How To Lift an Impreza w/ Forester Struts × $150 Subaru Lift Kit 

I have a 98 impreza wagon, would this swap also work on that year>

Ken Kidd Yep!

How much power are you losing with the added rotational inertia of the tires?

Awesome video man 👍🏻. Would this be the same process for an 05 Impreza wagon?

@@DavidPalmer_planeace222 Not as much as I or any friends would've thought! The stock gearing is 4.11 if you can believe it! Some Foresters even have 4.44 gears & if I get a manual swapped in there that's what I'm after (other than the holy grail STI 6-speed).

I try hard to keep that going for my videos! No need to shove my ugly mug in the lens when the subject is the vehicles themselves 👍

@@Tinker1837 thank you. subbed for that

Thanks & yeah I had both electric & air power just a few steps away, but I figured most don't so why not try & film it that way.

@@Tinker1837 After I got a $200 Milwaukee impact wrench I will never go back lol. Forget all that wrenching.

It's funny cause I have cordless in packs and what not but something about just using hand tools lol

Oh nice! Glad it was helpful, because for me it was one the biggest "bang for the buck" mods I've done in a while.

@@Tinker1837 Great video man.. You just did the same for me lol. I was about to spend over a grand.

@@anangelsarrow556 Glad you liked 👍

Happy to help and glad these vids can be useful to others!

Hey do you know thr compatibility for control arms? I have an 06 impreza and I don't know if forester ones will fit

It's a fitting if you think about it, because of the build starting out as a real piece of crap... and now a proper polished turd!

I am sure you will like the way it looks / performs with the lift :)

I'll have to try that next time, because my usual default is to keep any exposed threads to the rear to try & save garbage building up on them.

Hey thanks!

They are pretty large & I haven't heard of them breaking, but once you get them loose it should sort that alignment out for you. Happy to hear the video was useful 👍

Thanks! I ended up dropping the subframes 4" too after this strut swap. It's real tall now. Yeah it's perpetually dirty, especially with the farm roads out to that shop. It's an easy afternoon job to do this, even better if you have a good cordless kit.

Thanks! Hope it's helpful :)

Glad you liked :)

It's been fun having a "ratty style" project.

I would say that's definitely an issue it had previous, because the struts won't effect the diffs, but hopefully you can swap one in there to get it going again to enjoy the new lift height :)

Oh yes & this is just the start of the lifting, more to come!

Just couldn't resist poking fun at the shoe in the fender gap thing I used to see on forums :P

Thanks, tried to make it right to the point.

The name "Rot Wagon" wasn't too hard to come up with for this project haha!

Lift all the things!

Thanks! Doing this was heaps easier than the big lift kit I installed later, but glad I did because mine with ~260k on it was REALLY needing a bunch of rusty things underneath replaced.

@@Tinker1837 oh im sure. I live in maine im all too firmilair with rusty shit haha

I think I'll end up upgrading the springs & doing some custom bracing of the struts. Dual range would be awesome! That or I thought it could be fun to custom build an auto: with 4.44 gears, manual valve body with a "shift kit", center diff lock switch, & a modified interlock shifter :D

I've heard that's an important test to do after any suspension work haha

Happy to help!

Nice! Exactly what I hope people do with theirs.

Thanks!

Glad you liked! Yes I use as much second hand parts as I can to keep costs down on this project.

Thanks! That's what I was trying to pull off with the edit. No drill! Round file is plenty & is less of a handful to perform. Sometimes, depending on the individual chassis, you'll run into caster issues (where the tires get out of center in the wheel well, aka too near door or bumper) & that is where you can slap in the Forester rear trailing-arm or front control-arms to solve the issue.

Tinker would you recommend just putting the extra parts on anyway to be safe?

Those control arms & trailing arms are only necessary if the caster is way out of alignment once the Forester struts are in. Caster on a Subaru is easiest explained as the amount by which the strut is leaning front-to-back when viewed from the side of the vehicle. Often times when lifting a vehicle the wheels will end up too close to the door sides of the wheel wells. Depends on the specific vehicle, but for example: If after the strut lift your front wheel is off-center, to the rear in the wheel well opening, then swap in the Forester control arm to correct it. Same goes for the rear tires: If after the lift they end up off-center towards the door, the swap in the Forester trailing arm to correct it. Hope that helps & thanks for comments on the video format! That's exactly what I was going for with the edit :)

