Replacement spoiler; tire tuck

[Suzie-Q]

I just have a few quesions regarding my 91 legacy. I am having an extremely difficult time finding a replacement spoiler foy my baby. I have gone to wrecking yards and have spent hours online looking for one. I just need anything stock to fit the current holes. Help! It would help greatly if anyone knows if there are spoilers from different models that might fit my car. Also, is it a good idea to tuck my tires? I want to lower my car 3-4 inches (via cutting the springs...I know it's stupid, but whatever) . Thanks for your help!

[jamal]

Also, is it a good idea to tuck my tires? I want to lower my car 3-4 inches (via cutting the springs...I know it's stupid, but whatever) . Thanks for your help!

Don't cut your springs. They have a tendancy to ride very shittily on stock struts and fall out of the spring perches. Lowering it 3-4 inches would leave you riding on the bump stops.

As for the spoiler, junkyards or part-outs are usually a good source. Otherwise go to a body/accessory shop, and they'll probably have something that looks like the stock part.


Welcome to the forums. Using the search feature and reading sticked threads is highly recommended.

[Suzie-Q]

But i really want my car low. i want to worry about scraping speed bumps! there are very few lowering kits for my car and they only lower it up to 2 inches (from what i've found). Plus, they cost almost as much as my car did! I've read on some other forums that cutting the springs is ok under certain conditions : use a saw, not a torch; cut a complete coil off at a time; do many gradual cuts to get the right drop height; get an alignment afterward. i'm so tempted to do it that i'm already making some calls to friends. do i have any other options?

[Manarius]

But i really want my car low. i want to worry about scraping speed bumps!

Why would you want to lower your AWD baby. If you really wanna be pimp, get some 18 inch rims and it'll look like it's been lowered.

Besides, Legacies weren't made to be pimped; they were made to be AWD.

[dscoobydoo]

ok, so you want to be cruising down 3rd ave downtown in the new construction plowing the whole way? I suggest not.

I have a set of H&R springs and AGX's on mine and it suits my needs. Looks good, handles great and I don't fear speed bumps.

Cutting your springs will drop the car, and it will wear stuff faster and make the ride $hitty!!!

Besides, the roads in Spokane are teh shits!

This is how mine looks.

[greg donovan]

4 inches would put the car on the ground.

[Manarius]

ok, so you want to be cruising down 3rd ave downtown in the new construction plowing the whole way? I suggest not.

I have a set of H&R springs and AGX's on mine and it suits my needs. Looks good, handles great and I don't fear speed bumps.

Cutting your springs will drop the car, and it will wear stuff faster and make the ride $hitty!!!

Besides, the roads in Spokane are teh shits!

This is how mine looks.

I want those rims.

[professor]

you can cut the springs one full coil in the front, and about 2/3 of a coil in the back. That will drop it about 1" on both ends.

You should also have a grinder ready to contour the cut ends to fit the perches better. You'll see what I mean when you have them in your hands.

Any more than that and you will have problems with springs falling out of the perches as others have mentioned, and you will not be able to use the KYB AGX adjustable struts which are the best fitment, in fact I don't have the slightest clue what you would use for struts if you wanted things lower

if you lower it 3-4" I can guarantee you will blow the struts, and your car will be boucing up and down like every other ricer idiot out there, and your handling will be useless and dangerous, and you will rip off your exhaust and probably smash the engine oil pan

The cuts I've oulined above remove the progressive coil (or most of it), so you get less body roll and a bit more stiffness, overall it works out pretty well, or you can spend $200 for a fine set of aftermarkets, which will drop you 1-2" depending on what.

[LaureltheQueen]

if you want to do something, don't halfass it and go cheap. Buy a set of coilovers for the gc8 and put those on. You can drop it as much as you want, and it won't make your car unsafe.

as far as the spoiler, look in the for sale forum, there are a fair few people parting out their sport sedans, and you'd likely be able to find one for not much.

are you a girl?

[Suzie-Q]

Do those coilovers really let you lower it as much as you want? i'll go that way if that's the case. and yes i am a girl.

