lift my scoobie

foresttracks88

Forum Member
Joined
Oct 21, 2013
Messages
25
Location
pakenham, Vic
hey guys,

Ive been reading a lot lately about about other subbie owners doing the 1inch lift with the spacers bother front and rear. I want to do this to mine (99 forester) is there any good place to buy them online? suggestions welcomed?

Also,
while installing my snorkel yesterday, i was leaning on the front end of the car and noticed it was really easy to push down on it and the whole car bounce. Could there be something wrong here with the struts/coils? or is this normal?

cheers
 
When you say a whole lot of bounce, how much do you mean ?
Was it more than 1 & 1/2 bounces ?

If it was (say 3 or 4 bounces) it sounds like your shocks might need to be replaced.

Regards
Mr Turbo
 
no no, it didn't actually bounce once i pressed down on it and let it go. more so it was just easy to push it down then it sprung back up really easily.

if that makes sense?
 
It might be the struts are ok but the springs are soft. When I got my Foz, the springs front & rear were both soft as well as the struts were completely stuffed
 
There seem to be two main ways to do a lift:

(1) One inch blocks from Subtle Solutions in the USA. (They are good to deal with: prompt service, no issues.) Keep the standard springs; replace the shockers if they are worn with either Subaru genuine part (a bit cheaper) or KYB aftermarket part (costs a bit more; same part from the same factory, but valved a bit harder. Either shocker works well with the standard springs; KYB is a bit firmer and better controlled, Subaru is a better ride.

(2) Heavy-duty raised springs from Kings or any of several others. You get about the same increase in ride height as you get with 1 inch lift blocks (actually a little more) and a firmer ride. Best to use the stiffer KYB struts if you go with HD springs as the Subaru struts are a bit too soft for them and the car floats rather unpleasantly even though the ride is in the joggly-to-harsh range.

Note: do NOT fit raised springs and lift blocks, the result is too high and probably not legal; the handling is abominable because you don't have enough adjustment left to allign the wheels properly. HD springs or lift blocks, not both.Depending on your car and the weight you normally carry, you may want to put lift blocks in as well as HD springs but ONLY at the rear, and only if your car is normally down by the bum because of the loads you carry. You will have to use yuour best judgement on that.

I recently put HD springs, OEM shockers, and lift blocks all round on my MY05 Forester. I am now tyring to get my hands on some factory standard front springs because it's too high and drives like a pig. (The back is good.) So I'll probably have some almost new HD springs for sale cheap. Or, if that doesn't work out, I'll take the lift blocks out instead and sell them. I think[/;i] the MY05 and the 99 Foresters take the same springs and stuff, but will have to check.
 
Tannin said:
Note: do NOT fit raised springs and lift blocks, the result is too high and probably not legal; the handling is abominable because you don't have enough adjustment left to allign the wheels properly. HD springs or lift blocks, not both.Depending on your car and the weight you normally carry, you may want to put lift blocks in as well as HD springs but ONLY at the rear, and only if your car is normally down by the bum because of the loads you carry. You will have to use yuour best judgement on that.
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Careful here! More detail is needed in your advice. From what I've read and seen from mates in vic:

1 inch strut only lift and HD springs go well - Pezimm has this setup on his foz.

2 inch all round lift and HD springs go well too - Venom has this on his Liberty. I can't remember if Dulagarl has this on his foz as well or if he's only got strut lift.

I think the typical thing to do on the board here is a 2 inch strut lift and HD springs. But if you're adding in the longer outback struts you can run into trouble as that would be a total of 3 inches of lift in the strut only - would need to lift the rest of the vehicle at lest an inch if not two with that combination in my opinion - I've not lifted any of these vehicles.

