Interchangeable shocks and struts for height

[bsavage]

Anybody know what shocks and struts are interchangeable with an 05 Baja. I was told you can put Forester ones on and gain height without any other modifications

[Guacamole]

Hey there.
All the Baja struts are compatible with each other, along with the 2000-2004 Legacy and Outback struts. The Foresters' are not compatible. Bear in mind though, the 04-06 Baja struts and springs are different than the 03 Baja struts and the Leg/OB struts as they're not as stiff. If you replace yours with either of the latter, you'll need to add 1in spacers to get back the original ride height.

[bsavage]

So what would you recommend for a suspension lift of any height or kind? Also if i do 1 inch spacer lift i shouldn't need any modifications? Also with tires i want to put in the grabbers what size can i go without having to change everything. I'm all I'm trying to do a improvement and lift without doing a ton of work. Thank you so much. I have ton of questions lol

[kamesama980]

rear suspension on the smaller subies (imp, for, etc) is chapman struts (McPhearson minus steering) while tho Bajas share the multilink suspension with the larger chassis cars (OB, Leg)

Everything I've read says the later Bajas have the tallest struts (at least spring perch on the strut) of any of the Subarus.

Primative racing has a set of lift springs listed for the OB/Leg that come up for the baja vehicle selection as "these will provide less lift for the baja"

so yea, coilovers, custom springs, spacers.

[bsavage]

As far as spacers go 1inch vs 2inch. Besides height what all work will go into this? Seems the 1 inch ican just put them in and go. 2inch requires extra parts?

[kamesama980]

won't NEED other parts, that's within normal travel but you're starting to stress the axles and you'll need an alignment... technically it should be checked with any ride height change but at 1" it's usually still close enough to need no adjustments.

It'd also be a good idea to loosen and re-torque all the suspension bolts holding bushings in order to relax the bushings. reason is the bushings don't slide, they flex. if you lift or lower it, they stay flexed. can cause oddities trying to align it since they're under tension but will also cause them to fail much sooner.