97 foz SF lift

danboon23 · Post by **danboon23** » Tue Nov 27, 2012 7:31 pm

G’day guys.
I am doing some research into a 2” lift on my 97 SF Forester and have a few queries.
I think i will be going with:
KYB struts: Excel G twin tube gas shock [F- 3341 89/90 R- 3341 91/92]

King Springs (Aus): HD 30mm Rise [F- KSFR-32 R- KSRR-33 (req KBY 334191/2 struts on rear)] $250-350
Or
Dobinson Springs (Aus): HD 35mm Rise [C55-045] Similar price to Kings

One of these:
Subtle Solutions (USA): 1” lift kits $200-250
Velocity Offroad (USA): 1.25” Alloy spacers
Jackson Rally (USA): 1” tophat spacers
Does anyone know of any 1” tophat spacer suppliers in Aus?

Eibach or white line camber bolts
All new bushes and ball joints.
Will look into options for the sway bar arrangment.
Bash plate
Interested in bullbar, rear bar and snorkel also

So here is the bit where i need some help:

What is the difference between the stock struts and these KYB struts?
Do the KBY struts provide any lift or only when combined with springs/tophat spacer?
What is stiffer, Kings or Dobinsons?
For those of you that have already lifted you cars in a similar way to this; what was you final gain in hight after everything had settled in? I want to get as close to 50mm as i can and need to work out the best combination of springs/spacers.
Has anyone tried using spacers between the sway bar and chassis to help maintain its normal alignment with the rest of the suspention?
Where in Western Australia can i get all this gear?

Also happy to hear any other sugestions to achieve the 2"
Aus law only allows an increase in tyre diameter of 15mm so im gonna stick with my 205/70/15 tyres for now.
In the future i may look into a body lift and larger wheels but it will require an engineering certificate to be legel and maintain insurence.

I am compileing a list of all the manufacurers of these components that i shall post soon.
Thanks in advance for you help

Cheers Daniel

Post by **yarney** » Tue Nov 27, 2012 9:13 pm

Hi Daniel
Welcome to the forum
First up it's KYB not KBY
Kyb struts are standard Subaru struts they are good to use
Hd king springs will give you more lift but will be a harder ride and the struts will possibly top out all the time. That means the strut is stretched to the limit

A 2" lift will be all you need any more and you will have trouble with CV boots all the time
A bash plate will be good
Also slightly larger tyres will give a bit more height, if you want to put 215/75/15 you will have to buy 05 struts they give you a bit more tyre clearance at the base of the springs seat
I am looking into extending sway bar links with spaces also, You will need to do this or you will break the links with a 2" lift if your sway bar is connected

Jan

Brumby Kid · Post by **Brumby Kid** » Tue Nov 27, 2012 9:21 pm

The above mentioned lift kit people are no longer in business.
I believe that SJR lift in the USA are.
However the best place to go is c r o s s b r e d P e r f o r m a n c e.
They are based in Australia and make quality kits. He makes 1" 2" and maybe even 3".
These are full body lifts, or I think you can just get the strut top spacers.
Remember, too much suspension lift and your cv shafts will wear out very quickly. Your Subaru does not have a solid axel, it has constant velocity shafts.

Cheers Cam

danboon23 · Post by **danboon23** » Wed Nov 28, 2012 3:23 am

Thanks guys

I have updated my first post to include some additional info and fix my typo's :-p

Brumby kid; Subtle solutions is deffinatly still making lift kits and im pretty sure the others are still around. I looked into ********* but they only advertise a 2" tophat kit

Yarney; Are the new KYB struts the same spec as the stock struts.
Do people only replace them due to the origional struts being worn?
Can you please give me any more details about using 05 forester struts and will they fit strait onto a SF model?

Post by **yarney** » Wed Nov 28, 2012 5:25 pm

danboon23 wrote:Thanks guys

Yarney; Are the new KYB struts the same spec as the stock struts.
Do people only replace them due to the origional struts being worn?
Can you please give me any more details about using 05 forester struts and will they fit strait onto a SF model?

I'm not 100% sure but they should be
They do replace them for wearing out
They will fit straight up no problem

Jan

Richie-Rich · Post by **Richie-Rich** » Thu Nov 29, 2012 11:11 am

Hi Dan,

I went through this process on my 97 Foz about 18 months ago. If you want to see the end results let me know. I'm either in Scarbs or Bicton.