Tinker oh awesome! Thank you for explaining! I am just so excited to try this. I have a 2004 outback sport that is pretty ruffed up and not worth a whole lot. The left rear strut leaked all of its oil out and is sagging pretty bad. Probably won’t pass inspection. I’m thinking, hey since i’m certainly not paying anybody to do this work on this valueless car, I can either do a pretty mundane patch job or... FUCK do an awesome project baby! This video popped in my recommended feed at the ideal moment. Tyty

Happy to help :)

Mine came from ebay & be sure to use good ones! Cheap spacers are scary when you change tires this much haha

Oh no, trust me they are well tight in the new bolt pattern. It's been thru some very hard trail runs & they've yet to move even a little 👍

I did not, so they've just been spares. I adjusted my alignment pretty easily after this strut lift, but after the big 4" kit on top it ended up a bit out of whack... I have a new set of knobby tires on the way so I'll have to get it dialed in here soon!

Glad you like :)

I do believe so, yes. The shock cartridge in the strut body's different as far as I know. Don't get me wrong, it's not much. There are several simple upgrades for them though. I'd like to fit mine with a set of king springs, an "inverted" STI cartridge, & weld on some bracing in the weak spots of the strut body to save bending when really bashing trails hard.

Thanks :) And oh yes, for sure! I just saw it as an opportunity to be able to quickly accept either type (especially for trail-side repairs).

Oh nice! 30's are pretty big 👍

Actually you should end up with the same if not less body roll due to the springs in those struts having a higher rate (more stiff) due to being from a heavier Forester.

Happy to help, wanted more people to see how easily it can be done for cheap!

I would dig into the forums for that, because I'm almost clueless beyond '08 with Subaru.

Thanks! And the camera was just a GoPro Hero6.

I did not, seems to be vehicle dependant. My suspension's caster setting was pretty good afterwards, so I saved them for trail spares. But I have heard of some vehicles very much needing them afterward, not sure what causes this.

@@Tinker1837 Awesome ! Mine is a wagon just like yours, so I think I'm good to go. This car was pampered and the springs are in good shape, so I just ordered 3" top-mount spacers (not for inside the springs coils) and the 1" 100mm to 114.3mm wheel spacer/adapters for my Kumho mudders. I also have a set of 2" thick 114mm to stack against the 1". They don't make them thicker than 1" for the 100 to 114.3 config', for some reason. Should still get a good ride, but I still may get the Forester parts one day and try to go up another 4". LOL ! Depends on how tough these spacers turn out to be.

Sure! If you could get your hands on the sheet metal "dust covers" that go over top of the struts you'd have yourself a perfect template to trace for some strut top spacers. This car now has some big 4" aluminum spacers on top of the struts & subframes, rolling on nearly 30" tires ;)

What size tire can you fit with just the forester strut lift? And are the CVS gonna be a issue with just the strut lift?

Probably up to 26" depending on your wheel offset & tread width. If you want bigger the rear wheel well's easy to trim, but the front can be more tricky... requires letting some anger out with a mallet on the lower-rear of the front wells. Oh & CV's are no issue, you can get away with still running the Impreza CV's but Forester CV's are even better since they're a touch longer.

One more question: would you trust a repaired engine to be reliable, with 197.000 miles on it? (For 'repair', I mean rings, valves, bearings, including crankshaft's, rods', gaskets, etc.)? Is it worth @ $4.000 + tax Canadian, roughly .80 US? In my case, it's that, or a $2.000 CND cylinder heads gasket job. Advise? Thanks for your time, Tinker.

The Forester arms are just for fixing camber / caster issues from the increased height, but not always necessary! (in my case I did not need those arms and just kept them for spares) I think from what you're experiencing that 1 of 2 things are happening: Either you were given Impreza struts instead of Forester, OR you have Forester struts with bad springs (sag is common on high mile cars, especially on non-OEM replacement units).

Best trick with that is to remove the anti-sway bar link (or the bar itself)

With this strut lift it's no change really, but when I lifted it 4" higher yet with 29" tires it kinda runs out of gear beyond 75mph

@@Tinker1837 Ayo! update! So i did get the struts in i got brand new ones. Small problem ive got this odd rattling sound from the rear only. both sides it seems. I double checked all the bolts and nuts (wasnt very many) everything is tight. Rattle only noticeable on bumpy roads, no rattle on pavement. Its not super loud but definitely noticeable. Any ideas?? Should i be worried or just turn up the radio??

