edrach Posted February 25, 2005 Share Posted February 25, 2005 Harpua was able to save this from the old ezboard and baccaruda was able to find when I couldn't; thank you both. I'm reposting it here with just a minor change. If this isn't in the archives, it should be: Remove the cotter pin in the axle nut while the car is still on the ground and "break" the nut loose with the 36mm socket and a long breaker bar. Remove the wheel after jacking the car up (wheel chocks and jackstands are VERY important here). Knock out the pin on the DOJ with a drift-tool from the UNBEVELED hole and remove the pivot bolt from the lower arm. I don't remove the sway bar mount (never had to). Pull the DOJ away from the transmission; it should move freely now but won't quite come off. Tug on the wheel hub and pull on the DOJ and often it will pop off the stub axle. If not, loosen the nuts at the top of the strut tower a bit (don't take them off!) and/or pry the lower pivot arm away from its support with a crowbar or large screwdriver. This should allow you to get the DOJ off the stub axle. Now remove the castle nut, and both washers (tapping the hub smartly with a small hammer will help get the spring washer out). Now the trick is to get the spindle out of the hub. Either get a large gear puller (6 or 7 inch version) or a sledge hammer and a block of wood. You can push the spindle out with the gear puller or smack the spindle with the sledge (MAKE SURE THE BLOCK OF WOOD IS THERE to prevent damaging the threads--hard to get your core charge back if the threads are bunged). You might need to use your drift and a smaller sledge and pound the spindle out the last inch or so via the small hole in the end. Now carefully remove the axle from the car. Installation is the reverse of removal. Feed the spindle into the hub first; once you get the nut started on the spindle you can use two screwdrivers to pry the spindle out of the hub. I have a number of large washers that I use for spacers to help that along. In really difficult cases I remove the four bolts holding the outer portion of the hub and put the hub aside to give me more purchase on the end of the spindle. Once you have the spindle through the hub reinstall the washers and castle nut and tighten (not completely yet). Now re-install the DOJ (line up the splines first and note that the splines only line up one way--one hole has a tooth in the center and the other has a groove in the center). Tugging on the hub you should be able to slide the DOJ back onto the stub axle again. Line up the holes and knock the spring pin back into the BEVELLED hole. Put the pivot bolt back into the lower arm and install the nut and bring it in but DO NOT TIGHTEN yet. Minor change added here: The bolt on the lower arm should be tightened AFTER you drop the car back onto the ground to avoid twisting/damaging the bushing. Tighten the nuts at the top of the strut, replace the wheel and drop the car back on the ground and tighten the castle nut to 145 ft-lbs of torque (or more--more is better and won't hurt anything). Torque the wheel lugs to 75 ft-lbs replace the cotter pin in the castle nut and you're done. Retorque the lugnuts after 300 miles again and check the castle nut for tightness (yes they can loosen up--I'll explain the mystery of that some other time if you ask nicely). Start to finish takes less than 60 minutes unless you run into a snag. __________________ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
calebz Posted February 25, 2005 Share Posted February 25, 2005 I just submitted it to the USRM for you. It should be available for every one now. BTW.. thanks for showing me how to change my first soob axle;) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Skip Posted February 25, 2005 Share Posted February 25, 2005 I agree that the is the "preferred method" Thanks Ed, well written. The ones I've done have all been EA82 vehicles. I also have to remove a brake line clip along with the swaybar mount?? Learn something every day, again, thanks good move Caleb Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MorganM Posted February 25, 2005 Share Posted February 25, 2005 Paragraphs are your friend :-p Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
edrach Posted February 25, 2005 Author Share Posted February 25, 2005 Yea, you're right. When I wrote this it was a sort of "stream of consciousness" type thing. Sorry, I was on a roll and couldn't stop. Paragraphs are your friend :-p Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
northguy Posted February 25, 2005 Share Posted February 25, 2005 Excellent write up. I don't think this is the board where we wantto be too concerned with g/sp/punc. problems. The facts are top notch. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MorganM Posted February 25, 2005 Share Posted February 25, 2005 Yea, you're right. When I wrote this it was a sort of "stream of consciousness" type thing. Sorry, I was on a roll and couldn't stop. I hear ya. I'm sure the final draft in the USRM will be reformated. Excellent write up! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
calebz Posted February 25, 2005 Share Posted February 25, 2005 I hear ya. I'm sure the final draft in the USRM will be reformated. Excellent write up! I'm sure it will.. I just moved it 'as-is' at the time.. It was late and I didn't want to lose it again:D Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
edrach Posted February 25, 2005 Author Share Posted February 25, 2005 That's fine by me. If you like, I can edit it accordingly and let you re-post it. It wouldn't be a problem. ---ed--- I'm sure it will.. I just moved it 'as-is' at the time.. It was late and I didn't want to lose it again:D Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
calebz Posted February 25, 2005 Share Posted February 25, 2005 Ed, I broke it up into steps. Simple format change. No content change. If its ok by you, then thats great. If you would like it done differently, let me know and I'll either change it or remove it and let you post it how you want. http://www.ultimatesubaru.org/forum/article.php?a=77 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