[jamal]

To a certain extent. A coilover setup usually consists of a nice strut, with threaded sleeves for the coils. The spring perches thread onto the sleeves, and allow pre-load and ride height to be adjusted. Fancy ones allow you to do this independantly, and often have multiple strut adjustments.

To do a good job of lowering you car on a budget, you could probably get some ground control sleeves, better struts suited to work with them, and would have the added benefit of better handling.

One thing that I recently saw done was the the spring perches and top mounts were modifed to give stock travel on a lowered car. Suby Specialists in Sacramento (?... somewhere up there) did it.

[LaureltheQueen]

omg, this is amazing. Another girl on the board. I guess we'll see how long she lasts.

If you really absolutely want to go cheap, then at least get coilover sleeves on agx's.

I feel the need to share my story with you, as your situation reminds of mine just 2 short years ago. I had a crx as first car, it had coilovers, was dumped, handled well, and was all around fun. I, being a 16 year old girl, knew very little about physics, and quickly learned that a wet road+summer tires=understeering into a curb. Upon seeing my damaged bodykit(made of fiberglass) my mom quickly began believing that this little "sports car" that she had bought her daughter was made of plastic. The crx was sold, and I inherited my dad's 91 legacy L wagon, with an automatic trasmission. Gross.
I drove this car for over a year before I finally decided not to replace it with a "sportier" car. I enjoyed driving the 91, and loved it's utility. I looked into suspension work first, knowing that it was the most important factor in having a safe and fun to drive car. I was originally looking for a 3-4 inch drop, because seriously, what looks more gangster than a dumped wagon? Well, I quickly learned that in order to have a drop like that, using quality components(i cannot stress enough the importance of quality components in brake and suspension applications), I was going to be looking into a $1200 coilover set, roughly the value of my car. That idea was quickly tossed out, and replaced with a 1.5-2" drop. I would still get noticable handling benefits, and the crazy amounts of wheel gap would be toned down quite a bit. So, I ordered a set of whiteline springs, and a set of AGX struts, and pulled the tophats from a 92 legacy at the junkyard. There, into the suspension just over $600. Not too shabby considering I had 4 brand new Macphereson strut assemblies waiting to go onto my car. The springs are high quality, and the struts have adjustable dampening, great to set softish for daily driving, and crank up for autocrossing.

Pleasepleasepleaseplease... Do not go cheap on suspension products. Not only will you look ghetto bouncing down the road, but you'll be putting yourself and other people at risk by compromising the quality and structure of 1 of the three things you absolutely must have in a car. modify your engine with duct tape and coke cans, you won't hear me speak up(much), but do not skimp on and compromise your car's suspension, stopping and steering.
[/rant]
Here's my 92 legacy wagon with a 1.5" drop.

not too shabby, eh?


Please IM me on any of the messengers listed in my profile. This is seriously so cool having another girl on the board

[evolutionmovement]

The other thing to consider with cut springs that low is that when that unsafe 'suspension' bounces you into oncoming traffic or a sidewalk the insurance company will more likely than not laugh as they deny your claim and leave you with the medical bills for whoever got hurt. Seeing as the bastard hospitals charged $1500 for 7 stitches when I didn't even arrive in an ambulance I don't even want to think about what serious injuries cost.

Steve

[Suzie-Q]

Yeah i guess it could look ridiculous having my car that low. I might just settle for an easy 1.5 inch drop via a new set of springs. But i still think it would be awesome to be the only one i know with a lowrider suby!

[dscoobydoo]

ok, so you want to be cruising down 3rd ave downtown in the new construction plowing the whole way? I suggest not.

I have a set of H&R springs and AGX's on mine and it suits my needs. Looks good, handles great and I don't fear speed bumps.

Cutting your springs will drop the car, and it will wear stuff faster and make the ride $hitty!!!

Besides, the roads in Spokane are teh shits!

This is how mine looks.

I want those rims.

Standard 01 RS wheels. Not too hard to find.

My H&R springs give me a 1-1.3 inch drop. I drive around the south side/valley/downtown of Spokane mostly, so keep your eyes open and check out how the drop looks. ( Although I currently run WRX rims.)

