1993 EA82 4WD Pushbutton tranny. So I have tried 2 brand new axle assemblies on the passenges side front wheel. I still get a rumbling/rattle noise comming from the CV joint. No wheel wobble or clicking, but a low pitch clunking. Noise doesnt matte if I'm turnng or going straight. Prior to my replacing the axle on that side I had a major rattling causing the stick shifter to rock back and forth. That issue is resolved with a new axle but I'm still geting this low pitch clunking. So either my wheel bearings are shot or my stub axle bearings are shot. I've torqued and checked all the suspension stuff X3 thinking that was te issue. Any ideas what to do next?

you could get the vehicle off the ground and run the car in gear. get a mechanics stethoscope next to the bearings. hopefully you will hear the bad bearing.

Are you experienced in replacing Subaru axles? (Not a putdown, just gathering info. )

 

A common novice error is to not put the dished washer on the right way, causing the force from the axle nut to not hold things together tightly. This can cause the waxle to move in the hub making all sorts of noises.

 

Another common error is not to tighten the axle nut enough. Some books show way too low of a torque value for the nut. This can also lead to the axle shifting in the hub.

 

 

Edit: And other than cost and some of your time, replacing the wheel would be a good thing regardless.

define "brand new axle assemblies". They are definitely not all created equal

yes, I'm experienced in replacing axles, yes the washer was installed correctly. I too thought I didn't torque the nut enough, but I re-torqued it twice and the noise persists. the axles are gsp brand. I guess i will swap out the bearings next. I don't understand why the cvaxle would make noise if the bearings were bad? Usually when bearings go bad you hear a louder constant noise. the noise I am getting is from the cv axles and it is intermittent and not too loud. Thanxs for the feedback

I thought GSP sounded familiar. Like someone had just posted a rant about them being junk.

 

 

 

so I searched....yep. It was you. You know they're bad. you were told they were bad. now you've posted a second thread about it hinting that it might be the bearings, and when we gave you other ideas, you are sure it's the axle.

 

 

Get a decent axle!!

 

 

 

 

thread I was referring to, for those that don't know:

http://www.ultimatesubaru.org/forum/showthread.php?t=118721

Yes GSP is junk. but I still couldn't wrap my head around the fact that 2 brand new axle assembelies could be junk right out of the box. The common sense of me thought it must be the bearings or something else. Today I re-booted an old axle, and replaced the second brand new axle. Car runs great now. I have had good luck with other afermarket CV shafts, glad I didn't have to replace the bearings.