Green96GT Posted July 14, 2010 Share Posted July 14, 2010 I had a front axle CV fail after about a year, and there was no damage whatsoever to the boots beforehand. What's up with that? Did I just get a bad remanufactured axle? Or is something else going on? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wtdash Posted July 14, 2010 Share Posted July 14, 2010 (edited) Unless it's one of the recommended ones on here, they don't last. I bought an Autozone one because I had to, and it only lasted 6 months....boot looked fine, too. I also had an original one fail after 180K+ miles...the boot was mostly intact; I only knew it was bad because the car would barely move while one end of the CV joint turned while the wheel/tire did not....and there was a 'bit' of noise. Td Edited July 14, 2010 by wtdash Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
idosubaru Posted July 14, 2010 Share Posted July 14, 2010 Did I just get a bad remanufactured axle? Ding ding ding ding, you are the winner! Aftermarket axles are a gamble, a relatively high percentage have issues. If 30% have issues, then %70 are still good so that's why some people don't mind. Too each his own, my time is too valuable for whatever the percent failure is, I've had a bunch of bad "new" axles so I don't do it any more. My worst story is a brand new axle I had that didn't make it out of the parking lot I changed it in. Blew to pieces in about 50 yards, balls all rolling over the ground, etc. It was awesome. I can get used axles for $30 a piece so the aftermarkets aren't cheaper by the time i reboot a good used Subaru axle that i know for sure will last the life of the car. It's a little more time but I just suck it up and realize i'm saving myself from past headaches. I dont' even know how many bad axles I've had to deal with, but it's a lot. Reuse your boots off the blown axle on a good Subaru axle? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
crazyman03 Posted July 14, 2010 Share Posted July 14, 2010 I had a similar issue where the axle was new. I took my GL wheeling and suddenly it started jerking to the right. i thought it was something snaging the tire to the tie-rods or something.. put the parking brake on, put it in gear and saw the shaft spinning. Sucks.. but happens. -Justin Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fairtax4me Posted July 14, 2010 Share Posted July 14, 2010 Axles fail all the time even with no evidence of damage on the outside. Buying remanufactured axles is like playing Russian Roulette. On the other hand, sometimes new axles aren't much better. I put a brand new half axle on a car that I did a transmission swap in several years ago. It lasted two weeks and the inner boot exploded while I was going down the highway one day. I got another new one (warranty) and a week after that the car got totalled. :-\ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Green96GT Posted July 14, 2010 Author Share Posted July 14, 2010 On a related note: I was forced to drive a good distance - 70 miles or so - on the bad front axle. It was periodically grinding, clunking, clicking, etc. The guy that replaced it said one of the CVs pretty much wouldn't move when he took it out. Did I mess up my front diff? I'm getting some road noise-like sound from the front end now. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fairtax4me Posted July 14, 2010 Share Posted July 14, 2010 That might be a wheel bearing. But check the fluid level in the front diff first. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Green96GT Posted July 14, 2010 Author Share Posted July 14, 2010 That might be a wheel bearing. But check the fluid level in the front diff first. Could driving on a toasted axle result in wheel bearing problems? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
idosubaru Posted July 14, 2010 Share Posted July 14, 2010 Could driving on a toasted axle result in wheel bearing problems?i doubt it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Green96GT Posted July 14, 2010 Author Share Posted July 14, 2010 i doubt it. So, maybe a bearing in the front diff? Ugh. Sounds expensive. Can I tell by wiggling the axle when the car is on a lift? The symptom is a subtle rhythmic "thrumming" from the front end at about 20 mph, and occasionally at other speeds. And like I said, some "road noise". Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
idosubaru Posted July 14, 2010 Share Posted July 14, 2010 differential is noticeably central where wheel bearings would be noticeably left/right. are you able to tell a difference? subaru wheel bearings can be really tricky to diagnose, i've seen them smooth on the car, imperceptible while mounted. then once the hub is completely removed they are noticeably bad. not sure why they turn fine and don't have play but it makes them tricky to diagnose except that there's just not much else that could be causing it. the front diffs do fail, it's a low percentage but i've seen a few. i'd call it more of a grinding/metallic noise than all the wheel bearings i've heard. the wheel bearings sound more and more like road noise, louder, humming, etc. even the one wheel bearing i had that was so bad the entire wheel was wobbling, tone ring cracked, etc wasn't all that loud compared to the bad front diffs i've seen. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Dude Posted July 14, 2010 Share Posted July 14, 2010 differential is noticeably central where wheel bearings would be noticeably left/right. are you able to tell a difference? subaru wheel bearings can be really tricky to diagnose, i've seen them smooth on the car, imperceptible while mounted. then once the hub is completely removed they are noticeably bad. not sure why they turn fine and don't have play but it makes them tricky to diagnose except that there's just not much else that could be causing it. the front diffs do fail, it's a low percentage but i've seen a few. i'd call it more of a grinding/metallic noise than all the wheel bearings i've heard. the wheel bearings sound more and more like road noise, louder, humming, etc. even the one wheel bearing i had that was so bad the entire wheel was wobbling, tone ring cracked, etc wasn't all that loud compared to the bad front diffs i've seen. Gary, What is the best way to tell road noise from wheel bearing failure? My 2006 Forester with 91,000 miles is very noisey. I tend to attribute the noise to the tires. The noise varies considerably depending on the road surface. Most of the noise seems to be coming from the rear wheels. In any event, the 2006 Forester would have benefited from a little more sound-proofing. It has been noisey from the day I drove it off the dealer's lot. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
idosubaru Posted July 14, 2010 Share Posted July 14, 2010 i don't know. i've found a few Subaru wheel bearings difficult to actually diagnose. no play, listening to the coil springs like some folks do didn't work, and rotating tires has failed to produce any noticeable signs on at least three i've done. all were just guesses sort of based on noise, when removed they were noticeably bad but for some reason had no signs while on the vehicle - 2000 Forester rear, 1997 Legacy front, and 1996 Legacy rear. Neither of those exhibited any signs except noise...until removal. i've since then gotten a temperature gun that allows you to shoot things with a beam and get a temp reading. that isolated my current daily driver rear which runs much hotter than the other side. it's a neat little tool and i think they can be had inexpensively now. have to be consistent and get a few readings to see a trend since temps vary wildly based on a number of factors - part of rotor, kind of driving, how long since driven, braking, etc. most should equal out but where on the hub/rotor/wheel - a little bit makes a big difference. *** edit - but i didn't have that gun when those other ones happened so i can only assume they would have been hotter. they were really bad so i would assume they would have been anyway. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
idosubaru Posted July 14, 2010 Share Posted July 14, 2010 any time you change tires that might help too. if you install snows and the sound doesn't change or rotate and it does...those are indicators as well. when they gradually get louder over 10's of thousands of miles it's really hard to tell as you get used to it and cant' recall "how loud" the normal noise is for your given vehicle. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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