Need some Subaru suspension help! (2002 WRX Wagon)

My 2002 WRX Wagon is badly in need of some new struts. While there, I'm also going to throw on a set of lowering springs.

I've settled on the Swift Sport springs designed specifically for the Wagon, going over a set of KYB GR-2/Excel-G struts.

The issue I'm having is that the cheapskate in me has noticed a pretty large price difference between the 02-03 and 04-07 KYB's for the WRX Wagon. Getting an entire set for an 04-07 is almost $150 cheaper than an 02-03 set.

What I do know, is that the 04-07 struts will work in the 02-03. But where I'm foggy is what other parts would need to be changed to make make them fit. I've hunted through some forums, but can't seem to get a straight answer, especially for the wagon.

From what I've gathered it appears that I would need to also get 04-07 springs, and 04-07 strut mounts for the rear. Apparently my existing front strut mounts will still work. However, I've seen chatter about still having to use 02-03 mounts, or needing some special strut spacers etc. It seems like a lot of what I find regarding 04-07 suspension stuff going to a 02-03 is people using 04 STi goodies. With that not really being my application, it's made it quite confusing...

Can anyone verify what is correct here?

Thanks.

AFAIK - 04-07 springs, strut mounts and struts will bolt right up.

The key is if you change one, you have to change all. Are you sure the 04-07 struts are wagon struts???

Front makes no difference - rears do. You will have "saggy butt" issues if they are not wagon struts. I run wagon struts on the rear of my sedan - mine is an 02 so I am running the tapered springs and the associated strut mounts. Using wagon struts on a sedan actually gives you a little extra negative camber. Some people use camber bolts to correct this but I have never bothered. 04-07 springs are not tapered.

***Edit - just checked the KYB Catalogue - the difference between an 02 strut and an 04 strut is that the 02 is 0.01 inches longer in both extended and compressed length. (Check your self - look at KYB online catalogue). If you can tell the difference to a 100th of an inch then you may care!!!

Fronts can also be an issue with sedan struts on a wagon - since the front track width is wider on sedans than wagons in the 02-07 years you will lose camber and can also (with inverted struts) experience some binding from the struts being put into bad geometry when using sedan struts on a wagon.

Saggy butt problems in the rear can be cured with a spacer. Spacers over 3/8" or so should really have extended studs added.

As for 04 STI sedan struts, don't do it. My '03 TS wagon has 04 STI sedan inverted struts all around, with a 1/2" Paranoid fabrications spacer in the rear (with extended studs) and 04 STI sedan tophats. I get binding and have lost camber in the front so I am swapping them out for '06 wagon KYB GR2s and 06 WRX wagon springs in a few weekends. Even the nicest 04 STI sedan struts are still ten years old, and although you can do the inserts, the binding and bobblehead associated with them (on top of the four hours I've spent tapping them for zerks and regreasing them) have really turned me off the idea. They're not undrivable - much better than the blown struts I had before - but they're awful. Maybe if I had sedan control arms...

I was also considering running Whiteline adjustable caster/camber tops to compensate for the front but it wouldn't solve the binding problems.

The reason is that the sedan clevis tab thingus stretches out further for the wider track, and putting it into a narrower wagon track forces the strut shaft in against the inside of the strut in a way that binds it:

As for tophats, 04+ tophats change the spring perch but keep the same stud pattern. If you can, angle for Group N tophats.

I'd be interested to hear what you think of the Swift springs. When I was still trying to build a performance WRX wagon instead of just keeping my daily driver TS on the road, I used Racecomp Engineering wagon-specific springs with a Koni insert into the stock wagon housings. They were sublime, but I assumed they would give me a lot more roll control than they did and I ended up messing with damping adjustment instead of just putting big-boy swaybars on it.

If you're looking for general GG wagon handling advice, I strongly recommend putting a rear strut tower brace in the hatch. The wagons are much wobblier than sedans back there and I actually had an incident where the hatch was rubbing against the bumper with sticky tires installed. If your classing can swing it, also get a Whiteline anti-lift kit.

