5) Front differential output shaft, driver side, axle removed.

6) Front differential oil seal, driver side, closeup. Looks good. No leaks.

7) Inner wheel hub, axle removed. Oil seal looks OK, but I cleaned around it and replaced anyway. Pulling this seal was the hardest part of the job, until I took someone's advice to use a claw hammer. Then it popped right out.

 

8) Replacement inner hub oil seal. Comes pre-greased, so you don't have to find compatible grease for the wheel bearing. I turned the baggie inside-out and also used it to grease the balljoint before replacement.

9) Out with the old, in with the new. Note: 1) Old SFJ is painted green, new is bare metal. 2) Old BJ boot bands are wider. 3) Both old & new suby axles have baffles at both ends to protect the seals.

10) Replacement axle nut for my 2001 H6. The OEM reman axle came with the (weaker) gold nut. I swapped them at the parts counter.

 

Outstanding write-up and pics. Thank you.

ALMOST makes me want to try it myself.

 

^^ wow nice write up and pics thanks. Thanks also for the info on the axle nuts. I have gotten both the olive and gold in the past and knew there was probably supposed to be a difference but didn't know what it was.

I don't have a write up but here's some more pics just to add in case it helps.

One of these oil filter cups from the Harbor Freight kit was the right size to drive in the new seal

Top - original. Second - MWE. Bottom - Subaru reman (reman'd by cardone).

 

Thanks guys!

porcupine, your posts in this other axle thread were a BIG inspiration to do this job. I'm very happy that we can combine them. Between the two of us we cover right side & left side, rusted & not rusted, gold & olive axle nuts, and transverse link vs strut&brake removal...

It also looks like we have the same breaker bar and jackstands...Harbor Freight? HF rocks. fyi, they sell hard rubber caps for those stands which fit the pinch-weld jack points on my OBW perfectly. :4:

I also like this pic (from Enduroman):

because I spent 5-10 minutes trying to remove the oil seal with a screwdriver, a mini prybar, and a hook probe before I turned to the good ol' hammer. :4: The seal puller that you used looks good too.

Now...I wonder if I should do my other front axle as preventive maintenance. Has anyone done a forum poll or thread on CV boot failures? Are CV boot failures isolated, or do multiple boots tend to go around the same time/mileage? That would be good info.

I also wonder about CV boot treatments. Some guys say they spray silicone on the boots to keep them pliable and prevent cracking. One guy said he was making shields to protect the boots from the cat converter heat. These ideas make sense on the surface. Does anyone here have experience with these preventive measures?

-Jeff

 

Now...I wonder if I should do my other front axle as preventive maintenance. Has anyone done a forum poll or thread on CV boot failures? Are CV boot failures isolated, or do multiple boots tend to go around the same time/mileage? That would be good info.
-Jeff

The one on the passenger side goes bad more frequently because of the proximity of the catalytic converter.

 

This thread is awesome! I have had a torn cv boot for a while (no idea how long really) and have been putting it off because I haven't driven the car much lately and I couldn't find a proper write up on how to do it. Thanks again!

 

i have an 03 that has one going out do i need to get an allignment after ? in your pics it doesnt look like you unbolted the strut but in porcupine's pics it looks like he did
im confused haha
thanks for the help

 

I had cv issues a while back. Had them fixed due to an accidrnt, even tho it wasn't related.
An alignment in my case was needed; not sure one is always called for. For me it was the conditions of roads and use of vehicle.

 

great thread! But why isnt it in the DIY forum? Very nice write up.

 

i have an 03 that has one going out do i need to get an allignment after ? in your pics it doesnt look like you unbolted the strut but in porcupine's pics it looks like he did

mollett, which joint is going on yours? How many miles?

fyi, the joint on my old axle was doing fine at 95k miles. I only replaced it because the boot was torn open. Closeup pics:

When I returned the axle for core refund, I asked the dealership parts manager about preventive replacement. His opinion: Boot failures are isolated events.

So I'll leave the passenger side alone for now.

As for alignment:

• If you take the approach that I did (unbolt stabilizer endlink, remove pinch bolt, and drop balljoint out of knuckle), your alignment should not be affected.
• If you undo the strut bolts like porcupine did, you should clearly mark the position first so you can restore the camber as close as possible.
• If you remove or replace the ball joint (by undoing the castle nut underneath), the service manual says that you should check your toe-in.

Me, I would always go for the pinch bolt first. Even with heavy rust. You can hit it with penetrating oil inside & out, safely apply heat on the knuckle, even hammer a screwdriver in the gap to shock the threads free. If you don't remove the pinch bolt now, it will only get worse. And some day you might want to replace that ball joint.