It's actually completely custom, because it used to sound terrible! It didn't have the unequal length exhaust manifolds that give it the "Subaru rumble" so I built my own header & full system. It has straight 1.75" primaries into a hi-flow racing cat with a flex joint & v-band, then 2.5" back with just a cheap resonator & " turbo style" muffler.

The anti-sway bars on mine are completely removed now, but even though it is possible, they can be pain to reach back in place. It depends how worn your springs are & how much the ride height is affected by them, but you may find better luck using a set from a Forester if the Impreza bars are too difficult to reconnect.

Glad it was helpful! Changes in fuel economy will be dependant on what tire you decide to up-size to, so the larger the more negative effect on mpg. Wear & tear such as CV's will be a non-issue since this mod only changes you from Impreza to Forester height suspension. Larger tires though will cause increased wear on wheel bearings & brakes, but so long as you don't make a huge jump to something like 29-31" tall you're unlikely to even notice 👍

I did not, as mine did not end up needing them to fix any camber/caster issues from the increased height.

The crank pulley tried falling off at first (part of why it was so cheap) but after that I was genuinely surprised how it sounded too! Not much power in the 2.2 single-port, someday maybe it'll get a turbo or WRX drivetrain.

It does have nice torque though for n/A

Thanks! I left my tires at the time at stock size, because I intended to go much farther with the lifting (now on 30" tires w/4" more lift), so I can't say for sure since I went from small right to rather big.

Holy shit that's big hahaha awesome dude

Argentina looks beautiful, hope to see it myself some day :D

Just like the video says, any Forester 97 to 08 will work. Also... 97-02 are tall, but 03-08 are even taller yet, & XT models pretty much the same. (my parts were a mix of 05, 07, 08)

I did not have camber issues with this build, but was warned by many people that it can happen. Also you can find those arms (if you want them) fairly cheap on Ebay or Car-Part.

I had to do a little bit of strong arming to get mine in there, & it doesn't have antisway bars which made it easier as well. Using the arms from the same vehicle as the struts can help!

I'm honestly not sure on anything to do with those car's suspension systems since they differ in layout so much more than any Subaru's I've wrenched on.

I'm not sure on a 2008+ because a lot changes after that point.

That is odd, no difference there that I am aware of.

True!

Yep!

Harufire Surprisingly good! I tossed the sway bars in favor of suspension flex, so it has plenty of body roll but not unmanageable. Personally I find that kind of driving experience pretty fun, like a tiny trophy truck :) No reason you couldn't upgrade the bars & build extended links for them though! A handful of little heim joints & some tube is what I intend to weld up in the future for quick release sway links, once I get my hands on bigger bars.

@@Tinker1837 this before has a few years old , and I am just curious about how did you end fixing the problem of the sway bar and links , did you made your own or get a new ones aftermarket , the links from the forester does not fit on the impreza ?? I am asking you this because I am thinking to lift my 2002 impreza 2.5 wagon , but after watching all the videos that are doing the same as you , they always has problems with geometrics of the car and rubbing tires , do you think in this times, three years after this video , there is a kit that you just can plug and play for this kind of lifting ?? Thx a lot

Yes it should, but I wonder why you are getting rub already... especially in back 🤔

I left my lower arms in place & found that with Subaru front suspension's if the lower arm is binding up it helps to wedge a prybar into the gap above the inner bushing & lean down on it.

Great but very different, especially with anti-sway bars removed. But then I am used to driving more off-road oriented vehicles that some might hate to deal with.

Clicking is a sign of CV damage. Forester axles are slightly longer.

I do believe that Forester struts will some lift on any chassis other than the Foresters.

They are very challenging to get in there, but on my build I removed both anti-sway bars completely due to the 4" lift kit that followed this work. Much more flexible without them, but of course more of a handful on the street (although it should go without saying this sort of work has negative handling effects). I would like to eventually get much thicker bars to replace them, with quick disconnect ends for trail runs.

@@Tinker1837 I actually thought of maybe making some customized links out of a turn buckle or something or making a personalized sway bar. I bought a 98 Ipreza Wagon for $500 and currently using it as a daily driver.... thanks for the feedback. Let me know if you figure something out and Ill do the same ..

@@vincentgagliardi2291 That sounds like a great idea! I was thinking of something similar. Maybe a left & right hand threaded pair of rod ends + a bolt with holes to accept a hairpin style cotter.

They sure do! Same 3-bolt pattern, but once you place them side by side you'll see the difference is in the height of the stamped steel section.