I went for the Australian option - ********* Performance. Jeff is fantastic and provided lots of help.

The raised HD springs will not fit in the rear unless you have a full lift - I had the boys at pedders try, it rubbed on the car and there was no chance it would fit. As you may have guessed I went for the Pedders HD Std height springs. About a 2 inch lift.

I also went for a full 2inch lift, started with the strut top lift and then put the whole lift in. Had to lengthen the radiator line and a few fuel lines but nothing major.

My rear struts also got replaced with KYB numbers at the same time - they were knackered.

Hope this helps.

Rej

taza · Post by **taza** » Thu Nov 29, 2012 10:05 pm

Richie-Rich wrote:Hi Dan,

I went through this process on my 97 Foz about 18 months ago. If you want to see the end results let me know. I'm either in Scarbs or Bicton.

I went for the Australian option - ********* Performance. Jeff is fantastic and provided lots of help.

The raised HD springs will not fit in the rear unless you have a full lift - I had the boys at pedders try, it rubbed on the car and there was no chance it would fit. As you may have guessed I went for the Pedders HD Std height springs. About a 2 inch lift.

I also went for a full 2inch lift, started with the strut top lift and then put the whole lift in. Had to lengthen the radiator line and a few fuel lines but nothing major.

My rear struts also got replaced with KYB numbers at the same time - they were knackered.

Hope this helps.

Rej

What do you mean the springs 'Rubbed'? I have Raised HD Springs in my 01 all round(exact same body as your 97) and I don't have any issues. I also run 3" lift blocks in the rear and 2" in the front also. Only strut lift, not body and I don't have any issues. I previously ran just 2" strut lift all round(HDR springs and 1" lift blocks) all round for 70,000km with no issues.
I an considering 30mm body lift blocks though as all my bushes are wearing like all hell, but 3" strut lift I don't see an issue at all.
I know Yarney has 3" blocks in the rear of his Foz and 2" in the front without issue.

I made my own lift blocks, got the specs online for the sizes. Double checked the measurements in person then did em up. Cost me $120 and a carton of beer(for the welding by a pro). This is for trailing arm spacers too, so the rear wheels are centred...
They are reasonably centre and my 225/70R15 tyres don't rub at all

The trailing arm spacers..

Before the trailing arm spacers with stock size tyres..

The lift blocks for the rear.. The welder accidentally grabbed the SG(2nd gen Foz) rear plate and welded it to my SF tube and plate, luckily they are interchangeable and fit perfect. My alignment figures actually come up within spec too considering my lift.

danboon23 · Post by **danboon23** » Fri Nov 30, 2012 7:24 pm

Taza
do you think the body lift is worth it if im only putting 215/70/15 or 215/65/16 tyres on?

Post by **yarney** » Fri Nov 30, 2012 8:16 pm

Richie-Rich wrote:Hi Dan,

The raised HD springs will not fit in the rear unless you have a full lift - I had the boys at pedders try, it rubbed on the car and there was no chance it would fit. As you may have guessed I went for the Pedders HD Std height springs. About a 2 inch lift.

Rej

Yes the springs do rub on the inside wall very slightly tho nothing a hammer wouldn't fix;)
That's with a strut lift only

Jan

danboon23 · Post by **danboon23** » Sat Dec 01, 2012 2:07 pm

205/70/15 : D=66.80cm (stock)
215/70/15: D=68.20cm (+14mm / 7mm lift)
215/65/16: D=68.59cm (+17.9mm / 9mm lift)
225/70/15: D=69.60cm (+ 28mm / 14mm lift)

In Australia we can only increase the diameter of the tyre 15mm from stock without engineering cert so 215/70/15 is the easy legal option and should have only a small effect on performance.

I cannot immagine that an extra 7mm is going to make the tyre rub on anything if you have a 2" strut lift

Altho it would be nice to go bigger than this it would require body lift, modification to all conecting parts to cope with at leadt 3" of lift and an engineers cert (these would increase the cost of the lift by $1K or so)
You would also need to start looking at reduced gear ratio's or increasing power with turbo's etc.

So with all that in mind i think the most practical solution is 2" suspention lift with 215/70/15 AT's.
Even that will be closer to 60mm total lift (but its only a little bit over the 50mm limit

)