northguy Posted February 25, 2005 Share Posted February 25, 2005 Caleb, that looks pretty clean and easy to follow. Nice job. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sweet82 Posted February 25, 2005 Share Posted February 25, 2005 Steps and points make it easy for people like me to follow Looks Good! Glenn 82 SubaruHummer 01 Forester Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
calebz Posted February 26, 2005 Share Posted February 26, 2005 Thanks guys. Ed did the hard part. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hooziewhatsit Posted February 26, 2005 Share Posted February 26, 2005 and check the castle nut for tightness (yes they can loosen up--I'll explain the mystery of that some other time if you ask nicely I've had this happen several times now... Care to elaborate? I've always figured it just gets 'settled in' after a while. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
edrach Posted February 26, 2005 Author Share Posted February 26, 2005 That's exactly what happens. The round part of the stub axle is pulled tight against the inner bearing seal and whatever else it seats on. Dirt, oil, grease who knows what is in the way and as you drive on it that goes away and suddenly the bearings start to growl and you check the nut and find it's less than finger tight and the cotter is still in place. I've learned to clean the mating surfaces carefully and I usually torque the nut to more than the 145 ft-lbs. There's something else involved here with the cone washer and the spring washer that sits just under the castle nut but I haven't figured out what that mechanism is as yet. I've had this happen several times now... Care to elaborate? I've always figured it just gets 'settled in' after a while. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lang Posted February 26, 2005 Share Posted February 26, 2005 On our EA82s the washer behind the castle nut is slightly convex and is stamped OUT , mind you the mechanics, so called, get it right less than half the time and if its reassembled with the OUT stamp twords the hub then shortly you have a loose nut and possible bearing failure. Always check..Cheers Lang.. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
edrach Posted February 26, 2005 Author Share Posted February 26, 2005 Excellent job just the way it is. Thanks for doing it. Ed, I broke it up into steps. Simple format change. No content change. If its ok by you, then thats great. If you would like it done differently, let me know and I'll either change it or remove it and let you post it how you want. http://www.ultimatesubaru.org/forum/article.php?a=77 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
unibrook Posted December 29, 2005 Share Posted December 29, 2005 A couple of notes, some in response to EdRach's very helpful axle re&re procedure. Start to finish including setup and cleanup time in my driveway, this procedure took me 3 hrs. In step 1, you might find the axle nut to be a 32mm. It is on my 2001 Forester anyway. There is no cotter pin on the axle nut on my car, just a crimp in the housing around the outside of the axle nut that can be uncrimped with a small punch (the 6mm works well) and some hammer tapping. I used an impact wrench on the axle nut and it came off easily so I think a breaker bar would have worked well too. There is a variety of options for obtaining wheel swing in order to slide the axle off of its tranny hub. I first removed the outer tie rod end nut and cotter pin, then banged its housing with a small sledge hammer until the spindle bolt dropped down. Then I chose to remove the lower two 19mm bolts holding the bottom of the strut to the steering knuckle....the impact wrench really helped here as they were tough. And since this model has no camber adjustment, there is theoretically no worry about throwing that off by removing them (actually, I noticed a tiny bit of play available, so I was able to use this to my advantage when rebolting them as I knew I needed to add some positive camber). But anyway, I chose this route so I wouldn't damage any ball joint boots. Remove the axle toward the rear of the car as there is more swing room than in front of the wheel. I did not need to loosen the bolts at top of strut, nor did I undo the antisway bar. The spring pin near the DOJ slid out fairly easily but was hard to reach on the passenger front side due to the exhaust pipe being in the way (which is the cause of the inner boot cracking--due to the heat--in the first place!). (The driver's side will be easier to do as there is no exhaust pipe in the way). I did it from beneath the car. As others have said, use a 6mm or 3/16" punch with a 8mm extender socket behind it to add length. Take a moment to visually inspect the tranny stub seal before you install the replacement shaft. Mine was fine. The old axle easily slid off the tranny stub and out of the wheel hub easily. ** The new (reman. from Auto Zone $65) axle shaft's spring pin hole did not line up perfectly. So I used a near fit cotter pin instead of the new spring pin. I will get back to you if this causes any problems, but I don't see any harm in it. Heck, someone here wrote that he used a bolt and nut. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MilesFox Posted December 29, 2005 Share Posted December 29, 2005 the forester/legacy/impreza setup is different than the good ol ea82. an xt6 would be more inbetween with the knuckle how it bolts to the strut and the axle itself the older models have a 36mm nut and the axle is pressed through the bearing rather than slip through a splined shaft. also the strut goes into the top of the knuckle with a pinch bolt as far as procedure goes i prefer to pop the ball joint vs unbolting the lower control arm Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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