Also on the 02-03 wagons, a heavy rear sway can tear out the stock rear swaybar mounts (they suck). Replace them with an 04+ rear swaybar mount to fix this (Subaru Genuine Parts has a kit that I've bought for the TS), or some aftermarket companies also sell their own version.

I got my 06 wagon KYBs in a kit from JustSuspension - once I figured out what part numbers I needed, JS had the best price and free shipping to the US.

I vaguely remember this....

I ran STI "Pink" wagon springs and Tokico D-Spec adjustable struts in my 2002 wagon and it was magical. I remember having to get the "top hats" from an 04-07 car for it to work. That was a perfectly balanced setup. I had a 20mm rear bar from a 2002 WRX sedan, every bushing that Turn-In Concepts made for the thing, and a rear strut tower brace. Man, that car was fun to drive.

I did not experience the rear sag at all. I know they make bushings and spacers that will help with that, or IIRC, you can do something with washers to do the same thing. I think that's what I may have done, actually.

In reply to SilverFleet:

The saggy butt comes from having sedan springs vs. wagon springs, if memory serves. The strut housing doesn't matter as much. I haven't noticed it with any of the wagons that have had d-specs and proper wagon springs installed in the rear, though admittedly the cars do come with a lot of rake from the factory.

Thanks guys.

I just looked, and it appears front top hats were the same across the board for 02-07. One thing I can cross off the list I suppose.

As for the "saggy butt", that is why I decided to go with the Swift wagon springs. They lower the car about half as much in the rear as they do in the front to combat this.

While a lot of my Subaru homeboys think I'm dumb for not using STi goodies, I never wanted to go with the STi stuff. I'd rather keep it simple and not have to deal with all the geometry, spacer and camber bolt crap associated with putting STi stuff on the wagon.

I might need to do some part# cross referencing, but both sets of struts I've priced out on Amazon are Excel-G's for Wagons. From the same outside seller, a set of all four for an 02-03 is $350, where as a set of all four for an 04-07 is only $217. The springs are the same price regardless of 02-03 or 04-07. If it were smaller I wouldn't care, but that $133 will cover a new set of Group-N top hats for the front. Plus I'll have some extra that'll allow me to step my game up from Busch up to PBR to consume while completing the job and having to be in the garage with my ailing DSM project...

The kit that I got from Just Suspension is: KYBKIT-628-339122-339121-334356-334357

Price was $261.71 USD shipped, so it sounds like Amazon is still cheaper.

So #339122, #339121, #334356 and #334357 are the struts that I ordered. This is for an '06 WRX wagon.

ssswitch wrote: Fronts can also be an issue with sedan struts on a wagon - since the front track width is wider on sedans than wagons in the 02-07 years you will lose camber and can also (with inverted struts) experience some binding from the struts being put into bad geometry when using sedan struts on a wagon. Saggy butt problems in the rear can be cured with a spacer. Spacers over 3/8" or so should really have extended studs added. As for 04 STI sedan struts, don't do it. My '03 TS wagon has 04 STI sedan inverted struts all around, with a 1/2" Paranoid fabrications spacer in the rear (with extended studs) and 04 STI sedan tophats. I get binding and have lost camber in the front so I am swapping them out for '06 wagon KYB GR2s and 06 WRX wagon springs in a few weekends. Even the nicest 04 STI sedan struts are still ten years old, and although you can do the inserts, the binding and bobblehead associated with them (on top of the four hours I've spent tapping them for zerks and regreasing them) have really turned me off the idea. They're not undrivable - much better than the blown struts I had before - but they're awful. Maybe if I had sedan control arms... I was also considering running Whiteline adjustable caster/camber tops to compensate for the front but it wouldn't solve the binding problems. The reason is that the sedan clevis tab thingus stretches out further for the wider track, and putting it into a narrower wagon track forces the strut shaft in against the inside of the strut in a way that binds it: As for tophats, 04+ tophats change the spring perch but keep the same stud pattern. If you can, angle for Group N tophats. I'd be interested to hear what you think of the Swift springs. When I was still trying to build a performance WRX wagon instead of just keeping my daily driver TS on the road, I used Racecomp Engineering wagon-specific springs with a Koni insert into the stock wagon housings. They were sublime, but I assumed they would give me a lot more roll control than they did and I ended up messing with damping adjustment instead of just putting big-boy swaybars on it. If you're looking for general GG wagon handling advice, I strongly recommend putting a rear strut tower brace in the hatch. The wagons are much wobblier than sedans back there and I actually had an incident where the hatch was rubbing against the bumper with sticky tires installed. If your classing can swing it, also get a Whiteline anti-lift kit. Also on the 02-03 wagons, a heavy rear sway can tear out the stock rear swaybar mounts (they suck). Replace them with an 04+ rear swaybar mount to fix this (Subaru Genuine Parts has a kit that I've bought for the TS), or some aftermarket companies also sell their own version. I got my 06 wagon KYBs in a kit from JustSuspension - once I figured out what part numbers I needed, JS had the best price and free shipping to the US.