Nope! No CV issues until I lifted it much more, and even then it was mostly just torn boot covers.

Yep! They're good fun lifted :D

I do believe so! I don't think the Legacy's changed to that funny rear suspension setup until 98-99

Thanks & I did not end up needing to, so for now they serve as spares for trail damage (thankfully haven't needed yet).

@@Tinker1837 Interesting. I just did the exact same thing on my 07 impreza (after watching your video). Lift was great but I have some weird clunking coming from the rear, normally when I back up or just start moving forward. It almost feels like an alignment issue, except there's no obvious pulling when I am driving on the freeway. Trying to pin down what is causing it. It handles great once I am up to speed.

@@JaysonMatthews Perhaps the e-brake cables? I've noticed some cars have more/less cable available to stretch the added height. Hopefully it's not a loose bolt under there! I make a habit of using a paint marker to draw short lines from any nut or bolt head to the part it's thru, that way you can easily see anything that's worked itself loose if a mark's not aligned.

@@Tinker1837 I will add that to the list of the 14 other things I am checking this week. =) Thanks again!

@@JaysonMatthews Happy to help!

Sadly no :( Those have a very different rear suspension, shared with the Baja's, that is not nearly as easy to lift for cheap.

@@Tinker1837 sorry to hear, but thx anyway

@@sppilu Happy to help. Best option for that vehicle would be spacer blocks, instead of used struts like this video. I think you can go up to 2" or 3" spacers before risking CV-axle issues.

Same exact car btw. 00' Impreza OBS with SG forester struts.

@@russianrawkit I removed my anti-sway bars completely, because I planned on the big lift kit after this mod, & I wanted to upgrade to much thicker bars later on (to handle the much taller ride height it has now).

@@Tinker1837 Thanks, I ended up removing the anti sway bar as well as I couldnt eliminate the rubbing.. May put them back on if I can find some longer links or a way to drop the bar an inch or so. I'm having an issue with my CV clicking when turning at slow speeds... did you get anything like this?

Snorkels are a great idea for you then! And a supercharger would be way fun too

Nope! They can be good to have if you run into issues with getting it aligned, but most cars should not need them 👍

another quick question if you would ? i recently lifted mine on 02 struts and shocks and when turning sharply and sometimes taking off i hear a weird rear end noise have you heard of this?

@@jackpancake3725 I have not heard of that, & I would have a look at the usual suspects based on what sort of noise: Wheel bearings, CV axles, Anti-sway bar, Strut top-hats etc.

That is the "dust cover" that isn't all that necessary but makes for a great drill pattern!

Yep! Lucky that so many Japanese cars have tons of interchangeable parts.

Nope! Still no broken or worn out CV's even after more lift & beating on it *fingers crossed*

My struts in this video were quite low, since they were replaced on the donor vehicle. The trick is to check the shock seals and wear from the dust cover rubbing on the shock body, those are usually good markers for age if you don't have exact mileage. But yes I agree that if that $275 set is original to the car then they will be a wreck. Go with a good name brand (kyb, bilstein etc) with replacements if you can, and avoid the noname stuff vs low mile originals.

Tinker I’ve since found some cheaper (but fairly low mileage) forester struts and threw them in my 03 Impreza OBS. The rear strut bolt patterns matched perfectly, no need to file the holes out! The only issue I’ve come across is the caster issue in the back, I’ve read that you can fix it with trailing arm brackets from a 99 outback. Do you know if the forester trailing arms are longer if the bracket on those drop the bolt point lower than on an Impreza?

Yeah! And they look great with a bit of added height & rubber.

No, the rear suspension on an Outback is different from the Forester/Impreza. And the height is already the same as Forester, so you'll need spacers or stiffer springs to get more height out of your Outback.

I did not, just replaced boots where necessary and if I needed the whole thing I stuck with used Subaru units from Ebay.

The inner mountings of the Forester arms are different, enough to resolve any of those sorts of issues (due to the match up of Forester struts with Forester arms).

Tinker. Just the bushings? Or where the ball joint connects as well? thanks for the quick reply.

The 2 inner mounting points are different from the Impreza arms, not sure there is any difference with the outer side of the arms (ball joint etc)

I did not, but they make for good spares in case you bend something later... which is a real possibility when you start lifting these things & having more fun offroad!

Not that I am aware of. I believe the mounting mounts and lengths are different.

Not sure on 08+