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.”
“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.”
“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.”
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 The front straight axle was originally made to use Jeep coil springs and I’ve since converted it to leaf springs as well.”
“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.”
“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.”
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!
Thinking About Lifting Your Subaru?
If you’re interested in lifting your Subaru, we think you’re onto something great! Subaru owners looking to get additional off-road utility out of their cars should certainly consider lifting for a much more capable vehicle. However, lifting any automobile above its intended ride height, whether with bigger tires, spacers or different suspension, will come with definite changes in the car’s performance — for better and worse.
You’re really enjoying your new Subaru Outback; the fuel economy is awesome, it’s comfortable, and it’s got enough room for all your stuff. But now you want to lift it just a bit so you can take it on even more adventures. You’ve no doubt wondered “is lifting my Subaru going to void my warranty?” The answer is yes and no. It depends on a few things and we’ll explore them each.
Subaru drivers are typically drawn to the versatility and efficiency of the Outback, Forester, Impreza, and Legacy. The symmetrical all wheel drive and factory ground clearance are ideal for anyone wanting to take their daily driver into the woods for a hike, or the mountains to ski or snowboard. But what about those who want just a little extra lift? Is it expensive to lift your Subaru? Is it hard to do it yourself? We’ll explore some of the options