Thanks for the tips! Maybe I should make a project thread to keep track of all of the changes I may complete (they're atleast planned?) on the car. That way I can toss up some pics and leave some feedback on the Swifts.

As for the end links, I've heard before about the 02-03's short comings. Mine are pretty crappy looking right now too... Eventually I'm going to snag a set of the Kartboy endlinks and a thicker rear bar. I just have to be patient with mods since the thing needs $$$ and attention in areas that I'm sure most other 180k+ Subaru owners are familiar with... Namely: A leaky rear diff that is more audible inside the car than the cheap leaky 3" turbo back, a weak clutch that I'm almost positive is original, smoked out front axles, an inoperable power steering pump, various fluid leaks, a very nearing TB/WP interval and rear quarter rust that I'm now kicking myself for not patching last summer like I had planned...

Ah, it's not the endlinks (though they suck), it's the body mounts to the swaybar that break.

The rear endlinks can be replaced with Audi A4 front endlinks quite inexpensively. They're even aluminum, with replacable bushings!

Look into rebuilding the power steering pump, there are gasket and o-ring how-to lists on the 'net. A guy I know just finished his rebuild in his 04 and spent almost nothing to get a great-running pump out of the deal.

ssswitch wrote: The kit that I got from Just Suspension is: KYBKIT-628-339122-339121-334356-334357 Price was $261.71 USD shipped, so it sounds like Amazon is still cheaper. So #339122, #339121, #334356 and #334357 are the struts that I ordered. This is for an '06 WRX wagon.

Yea, that same exact kit is $217.00 with free shipping on Amazon, AND it's actually sold by Just Suspension...

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B002T01594/ref=wl_it_dp_o_pC_nS_ttl?_encoding=UTF8&colid=2HW10FSVH38DM&coliid=I2V6KHKSGDFZKT

ssswitch wrote: Ah, it's not the endlinks (though they suck), it's the body mounts to the swaybar that break. The rear endlinks can be replaced with Audi A4 front endlinks quite inexpensively. They're even aluminum, with replacable bushings! Look into rebuilding the power steering pump, there are gasket and o-ring how-to lists on the 'net. A guy I know just finished his rebuild in his 04 and spent almost nothing to get a great-running pump out of the deal.

Ohhhh. Good to know that it's the actual mounts... I'll have to add that to the list.

This is the kit that I purchased in order to upgrade the mounts: http://www.subarugenuineparts.com/product_info.php?cPath=33_68&products_id=1230

In reply to ssswitch:

THAT'S RIGHT! Thank you for reminding me.

I did have specific wagon springs. They were the factory "pink" wagon springs from the STI catalog. I bought them right at the dealer parts counter, too. I remember them being pretty cheap (around $200 or less) and the spring rates were very daily driver friendly. It lowered it slightly, but not too much. I thought they were perfect.

ssswitch wrote: This is the kit that I purchased in order to upgrade the mounts: http://www.subarugenuineparts.com/product_info.php?cPath=33_68&products_id=1230

Awesome. Once again thanks. I was cringing over shelling out money for a new PS pump...

I'll also snag that kit when I get around to the rear bar... someday...

Don't lower! Go high! The only thing I did was D-spec's with hotchkis sways. Seems good, but I don't track it. Didn't worry about springs. Would rather go higher with forester springs/struts than go lower, but to each his own.