Differential Protector Producing Difficulty

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AWD_addict
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Differential Protector Producing Difficulty

Post by AWD_addict »

I stupidly bought the Legacy diff protector (B0310LS001) and it will not fit. The front requires some trimming, but that's not a big deal.
The rear will not fit onto the rear horizontal studs, because the rear frame crossmember gets in the way. The crossmember has a lip that sticks out (rearward) about a half inch, preventing the protector from sitting flush with the vertical surface of the crossmember.
I can't bend the protector around the lip, because this will shorten it, and then it won't reach the front studs. It'd be tough to bend anyway.
If the rear studs were longer, this lip wouldn't be an issue.
Maybe using the Forester diff protector (B031SSA000) would be correct?
Has anyone fitted this protector or solved a similar mounting problem?

Thanks

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entirelyturbo
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Post by entirelyturbo »

The only thing I can come up with is that the differential is slightly different than the differential that the protector is designed for.

I'm not sure of the exact year change, but I wanna say 95 or 96, they changed from the R160 diff (all the way from the 70's up to the 1st-gen Legacies and early Imprezas), to the R180 (everything newer than that.)
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THAWA
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Post by THAWA »

My guess would be the cross member is the actual thing that's different. I know for a fact the 90-92 is different than the impreza crossmember. I would assme a newer legacy has the same crossmember.
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AWD_addict
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Post by AWD_addict »

A newer Legacy ('02 Outback to be specific) does indeed have a different crossmember. It is significantly smaller and doesn't have the annoying lip.
I installed the same diff protector on a family member's Outback, fit perfect. Unfortunately I had never been under the Outback before, so I didn't know how different it was.
Anyone got an Impreza/Forester diff protector (B031SSA000) they want to get rid of?
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