[IronMonkeyL255]

I need a set of those wheels as well.

Whenever I find a set for sale, something else expensive comes up.


If you really want it slammed, you could try airbags. Those were made for that kind of travel, but would be expensive and a difficult install.

[LaureltheQueen]

if you decide to go with whitelines(not quite as necessary since you have a sedan), you should order them now. I waited 17 weeks for mine, but i've heard of waits in excess of 6 months. H&R makes a spring set for the car as well, look into the suspension forum and you can find all sorts of information on the other subaru suspension that will fit the legacy.

[BAC5.2]

Wow, if I dropped my car 4", I'd be kissing the ground. I wouldn't worry about speed bumps, I'd worry about pebbles.

I won't get into the ridiculousness of coilover "sleeves" or cut springs (though Professor seems to have a solid handle on how to do it right).

Cut corners if you must. Lord knows, I've done it. But be safe if you do it.

The important things, brakes, suspension, whatever, are the things you don't cheap out on.

I'm going through the same thing right now with Saftey. I've got a bucket, a 6-point harness (with which, the shoulder straps will not be installed until later), and I'm going to be investing in a roll-cage sometime in the next year. I could cheap out and just stretch the shoulder harnesses to the back seat and try mounting them there, or I could do it right with a cage and harness bar. I have lots of friends who are avid road racers, and who will simply not allow me to do unsafe things like that.

So I'm doing it right. I could have gotten a Sparco "tuning, look good and be red" 4-point 2" harness, or I could have just done it right and picked up a 6-point 3" SFI Certified harness. I got the 6-point. Why all of this stuff? Well, I value my life. I intend to track the car next summer, and I refuse to do that without protecting myself.

[Suzie-Q]

Yeah, i actually got on a site today that lets you virtually lower your car (mine wasn't specifically on there, but i used a mid-90s accord and it looked very similar from the side) as well as choosing larger rims and performance tires. i was extremely satisfied with a 1.75" drop on 16" rims, so i'm going to buy some lowering springs that drop it that much and be safe. but it's touching that so many people are concerned for my safety

[scottzg]

but it's touching that so many people are concerned for my safety

this board is full of fun-haters. Mentioning body kits, 18" wheels, drastic lowering, or multicolored paint jobs and you'll get a chorus of rejection.

Now is probably a good time to replace your struts. They tend to soften over time, and a probably pooped by now.

Here's my car with a 1/2" drop and 16"s



Hey phil, ive got a set of 5 points sitting next to me, i took them out when i saw a rolled BJ about a month ago and the passengers side roof was totally caved in. Scared the crap out of me.

Cages are pimp.

[azn2nr]

someone dig up pics of speshal's car. that thing was dumped. his new car is dumped. either way that car was on the ground and it was only a 3inch ish drop. to give you an idea of how dumped it was when on all 4s the exhaust flange connecting the axleback to the midpipe couldnt fit a cellphone between it and the pavement. his car was mostly a show car that had some go to it too but he really didnt mind putting up with the scrapes and the maintence. he also put up with having his camber set all the way in so that he could "tuck" his wheels. something you could do with a 1200 dollar set of tines.

edit. his drop was 2.36 inches 60mm.
http://www.cardomain.com/ride/271734

[Suzie-Q]

jesus christ! that car is f!@#ing low!!! it's actually not too far from where i want mine! those kind of pictures are inspirational

[BAC5.2]

Scott - Yea, I'm going to run the lap and sub on the street since my bucket has no stock lap-belt provisions, but the shoulders won't go in until I get the cage.

I have been talking to an instructor friend of mine, and I'm gonna stick with a 4-point (and maybe upgrade later to a 6 point) rear half roll bar/cage, my 6-points, and a good helmet for the track.

[BAC5.2]

And on the stance issue, here's my car:

http://dave.oc7.org/images/2005.05.15.b ... C_1966.jpg

Bad angle, but that's my 94 on 17's and 225/45's, stock springs, and OEM struts.

[LegacyPunk]

Phil, you just made me re-think my whole harness setup, just read some of the nasty injuries that can come with an improperly installed harness.