My 2004 Subaru Legacy sedan currently has 90000 miles and is showing significant suspension sag in the rear end. I carry approximately 50 lbs of tools and emergency supplies with me, but nothing out of the ordinary.
Rear tire wear is becoming an issue, I’m seeing inside wear after only about 10k miles (versus the front tires). I have had four-wheel alignments performed by two different shops and the readings after the alignment appears fine.
I have seen several similar Legacys in the area with the same issues. Outbacks do not appear to have this issue. I may be replacing the rear springs and shocks with ones for Outbacks to restore the proper ride height.
What have people here seen?
I should also note that I’ve seen this issue after rotating the tires, and on different sets of tires on different sets of wheels.
While it does sound like your rear springs need to be replaced, I don’t believe that Outback springs can be used on your Legacy sedan. While the vehicles are essentially alike in a mechanical sense, the Outback has a ride height/ground clearance of about 1 or 1.5 inches more than the Legacy, thus meaning that the Outback springs and struts are longer, and will not fit correctly.
Normally I would agree with you on that, but it’s been done before and there have been no adverse affects reported. The cost of O/B parts versus Legacy parts is nominal and I would like this fix to last longer than my stock springs have.
http://homepage.mac.com/maclif/legacy/legacysuspension/index.html
Well, clearly it is do-able. I would just caution you to get used to possible handling differences before doing any “extreme” cornering.
50 pounds of ANYTHING should not over-burden the rear springs on a Legacy. Perhaps a spring has broken, or there is some other problem. I don’t see how Outback springs will be any stronger. They may be LONGER, but the Outback, as far as I know, is not rated to carry any more weight than the Legacy.
The only difference between the two is ride height, and I would not want longer springs at one end of my vehicle.
The guy in your link carries 250 pounds, which is quite a bit different from 50 pounds. He needs a different vehicle.