2005 sti springs

[slowjoe]

since these do not fit the stock struts, i was wondering if i could get some front kyb GR-2's(or equivalent) for a 2005 sti and fit that with the rear stock wagon springs and rear kyb gr-2's for my 94 FWD wagon? any suggestions? all i have now is my stock suspension setup for my fwd 94 wagon. i have part numbers for the gr-2's all around but i figured why not just switch in some 2005 sti springs to up the rate? i also have the rear springs for the sti but i am not sure whether they would be worth the trouble because my rear springs are already fairly high.

edit:
jamal wrote:
"The rest of the installation was pretty straight forward. I had the front struts changed in less than an hour, as they bolt in directly. One thing I'll note here is that 2005 STi front struts will not fit. The spindle changed for 05, so the flanges are wider apart, and so is the bolt spacing,"


will the front 2005 sti springs fit on some other strut that bolts in directly?

[Arctic Assassian]

you can always waller out the holes, then they'll bolt to the spindle.

[slowjoe]

but is there any way i can just change out the spring perches and still use the kyb gr-2s for a fwd wagon?

edit:
jamal wrote"The neat thing is that the tapered springs and the straight springs have the same respective top diameters so you can switch tops.

A 90-91 Legacy top/perch will fit on an 04+ Impreza spring.
A 92-94 Legacy (and 93-01 Impreza) perch will fit on an 02-03 Impreza spring.
Pretty much any spring and top will fit on any strut, so there are many different combinations that will work.

All front springs will fit on all front struts, and all you need is the upper spring perch that corresponds to the springs."

so this means that i just need some 90/91 legacy perches for the rear and some 05 sti perches for the front. correct? or am i missing something?

[jamal]

yeah I think that will work. I think you need to use 90-91 struts though because of the difference in spring perch height. If you don't the ride heights could be all funky.

[slowjoe]

dang, thats gonna cost me alot more. any chance you would have those part numbers or know of a good place to get those? or perhaps you could tell me how funky the ride heights will be. the front struts are the same from 90-94 right? just to make sure, here are the part numbers of the gr-2s for the 92-94 fwd legacys
2 front 235065-235066
2 rear 235073-235074
and i have 05 sti springs
so i need 90/91 rear perches and 05 sti front perches(what other sti years can i use?)
thanks!

edit:
the front struts are not the same.
90-91 gr-2s are 235063-235064
i believe the rears are 235072-235071 but i am not sure whether those are for the 2WD legacys.
for the strut mounts, kyb lists the front strut mounts as SM5361-SM5361 for legacys from 90-98. but i need the 05 sti front mounts right? and i need the 90-91 legacy rear mounts right? and both of those mounts include the perches? or do i use my stock mounts and the perches for each?

[jamal]

You definitely need to use 90-91 struts with 04+ impreza springs. Otherwise it will sag in the rear and/or be jacked up in the front.

http://bbs.legacycentral.org/viewtopic.php?t=17352
http://bbs.legacycentral.org/viewtopic.php?t=31350


subylvr2212 put 04+ wrx springs on his 90-91 struts and it gave it a nice even drop. On a wagon though it would cause the rear to be saggy.

livestrong had some other setup that I think was from an 02-03 and it caused the rear to be all jacked up. That's what I've been seeing on other 1st gen imprezas and legacys with 02-03 wrx stuff.

With my full set of 04 sti stuff I wish it sat a touch higher in the rear or lower up front. On a wagon it's way too saggy.

I don't really know what would make a good wagon setup. Whiteline is the only company that makes wagon specific springs and so those or ground control sleeves is probably all I would use on one.

[slowjoe]

do you think it would be a good enough benefit if i just went with the stock springs and new gr-2s? or do you think that the sti springs will really make that big of a difference?

[jamal]

yes that would be a great way to go. It's the cheapest, will for sure fit and work right, and will make a difference.

If you want to do anything else things get funky especially since you have a fwd wagon. I can't recommend switching to all 90-91 stuff to to try to use the sti springs. I get the feeling they'll ride too low in the rear.

[slowjoe]

okay thanks! sounds great! i'll prolly just get the gr-2's and save up for some whiteline wagon springs. or do you think there are a better set of springs for me? i've heard lotsa good about the whitelines.

[lzitting]

I've read a lot of posts that say I can't use 05 sti springs/struts on my 92 turbo but I haven't found out why? Any information would help. My friend has stock 05 sti springs that I could get for cheap and I am ok with doing modifications. My 92 is for rally only so I am cool with hacking it up.

[Bdub]

I'm going to bump this one up. I've read through the stickies and many posts, but haven't seen much on the 05 sti springs.
I plan on just using the springs, and staying with my KYB gr2's, and using 05 tophats for the front. I have a 91, so the rear mounts are the one piece that is needed.
I'm hoping this will work out.

[lzitting]

I went ahead and put the 05 STI full struts on front and back. I had to modify the front struts because the lower bolt pattern was different and I had to re-drill the holes for the top mounts of the rear struts. Besides that they fit ok.

[dropdfocus]

Jamal, is there any way to identify '04 STi springs (which is what I bought from an STi owner on NASIOC) vs. the '05 STi springs? Or are they the same exact spring?

[Bdub]

Well I went to put on my 05 springs today, and there is no way the 91 rear top mount will work with these springs. They aren't tapered like the stock ones, so obviously the dia. is quite larger.
Perhaps I'll get 05 rear mounts and see if that will work.