Cheers

Bennie
 
El_Freddo said:
Careful here! More detail is needed in your advice. From what I've read and seen from mates in vic:

Bennie, one word, mate: no. Here is the proof:

131019-092253-.jpg


HD Kings springs and 1 inch Subtle blocks front and rear, standard struts. As you can see, the front is way too high and it drives like a pig on roller skates. Oh, and the ride is terrible.
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I don't think the front is too high - the rear is too low :twisted:

And you need bigger tyres to look more like this:

g15l.jpg


:twisted:

Subi awesomeness - others need to get on board with it - there's too many stock subi's around here (where I am!) :(

Cheers

Bennie
 
Cheers El Freddo. I like your style. :)

But seriously now, I expect my bus - lift or no lift - to drive like a Subaru, not like a bloody Hi-Lux. I.e., I expect it to be comfortable, well-mannered, and sure-footed whether that be on the wet, the dry or on gravel. Sure, I want more clearance so I can get down that 4WD-only track in the north Queensland rainforest without a worry, but I expect to cover the 6000 kilometres there and back in comfort and safety, and arrive relaxed and ready to roll. That's why I have a Subaru.
 
Tannin, I'm not sure what is happening with yours, something is certainly going wrong somewhere. El Freddo is right though, many people have raised springs with Subtle 1" blocks. Had a thought, you could take it to Pedders for a suspension check with their high-tech thingy (not a technical term!). It might be you need new struts & they arent controlling the HD springs properly :shrug:

foresttracks88 has a SF Foz which is slightly different to yours, I'm not sure SG springs will fit his. Anyway, springs arent too expensive, struts are the shocker (pun intended lol) :iconwink:

foresttracks88, try Subtle Solutions for 1" spacers
 
Tannin said:
But seriously now, I expect my bus - lift or no lift - to drive like a Subaru, not like a bloody Hi-Lux. I.e., I expect it to be comfortable, well-mannered, and sure-footed whether that be on the wet, the dry or on gravel.
Click to expand...

Thats why I dont get whats happened with yours...I have raised springs plus 2" body lift & mine handles great! It has some body roll even with a WRX rear sway bar but corners well considering its 3 1/2" higher & turns in great with the improved caster. It doesnt track like a Falcon but that seems to be a feature of Subarus. But it doesnt float & on dirt sticks to the road like s**t to a blanket! :biggrin:

When you get it sorted be sure to post what you did...
 
I understand what you're saying Tannin. Ironically I've been working on my subaru to make it drive more like a modern subaru - and have only just got there with my custom AWD gearbox. It's the AWD that makes the biggest difference!

Cheers

Bennie
 
We put new tie rod ends on this week mate. That has certainly helped even though the thing isn't alligned again yet. It tightened the front end up nicely. But we are battling to find a set of standard springs - Subaru can supply new ones to order but with a three week wait while they import then from overseas and (weirdly) the wreckers don't seem to have any. Kings don't make them! Yes, they are in the Kings catalogue but they don't actually make the standard height springs! Tried to order them, no dice. Apparently Gary has found a wrecker in Melbourne with some, so we will see what next week brings.
 
Tannin said:
Yes, they are in the Kings catalogue but they don't actually make the standard height springs! Tried to order them, no dice.
Click to expand...

Thats weird! Perhaps try dobinsons?

Perhaps the mods could move some of this discussion to Tannins suspension thread so this isnt hijacked so much? :redface:

foresttracks88 said:
im loving driving around and everyone staring at me, thinking damn what an awesome car lol
Click to expand...

Haha thats great. I bet you're happy :monkeydance:
 
Tannin said:
As you can see, the front is way too high and it drives like a pig on roller skates.
Click to expand...
I have 30mm raised kings & 1" Subtle blocks front and rear in my Forry & the front is a touch higher, but not as much as yours.

Maybe, just maybe, having the added weight of the bull bar on the front is enough to bring it back to being more level :shrug:
[EDIT]Also realized you don't have a bash plate either, so there's added weight there aswell [End EDIT]

Just a thought ??

Regards
Mr Turbo
 
Last edited:
NachaLuva said:
Perhaps the mods could move some of this discussion to Tannins suspension thread so this isnt hijacked so much? :redface:
Click to expand...

Not a good idea: we don't want to be pretending that there aren't problems with lifts - my troubles provide a useful example of that. I only wish that someone had told me about these gotchas before I went ahead.
 
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