT OEM? Different color, non-OE markings, diameter/size differences?

 

[traildogck]

Hey

Something else which is contributing and you need to check this 1st.

What sway bars and links are you running. Lifting the rear of the car over stock requires a slightly longer endlink. WL sell decent adjustables. The lever arm of the rear sway bar needs to be horizontal. If that lever arm is angled down, then the sway bar forces actually act with a vertical vector on the chassis. Pushing it up and yanking down.

If that makes sense. And if you have a larger rear bar (and the CKE RSBRB) then the body mount is not flexing anymore and you are feeling all of it.

Just something to check.

 

[Chris Consiglio]

I think the springs are OEM, just because of the sloshy/soft handling prior to this overhaul... if any previous owners had changed out the springs, they would have changed out the struts too... and those were real worn out. That said, my OB did have a perky stance and never had saggy butt... I don't know for sure because my mechanic did all the wrenching.

The lever arm of the rear sway bar needs to be horizontal. If that lever arm is angled down, then the sway bar forces actually act with a vertical vector on the chassis. Pushing it up and yanking down.

If that makes sense. And if you have a larger rear bar (and the CKE RSBRB) then the body mount is not flexing anymore and you are feeling all of it.

-Whiteline swaybar set (22mm front/20mm rear) with Moog endlinks.

So the sway bar/endlinks could be locking the rear down and not allowing the action of the spring/strut? The thing is, the front also has Moog endlinks and ended up 1/4" lower, with seemingly no issues... the rear is just the reverse (1/4" lift)

 

[traildogck]

-Whiteline swaybar set (22mm front/20mm rear) with Moog endlinks.

So the sway bar/endlinks could be locking the rear down and not allowing the action of the spring/strut? The thing is, the front also has Moog endlinks and ended up 1/4" lower, with seemingly no issues... the rear is just the reverse (1/4" lift)

The 1/4" down is putting the lever arm of the RSB at angle ... its not the compression you are fighting, it's the fact that when one wheel hits a bump. the sway bar is pushing up against the chassis...not just preventing roll.

I can diagram it I think pretty quick.

 

[Chris Consiglio]

The 1/4" down is putting the lever arm of the RSB at angle ... its not the compression you are fighting, it's the fact that when one wheel hits a bump. the sway bar is pushing up against the chassis...not just preventing roll.

So the RSB is then acting as the spring...

That would be awesome. I certainly welcome the possibility that it's not the spring that's the problem... I mean, I've heard of people stuffing OB springs into LGT struts and not reporting this problem at all... in fact, didn't lufusol stuff Kings OB height into his Koni's with no complains about ineffective adjustment?

 

[traildogck]

I hope this draw-ring ....

Helps with the visualization of whats happening...or contributing.

 

[traildogck]

So the RSB is then acting as the spring...

Its acting as a pogo stick, a solid one.

I would bet you $ that if you pull the RSBRB that the feeling you are experiencing will be less. Because the forces illustrated in the PDF will be fatiguing and flexing the bracket. So you will feel less.

Adjustable links are necessary IMPO when you change height in the rear. the front is not as critical.

 

[Chris Consiglio]

Update: I threw Whiteline adjustable endlinks on yesterday, and things have settled down a little bit, but the springs are definitely too stiff. The scary thing is I discovered that those springs are so **** squashed that they are bowing out laterally... which means that since the spring perches both orient the same direction, I get this rub on the sidewall of the rear drivers tire. It's gouging a trench into it!

At this point, I'm definitely replacing those springs, and from my research so far it looks like I've got only a couple of options for Legacy springs that won't result in a drop.

-OEM Legacy wagon springs
-Kings KSRS-29 as a couple people have done - though I'm wary of compressing another OB spring into these Legacy Koni's :/
-Kings KSRL-29 - which I take it is a "lowering spring" for the Outback, and might actually meet my needs for this Legacy application. I even dug up an old 2012 thread on LegacyGT.com where someone posted a reply email they received from a King rep...


"Hello,

The KSRL-29's do raise the GT 5-10mm plus have an increase in spring rate of
15-20%. The KSRS-29's are a further 25mm higher than the KSRL-29's and I
feel would be to high

Regards ,

Kris Tarrant

Sales and Technical Services
IT Manager
KING SPRINGWORKS PTY LTD"

I sent another email inquiry and will update if I receive a reply.

 

[atchipmunk]

Interesting. Sounds like the Outback springs probably have way too much pre-load in their current configuration with the Legacy struts. If you decide to go with the OEM Legacy Wagon springs, I have a set of stock springs left over from my old '05 LGT Wagon. I pulled the springs to install some Cobb lowering springs and still have them sitting in a box in storage. Miss that car...wish I had never sold it.
Anyway, if you're interested, PM me. Would sell them for $50 plus shipping if it'll help your situation out...

 

[Chris Consiglio]

New Update:

Finally got it all sorted out. The problem was that my mechanic was installing the Koni's incorrectly, with the lower spring seats upside down :1pat:

The stock springs should have worked fine (if they had been installed correctly), but I ended up finding out that Rallitek actually does make a 1" lift spring for the rear 05-09 Legacy, which was hidden on their website for some reason... they fixed it after I made an inquiry as to why they offered lift springs for the front but not the rear...

Anywhoo... With the Koni's installed correctly with the Rallitek springs, plus 1" rear strut spacers from Anderson Design & Fabrication, the results are excellent:

 

[traildogck]

I am so very happy it's all now good. I really felt I must have given wrong information since you were having so many issues.

I am happy neither one of US was negligent.