Suspension & Handling

Suspension and Handling

Front Strut Bar

I fitted a front strut bar, from OMP, a steel adjustable bar designed for the Impreza Turbo, but fits the Legacy with no problems. This has definitely improved the handling - every day I have to take a sharp 90degree left hand bend with a very bad road surface - corrugated - since fitting the bar the car is far less fidgety and more stable on this corner.
Such a good improvement is encouraging me to fit a rear strut bar, but it must be one that can be removed easily as it makes the car far less practical

Coilover Suspension

I have since changed to LEDA Type C adjustable Gas Coilovers as one of my Bilsteins had siezed.

The Ledas are amazing!!!! Better handling and a smoother ride as well, they are 24 levels of adjustment for rebound (as well as height as with conventional coilovers)

The original strut in place on the rear of the car - The original springs have been cut to lower the car - the procedure is almost identical for the front struts - Raise the car and remove the road wheel
The rear towers - loosen the the nut (17mm) at the top of the strut before going any further (do not remove) and loosen the 3 nuts (12mm) that hold the strut in place
Remove the two bolts (19mm) that hold the strut to the hub (On the front the top bold is eccentric and used to adjust the camber angle - so mark its position)
After removing the bottom bolts - remove the 3 at the top and maneuver the strut out - compress the spring with spring compressors and remove the nut from the strut
Remove the insert - under the strut is a locking nut (17mm) remove and then turn the screw clockwise, the insert will then just pull out - then knock the seal off
The strut after having the spring seat cut off with an angle grinder, this left a bead of weld around the body of the strut and this had to be ground smooth to allow the threaded tube to be placed over the strut ( a very tight fit) and then welded in place at the top and bottom - make sure the bottom spring seat and locknut are on and the right-way up before welding
Upper Spring seats, on the rear struts the existing spring seat is till used above the new seat (as the top mount and spring seat are all one piece) - but not on the front
Bilstein Insert, these are inverted shocks, that is the narrow bar is at the bottom and fixed to the strut, by the threaded end screwing into the base of the strut. The shock then moves up and down. The bump stop is enclosed in the body of the strut.
The strut tower with the threaded sleeve in place, but before welding -remove all the paint for welding before sliding the sleeve into place - it must leave room at the top for the seal, but then can be placed wherever is most suitable for your installation - to allow maximum adjustability. Once the strut has cooled down replace the seal and insert, the fit the spring and top mount
The strut back in place on the car ( I also fitted braided brake hoses all round whilst doing the suspension), at the moment this is the minimum sensible height, as even with 12" springs, lowering any more could cause the springs to possibly dislocate on full droop - so I will be fitting 4" flat helper springs, these are to hold the springs under tension even during full droop, but are squashed flat under compression
The car now rides superbly, it has a noticeably better turn in and is more predictable, my cornering speeds are already significantly up and the car is sitting almost an inch higher than before at the moment - so even better to come
have now added helper springs - these are to enable me to lower the car more without any danger of the springs dislocating.
These helper springs are 4" long and 30lbs/in at the rear and 40lbs/in at the front. These are flat section springs and are designed to run fully compressed (about 1/2" fully compressed).
The car now handles even better, but is extremely noisy - I feel that it would be quieter with the helper springs below the main spring, and I also plan to buy some thin rubber to fit between the upper spring seat and the spring.

I've now moved the helpers to the bottom position, and fitted a thin layer of rubber between the top springand the top hat

The Car is now far quieter
I have now uprated the springs with 300lbs/in 10.5" front springs and moved the fronts to the rear

The handling is now brilliant - it drives really flat and controlled, very neutral, just superb to drive!!!!

Jobs to do
At the lowest setting the car hits the bumpstops too easily so these need cutting down
The rear tyres rub on the springs so I will be fitting shorter rear springs to raise the platform height

The original strut in place on the rear of the car - The original springs have been cut to lower the car - the procedure is almost identical for the front struts - Raise the car and remove the road wheel
The rear towers - loosen the the nut (17mm) at the top of the strut before going any further (do not remove) and loosen the 3 nuts (12mm) that hold the strut in place
Remove the two bolts (19mm) that hold the strut to the hub (On the front the top bold is eccentric and used to adjust the camber angle - so mark its position)
After removing the bottom bolts - remove the 3 at the top and maneuver the strut out - compress the spring with spring compressors and remove the nut from the strut
Remove the insert - under the strut is a locking nut (17mm) remove and then turn the screw clockwise, the insert will then just pull out - then knock the seal off
The strut after having the spring seat cut off with an angle grinder, this left a bead of weld around the body of the strut and this had to be ground smooth to allow the threaded tube to be placed over the strut ( a very tight fit) and then welded in place at the top and bottom - make sure the bottom spring seat and locknut are on and the right-way up before welding
Upper Spring seats, on the rear struts the existing spring seat is till used above the new seat (as the top mount and spring seat are all one piece) - but not on the front
Bilstein Insert, these are inverted shocks, that is the narrow bar is at the bottom and fixed to the strut, by the threaded end screwing into the base of the strut. The shock then moves up and down. The bump stop is enclosed in the body of the strut.
The strut tower with the threaded sleeve in place, but before welding -remove all the paint for welding before sliding the sleeve into place - it must leave room at the top for the seal, but then can be placed wherever is most suitable for your installation - to allow maximum adjustability. Once the strut has cooled down replace the seal and insert, the fit the spring and top mount
The strut back in place on the car ( I also fitted braided brake hoses all round whilst doing the suspension), at the moment this is the minimum sensible height, as even with 12" springs, lowering any more could cause the springs to possibly dislocate on full droop - so I will be fitting 4" flat helper springs, these are to hold the springs under tension even during full droop, but are squashed flat under compression
The car now rides superbly, it has a noticeably better turn in and is more predictable, my cornering speeds are already significantly up and the car is sitting almost an inch higher than before at the moment - so even better to come
have now added helper springs - these are to enable me to lower the car more without any danger of the springs dislocating. These helper springs are 4" long and 30lbs/in at the rear and 40lbs/in at the front. These are flat section springs and are designed to run fully compressed (about 1/2" fully compressed). The car now handles even better, but is extremely noisy - I feel that it would be quieter with the helper springs below the main spring, and I also plan to buy some thin rubber to fit between the upper spring seat and the spring.
I've now moved the helpers to the bottom position, and fitted a thin layer of rubber between the top springand the top hat The Car is now far quieter
I have now uprated the springs with 300lbs/in 10.5" front springs and moved the fronts to the rear The handling is now brilliant - it drives really flat and controlled, very neutral, just superb to drive!!!! Jobs to do At the lowest setting the car hits the bumpstops too easily so these need cutting down The rear tyres rub on the springs so I will be fitting shorter rear springs to raise the platform height