Jump to content
Ultimate Subaru Message Board

halfshaft problems


Recommended Posts

1990 loyale, 4wd, 3sp auto, 1.8 SFPI non-turbo (I need to go make my sig right now so I can stop typing that)...

 

ok, I'm looking at edrach's instructions on halfshaft replacement and my Chiltons, and neither one is making any sense to me. Argh!

 

I've got the castle nut and washer off...now what else is supposed to come with it? I see mention of a second washer and/or a "conical spring" but I don't see where these are. There is however, still something on the hub that _looks_ like a separate washer, but I can't get it to budge. Does this need to come off, or is it part of the hub? I tried whacking the hub to loosen things up like edrach says, but still no difference. I expected the hub/rotor to come off easily once the castle nut was off but that isn't happening. I need to get the rotor off as well so I can get it turned.

 

(BTW, I do have the caliper assembly off, tie rod off, and the spring pin out already also.)

 

As I understand it, I need to loosen things up enough to where I can pull the whole shaft assembly out towards me so that the tranny end of the shaft comes free. Once the tranny end of the halfshaft is out, will I then remove it by pulling the whole thing towards the center of the car without the axle housing? or out away from the car with the axle housing stuff still on it?

 

I'd like to also replace the lower control arm ball joint while I'm in there (per my last post) so I think the shortcuts I hear people talking about are just serving to confuse me even more.

 

The instructions make it sound so easy, but when I look at what I have to actually work with, things don't add up in my head. I'm afraid the 45 minute time frame that edrach mentions has long since expired. The engine rebuild was easier than this, sheesh!

 

Help please!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

First time I did this, it took me over 2 hours. 45 min. is after you've done a few and you have absolutely no problems. Did you already know the pin out of the inner joint? If so, you need to put the washers and castle nut back on the outer portion and pull on the hub until the inner joint falls off the stub axle at the tranny end. Once that's free, loosen the castle nut again and using a block of wood to keep from murphing the threads, bang the castle nut in, loosen it some more, bang it some more until the outer portion of the axle is free from the hub and you can remove the old axle. Good luck.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Hi,

To remove the "conical" washer - either tap a flat bladed screwdriver into the slot of the washer to release it, or put the castle nut back on "back to front" so that it's flush with the end of the shaft and whack the end of the shaft - preferably with a copper hammer.

I'm sure there is special hub tool for pushing the shaft out through the hub and another one for pulling it back in, but it can be done without these, if you are unlucky then the inner wheel bearing may come out with the shaft.

 

DaveH

Link to comment
Share on other sites

If you have the nut and spring washer off, then the conical washer is what you are looking at. Rotate the hub around and look closely - you will notice there is a gap in the washer. It should be closed up since the conical washer is pushed into the hub right now. Take a flat screwdriver and a hammer, and hit the washer next to that gap - it's spring steel, so hitting it there will cause it to compress slightly, and help to unstick it from the hub. Basically, your there - you just need to whack the hub and that washer hard enough to dislodge them. Once that is done, the hub should slide right off. Also - you can try threading the nut back on the axle to protect the threads, and give the end of the axle a couple hard smacks with a small sledge. That will usually dislodge things too. You need to un-pin the inner joint, and pull it off the trans, and then the outer part of the axle can be slid out of the knuckle - sometimes this takes some smacking with a hammer and a block of wood, since it's usually pretty tight. I have seen ones that just slide right out tho...

 

I just did an axle yesterday in fact - took me an hour cause I was going slow, and had to clean up the mess made by the old failed axle...

 

GD

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Here's how I did my last one... took me an hour and a half, but that's with some substandard tools and doing it in a parking lot. It was on my '92 Loyale (manual tranny)

 

1. Loosen the lug nuts.

2. Loosen the castle nut. (Used a medium crescent wrench, and a 3 lb. cross pinion hammer. Not recommended, but works in a pinch. Make sure you don't round off the castle nut). You can use a screwdriver and a pair of pliers to remove the key.

3. Jack the car up, and put it on a stand.

4. Pull the wheel the rest of the way off.

5. Remove the spring pin from the inner end of the halfshaft. Slapped the tranny into neutral, then rotated the halfshaft around 'til the chamfered end of the pin hole is on your side. Then use a 3/16" long drift punch (otherwise known as a pin punch) and a good hammer (medium ball peen) to pound it out. Don't pound in the pin too far... you'll pinch it in the hole, most likely. Pound the pin out most of the way, 'til the punch hits. Then rotate the shaft around again, and pull the pin out with a pair of good-sized pliers. Every time I get back underneath the car, btw, I put the tranny back into gear, just out of habit.

6. Remove the clip holding the parking brake line onto the lower control arm. Just two small bolts.

7. I removed the bolt on the bottom end of the antisway bar mount.

8. Removed the bolt on the upper end of the lower control arm.

9. All this puts enough play into the hub rump roast'y to let it swing out a bit. Get back underneath the car, and yank/push on the halfshaft towards the side of the car... it should pop off the diff stub.

10. Now you've gotta remove the shaft from the hub rump roast'y. I used a 4" section of pine 2x4 that my landlord had laying around. Set it endwise & square against the end of the halfshaft, then pound on the other end of the shaft. That 3 lbs. hammer comes in handy here. If you're doing it in the parking lot, be careful not to hit the car parked next to you. Both times I've done this, the shaft popped out fairly easily. If I remember right, the conical washer popped off here, too. May have taken it off earlier, though...

11. Get back underneath the car, and pull the old shaft out. Put the new shaft up into place, and feed it through the hub rump roast'y. Takes a bit of wiggling.

12. Once you've got it through, you can use the castle nut along with various washers and a good sized screwdriver to pull the axle through the hub.

13. Slap the other end of the halfshaft up onto the diff stub. You'll need to shift into neutral, and play with the shaft to get the splines lined up. Make sure the spring pin holes line up, too. Assuming you haven't rotated the diff stub, the nonchamfered side of the pin hole should be towards you.

14. Once it's back on, turn the shaft so that the chamfered pin hole is facing you, and pound the pin back in. Should've gotten a new pin with the shaft, too, though I've reused a pin before.

15. Reconnect the lower control arm. Helps if you use a screwdriver to realign the holes.

16. Same goes for the antisway bar.

17. Don't forget the parking brake cable clip.

18. Tighten up the castle nut.

19. Put the wheel back on.

20. Drop the car.

21. Tighten the castle nut and reinsert the key. Might want to find somebody with a good sized torque wrench to help out here, to properly torque the castle nut to 150 ft. lbs.

22. After driving around a bit, retorque the castle nut and lug nuts.

 

Did I forget anything? Kept being distracted while I was writing, so feel free to critique it. Next time I do this, too, I'll take some pics.

 

I ought to reference Edrach's excellent thread on the swap, but I can't find it in the search... found another thread that was linked to it, but now the link leads to the main forum area. :confused:

 

Thanks to Supaglu for the recommended torque on the castle nut.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

 Share

×
×
  • Create New...