Jeff

 

great thread! But why isnt it in the DIY forum? Very nice write up.

Thanks! I figured I'd post here first, get input from more folks, and then post a DIY guide with everyone's tips and photos in the DIY forum.

-Jeff

 

my 03 is at 103xxx miles i had someone replace my driver side because of a torn boot at i wanna say aroung 80000 miles and now my passenger one makes a whole lot of racket
thanks for the great walk through i will have to tackle this when i get back from my trip in two weeks

 

A Subaru mechanic told me that the passenger side inner CV boot fails because it sits just above the catalytic and is exposed to a lot of heat. On my 2001 Legacy the boot failed at 110,000 miles. The early sign is a burnt oil smell in the engine compartment but no obvious source like a leaky head gasket.

 

I'll second that! I just got back from school to find a rank burning oil smell when the car warmed up, so while filling up yesterday, I popped the hood, and lo and behold, the inner passenger CV boot was split wide open and the grease was sprayed all over the exhaust and block. It's almost a relief, I was worried at first that my HG job from October break had gone bad!

 

Rebuilt Subaru Engines

Most axles retail for $75/exchange. Shipping and core charges apply.
Our NEW CV Exchange Program.
Phone (303) 522-8070

 

Website still says this. Called for a quote - $195 before core and shipping. Local place (Super Rupair) wants $175 and I can pick it and up and drop off the core.

Anyone else have a source? (Sorry for the double post. I also put it in parts).

Tom

 

Why is everyone replacing the entire axle for a torn boot? It seems kinda over kill to me. You have to also consider unless you get a very good axle there is a good chance its going to have vibration problems.

 

Why is everyone replacing the entire axle for a torn boot? It seems kinda over kill to me.

A few reasons, in no particular order:

1) It's a quick job. You can swap an axle in less than 30 minutes and be driving again with absolute confidence. Disassembling & cleaning & inspecting & regreasing & rebooting a removed axle takes muuuch longer.

2) It's a clean job. You remove a few fasteners, swap axles, replace the fasteners, and you're done. You don't have to mess around with a few handfuls of nasty toxic moly grease, plus a bucket of solvent to remove the old grease, plus proper disposal of that used grease and solvent.**

3) It's an easy job. You don't need special boot-banding tools, precision inspection tools & procedures for the bearings & splines, manuals to show the proper banding distance & tension, special axle grease, etc. Just a handful of common tools and basic mechanical skills.

4) It's a reliable job. If you use a good reman axle, you don't have to worry about whether your bearings were compromised by dirt or water, or if your grease is the right stuff for a CV joint, or if the splines were still serviceable, or if the boots are tightened enough but not too much, etc, etc. Just buy a Subaru reman axle and be done with it.

Just my opinion. If you have no cash, but you have LOTS of time AND tools AND materials AND space AND skills to reboot your own axles, AND also if you caught the leak early enough that you do not need new bearings or blueprinting...then go for it!

I think these are the same reasons that most professional shops just buy reman'd axles instead of wasting time trying to reboot them. This is one of those jobs best left to a specialist IMO.

:7:
-Jeff


** Hopefully...everyone on this forum recycles their old greases & oils & solvents through a toxic waste disposal program. Not in the trash, not on the ground, not in the sewer, not down a drain. If you can't afford the time to deal properly with this toxic waste, you should not be dealing with it at all. :29:

 

GAH!

The head of the @&$#ing pinch bolt broke off, and eight hours of attempting to drill it out led to the extractor breaking. Gonna try to get a machine shop to drill it out for me tomorrow, as well as pull out the ball joint from the knuckle. Everything is just completely rusted solid.

 

I'm now in a similar position. I haven't broken the bolt head yet but no combonation of heat/penetrating oil/hammering/wrenching etc. seems to be able to budge it.

Question: Is it possible to remove the nut underneath the ball joint and remove the entire post from the suspension arm without removing it from the pinch joint?

Cheers,
Dave

 

I know and feel your pain.

 

I disagree.

It takes no special tools, its more of a trouble to get the axle off than it is to repair the boot because of the cotter pin and finding a punch that will fit it. Really all you need that wouldn't be needed for replacing the axle is a pair of needle nose pliers and something to cut the boot with.

It's not a clean job, getting underneath the car that has 50K+ (Earliest I remember seeing them tear) real world miles is going to be filthy. Even if you spray off the undercarriage first, you're still going to need a shower after. The grease in the boot is sticky yes, but if the boot is torn (why you're replacing it) its mostly everywhere but inside the boot. Its all over the engine bay and you might as well clean that up too while you're in there.

There's no real servicing needed of the axle itself. As long as its not clicking it shouldn't be a problem. My axle boot was torn for 3000 miles at least and the bearings were all good, no marks or anything broken otherwise.

