Hello from West Virginia

[Ghost68]

I am new to the Subie game. I purchased an 04 Outback, 35th Anniversary edition. It has. 180500 miles on it. It is in great shape. I have all the maintenance records. It is not going to be an off-road machine, I have a RZR for that. However, I have a bad back and it sits a little low for me. Will 225/70/16 fit without a lift? I also know that the shocks are bad and I will replace them. At 180000 miles, highway miles, would you recommend replacing the coils as well? Thanks and I’m looking forward to a learning from you all.

[Rally]

Keep the springs, get some good quality shocks. I’d suggest get good quality road tyres and if you need it higher get a mild lift kit. That way you don’t need to worry about trying to fit a bigger tyred spare in the spare wheel well, you’ll have heaps more grip where you will be using the car and the car will be so much better for driving. Bigger tyres mean reduced acceleration for overtaking and being heavier make life harder for your suspension due to increased unsprung weight. One result of that is reduced ride quality.

[scalman]

i thought bad back is because seating posittion how you sit in it for longer time. how car being lower or higher would change that ? well anyway. nice car. no need for such large tires. i would say mine 215/65R16 are like very good i could go maybe 215/70 on it and still be fine but not larger. and you dont want wider tires. they worse for car control and for some offroad stuff. can do some 1-2'' lift without any problem to driving feeling. but first figure out why it sits low, bad shocks so change shocks first then see do you need more lift.

[Rally]

Shocks don’t affect ride height. Shocks control springs. Springs do lose a little height over time but a lift kit will more than rectify this.

[Ghost68]

Originally Posted by scalman

i thought bad back is because seating posittion how you sit in it for longer time. how car being lower or higher would change that ? well anyway. nice car. no need for such large tires. i would say mine 215/65R16 are like very good i could go maybe 215/70 on it and still be fine but not larger. and you dont want wider tires. they worse for car control and for some offroad stuff. can do some 1-2'' lift without any problem to driving feeling. but first figure out why it sits low, bad shocks so change shocks first then see do you need more lift.

The seats are good. My back is fused from S1 all the way up to T9. Its the squatting that gets me getting in and out. This is the first car I’ve owned in over 20 years. I usually drive full size SUVs and trucks. But no worries.
225/60 are stock size. I don’t want wider just taller. But your thinking 215 vs 225? I haven’t considered thinner tires.

[Ghost68]

Rally, I was addressing two different things in the same post. I know I need shocks but was wondering about coils strictly for ride quality.
I was asking about tire size to address the height issue.
I like your suggestion about road tires but uncertain due to some of the snow we get here in WV.

[Rally]

Standard springs most likely to give the best ride quality.
Lift kits are I think a better solution to ride height than increasing tyre size especially if not going off road.
I don’t have much experience in driving in snow so I can’t help you there.

[Ghost68]

Rally, Thank you.

[Kevin]

G'day & Welcome aboard @Ghost68

[Ben Up North]

Originally Posted by Rally

Lift kits are I think a better solution to ride height than increasing tyre size especially if not going off road.

Absolutely!