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Lifted 2009 Impreza Hatchback Modified For Offroad

This Subaru Is Massive and Is Getting A Chevy Motor Installed In It

Lifted-subarau-impreza-with-a-LS-swap-custom-fabricated
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Our friend Dusty was kind enough to give us the rundown on his LS swapped Subaru Impreza hatchback. The swap isn’t fully completed yet. But he’s laid out his process and progress up to this point. We can’t wait to see the finished product.

“My project car started out as my first purchased and fully paid off vehicle that was originally dropped 3”s on tuner wheels and tires. I drove it like this for about 3-4 years on the daily. Once I paid it off I decided I wasn’t getting enough attention so I wanted to change it up. I had been following @nifftymittens and @tomahulk along with many others. We shared ideas and progressed together along the way.”

Lower Beginnings Before The Lift Kit

First 2" Ebay Lift Kit

“This was my first lift which was a set of 2” strut spacers off of eBay. When the lifted Subaru’s I was friends with got taller I tried to stay ahead of the manufactured products going from 2” strut spacers to 09 forester struts on 2” strut spacers making it a 4” lifted Subaru. When the 4” lift came out from name brand manufacturers I decided to build a 3” front and rear 3” subframe drop kit and 6” strut top spacers on 09 forester struts.”

4" Inch Custom Lift Kit To Test The Limits Of The Subaru Platform

Subaru Impreza with off road tires on custom 4 inch lift kit
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6" Inch Lift On The Impreza Before The LS Swap Began

“After @feildsdallas (Checkout Dallas on Instagram) made his blobeye wrx 8”s tall I wanted to do bigger. So started building a 12” lift to stay way on top of the lifted game. As I bought my 33” mud tires and finished the rear 9” subframe drop spacers and relocated the strut perches I started thinking about the life of the stock rear diff. As I thought on it I noticed that people were starting to run straight axles in the rear I wanted to swap to that idea because of reliability with my over-sized tires.”

“This was the 12” lift with the 9” rear subframe kit that is scrapped after finishing the rear.”

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Straight Axle Swap In Progress

“This is the current state of the rear straight axle swap. The front straight axle was originally made to use Jeep coil springs and I’ve since converted it to leaf springs as well.”

Why The LS Swap In The Subaru?

“I went with the LS1 engine because of the numerous models of Chevy vehicles that came with them. Which made it easy to find one and start making mounts for it.

I went with the 4L60e Chevy z71 pickup truck transmission and transfer case to convert the car to 4×4 and to match the LS1 engine as it also came from a z71 Chevy truck.”

Current Progress Of The LS Swap

“I’ve also since painted the engine bay and parts of the engine to the specific colors I wanted.

Next step is to make leaf spring shackles and mounts for the front to mount the front straight axle. Then steering and then rebuild the engine.

It’s the first LS powered (straight axle swapped) stink eye Impreza ever that I know of.”

What's Next?

Dusty is continuing to work on getting this swap finished and buttoned up properly. We’ll continue to post updates as he makes progress. Check back with us regularly to stay up to date, and follow him on Instagram @project_trailassassin_ to say hi!

Lifted off road subaru impreza with LS swap
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Thinking About Lifting Your Subaru?

Check out these helpful articles to decide if you want to move forward with a lift:
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Will Lifting My Car Void My Warranty?

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Can You Lift Your Subaru? Here’s 4 Ways To Get More Ground Clearance

Save Four Popular Ways To Lift A Subaru – Decide If It’s Right For You By Ben Boxer Ready to lift your Subaru for some offroad trail action? There’s four common ways to give your Subie some additional lift: bigger tires, strut spacers, lift springs, and longer suspension assemblies. We’ll explore these options for creating a little more clearance under your car and help you decide which is best for you. It’s important to recognize that you can use one

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