It only ads about an extra hour of time versus replacing the entire axle. And thats if you don't know what you're doing. But it saves roughly 100$. (Assuming MWE axles, which seem to be the cheapest option that don't have vibration issues. 75$+ shipping + core, assuming you get the core charge back too.) I dont make 100$ an hour so it seems the best route.

I guess to each his own, but the big thing I worry about when replacing an entire axle is the wheel vibration most people seem to get. I've known 3 people with Subaru's who replaced their axle with a cheap one and all 3 of them have had wheel vibrations ever since.

I do agree with the recycling though. I keep all my nasty junk in a weatherproof container in the garage and bring it to the recyclers when its full.

Cheers

:7:

 

I went for a replacement driveshaft because I'm at 160k now with everything stock, and I believe the boot had also been split for a while before I noticed it. I also just got an OEM reman, since this car is only 8 years/160k miles young, and I have no plans to rid myself of it anytime soon.

I digress, though. Not a quick job if you live in the Northeast or somewhere similar! :3: Everything is completely rusted solid, and that broken bolt is a huge PITA. Drilling it out didn't go so well, so I'm going to try to throw it on a mill and use an end mill to try to take the bolt out. Then comes the problem of the ball joint that's rusted in there. Brute force should solve that one though.

 

I guess to each his own...

Exactly. :29: Like I said in post #1:

If you're considering a reboot only, first read these End Wrench articles on Drive Axle Service and Subaru Remanufactured Axles. If you can afford (time & money) to reboot your own axles, go for it!

Each of us has to make his/her own decision about the acceptable level of maintenance on our vehicles. Just me...I want everything done to factory standards. And there are several dozen steps & gotchas to inspect & reboot an axle to factory standards...specific types & amounts of grease, amount of air in the boots, torque on the bands, matching of each free-ring with its own slot in the outer race, etc, etc. It would take me far too long to do all this stuff myself. I'd rather leave this to the experts who rebuild axles every day, with ISO quality assurance procedures.

Also...rebooting is not free. You still have to buy the boot(s), special grease(s), band(s), solvent, a new axle nut, perhaps a new roll pin, and perhaps a banding tool (unless you can evenly tighten a band to 100+ ft-lbs with your pliers). When you add it all up, an MWE reman doesn't cost much more.

I do agree about the "recycled axle lotto" though. You have to consider the source of the axle, and the timing wrt your model year and mileage. In my case and dpraetorius's case, the OEM remans that we used were almost certainly newer and better than our old axles.

The OEM remans come from Subarus only and are refinished/rebooted just once. Chances are, these axles came from cars that went to a dealership for 60K maintenance, or just an oil change, and they were swapped because of a tiny hole or leak. Not a monster gash like the one I had.

:7:
-Jeff

p.s. The roll pin does not require a pin punch. You can tap it out with a 3/16" drill bit or a #6 (20p) nail. A pin punch is handy b/c you can also use it to unstake/stake the axle nut...but a chisel does that job just as well.

 

Really? I had such a pain of a time with a drill bit. And a nail.

They kept going through the center and getting lodged. Did they change them to non hollow ones at some point?

 

:19: I love your style Brucey. You know I know you know.

For everyone else: Use the flat end of the drill bit. Or a #6 nail with the head or tail cut off.

Or just buy a 3/16" pin punch. I got mine at Sears for less than $2. Not Craftsman, not a set, just some loose no-name punch on the bottom shelf. Even cheaper than Harborfreight, wow. And it did double-duty for the roll-pin removal and axle-nut peening.

:7:
-Jeff

 

just did both fronts on my wife's 05 LL Bean. Used MWE axels, great axels and great to deal with too! only trick/trouble I ran into was getting the lower ball joint disconnected. No rust problems with the pinch bolt, but I had to remove the castle nut on the bottom to get it all separated. Also, for those of you who have a male end on both sides of the axel, it is $100 more per axel from MWE ($195 ea).

 

Haha, I was using the flat end of the drill bit. It was still going through it. Maybe my drill bit set was mislabeled though, I have several and I'm sure over the years the main one has had mismatched sets put together.

 

Hehe. My advice, the next $20 you spend on tools should be for a dial caliper.

Never again will you have to guess the size of a bit, bolt, screw, pin, washer, o-ring, shim, pipe, tube, disc, etc etc. Just whack the caliper on it and you have your answer. :29:

:7:
-Jeff

 

If anyone wants to tackle the boot replacement instead of replacing the whole shaft I've got Rockford Boot kits for the CV joints complete with the proper grease. Rockford makes the most durable boots available.

 

Are these still available?
...Bueller?