Yup, reman axles suck in general. I got the Oreilly axles with lifetime warranty. They usually start making noise within a month or two, and last maybe a year before the boot tears or it starts getting really noisy. I keep the receipt handy and they just keep replacing them, no questions asked. I'd rather go this route, though, cause these axles are pretty easy to replace, and I'd rather replace these once a year then blow up expensive axles every two or three years.

I will check out the radius bushings and see how they look thanks for the ideas!

Ive had next to no luck with reman's too. Got lifetime warrantyd ones from autozone and they suck. But their "new" ones were even worse. Im gettin about 5-10,000 miles out of them. Stock suspension, new motor and trans mounts. I drive it like its stolen though, so i thought maybe it was just me!

 

I figure i can keep foing this route....but it has got to be hell on the trans' output bearings! Ill look in to the subaru remans

Do you have a pitch stopper installed?

 

If not, the engine will buck upward, wreck your mounts and axles.

another common mistake is forgetting to reset the pitch stopper when installing the lift. it preloads the engine at a tilt, and it causes the front end to lift alot on acceleration. i forgot to do this, and it caused me to pop boots very frequently for a few months.

 

another tip i have, is to use a very special grease recommended by a racing axle manufacturer. its called almagard 3752, its a super tacky grease that slings 10X less than the average CV grease, so it even makes less of a mess when the boots end up failing.

 

when rebuilding the axle, to use a dremel tool and slightly open up the ball bearing cages and make it so that the ball just barely slides in without any resistance. he said that the axle manufacturers tend to machine the cages too right, and they cause interference with the ball bearings and damage them, especially with thesubpar grease that reman axle companies use.

 

clearancing the cages makes the joint feel much more loose than brand new, and the joints flop down to the side when you hold the axle horizontally. i stand by that technique and i do it to every axle i have. its made the same 3 empi axles that i have had in rotation for the past 45k look still brand new inside the joint, every time i put a new boot on it. they never vibrate or click, the only reason i still have to rebuild them from time to time is because i buy cheap rump roast boots, and they tear easy.

 

 

EDIT: holy old @ss thread. 85 wagon, btw, the inside wear on the tire tread im willing to bet is the rear wheels being toed out. many shops i took my car to align it at never did the procedure so i threw a fit every time because i paid for a 4 wheel alignment and there is in fact a toe adjustment on the rear.

Edited August 28, 201213 yr by maozebong

had alignment done, but didn't have the caster/camber adjusted? I know with my lift kit they could not use a proper camber bolt and stuck a grade 8 in there because they could actually use it, not enough room for a regular camber bolt. Think that is why people wanted to see your car flat on the ground, to see if the caster/camber is correct. Have yet to kill my axles with a 2" lift with no body drop on a 2002, though i replaced the fronts stupidly, with new ones 12,000 miles ago (thought the noise was axle, i am dumb, it was rub from a really low pressure tire)

mine is lifted almost 4" with no sub frame spacers. and I am not tearing through axles. my CV angle is quite low despite the 4" of lift.

mine is lifted almost 4" with no sub frame spacers. and I am not tearing through axles. my CV angle is quite low despite the 4" of lift.

 

Because the EJ is WAAAY wider than an ea81. Therefor for the same amount of lift there's much less angle on the axles. It's simple geometry.

Because the EJ is WAAAY wider than an ea81. Therefor for the same amount of lift there's much less angle on the axles. It's simple geometry.

 

4" is still way too much on EJ axles. They will not like it for a long period of time. 2.5" is all you'd ever really want, and even that's a little much. I have 2" on my 98 forester and keep tearing cv boots, and then very quickly the axle joint starts to fail. And I haven't even off roaded mine.

4" is still way too much on EJ axles. They will not like it for a long period of time. 2.5" is all you'd ever really want, and even that's a little much. I have 2" on my 98 forester and keep tearing cv boots, and then very quickly the axle joint starts to fail. And I haven't even off roaded mine.

 

Something must not be installed right then. I've ran 4" suspension lift for years before adding a 6" body lift this summer and haven't had an issue with axles yet even though I beat the crap out of my car on and off road.

Very odd. I know I'm not the only one with that experience. What does your lift consist of exactly?

Currently have 98 OB struts and springs with a full 6" SJR lift. Less angle than I had before when I had 1" spacers on top of a full OB setup.