Crosstrek 6-speed Swap

In early 2024 I swapped out the aging 5 speed transmission in my beloved 2006 outback for a 6 speed from a 2022 Subaru Crosstrek. The crosstrek 6 speed basically bolts right up where the old 5 speed did. Same bellhousing, same axles, driveshaft, etc. This swap was originally proposed/documented by a Subaru Outback forum poster, and I documented my swap and some additional details in a separate thread here. Other than the fact that (spoiler) I didn’t actually need a new transmission after all, this swap was fairly economical. The new transmission (with 30k miles) was $800 with a 3 month warranty. A complete list of the things we changed is below, and all told I spent probably around $1400.

This page includes some extra photos/misc info. All technical details of the swap can be found in the above linked forum posts.

The new transmission has a slightly different final drive ratio, so that meant finding a rear differential that matched that ratio. I found a matching diff (with limited slip!) out of a 2002 outback at a junk yard. The old subframe was getting pretty rusty and I got a deal ($400) on a brand new one from Subaru and swapped the whole thing.

 

 

 

 

 

The real challenge was that I was borrowing a friends garage for the weekend and didn’t want the car to get stuck there. I planned everything pretty carefully, and poured over the service manual to make sure there was nothing that I was missing. I even made a step by step instruction booklet that we followed. All in all over the course of 3 days (1 working along and 2 with help) we swapped:

  • Transmission
  • Rear main seal (twice) and another oil seal on the rear of the engine
  • Shifter linkage
  • Rear differential
  • Rear subframe
  • Driver & passenger side rear rearward lower suspension links
  • Driver & passenger side rear fowrward lower suspension links
  • A handful of bushings and about 50% of the bolts we took off

Overall the swap went really well. Unfortunately the noise I thought was a failing center differential was actually my driveshaft. Another trip to the junkyard and $80 later the noise was gone! 

See if you can spot me