Hello everyone.    U-Joint failed on my 85 EA82 wagon.   Apparently, they are staked in from the factory.   I have read all the posts about the difficulties or replacing them... so here goes.

  Has anyone recently hired a shop in Oregon/WA to replace the joints?   Where did you get the U-joints?    Has anyone bought the U-joints on RockAuto and do they work?

  Or, has anyone replaced the u-joints themselves?

  I have a parts car with the driveshaft still in it ... but with 220,000 miles, I doubt those u-joints will last much longer.

Thanks for the help.    I appreciate your input.   RW

You may decide to have them rebuilt or replaced (mine is still original/ OEM so I can't offer advice on this) but if the parts car driveshaft is not failing my guess is is just may go another 200K.  I base this suggestion not on my own experience (my 85 wagon has 220K also) but on the high milage I have heard about on other old Subarus.  I think the driveshafts may be one of the most bulletproof parts.  Cheers!

+1 for not having to deal with this fixit, praying and knocking on wood that I don't have to anytime soon too.

I had one rebuilt at a local drive shaft shop. Inspect the spare one, if it looks ok, run it while searching for parts or a shop.

i just tryed for 4-5 hours and could not get the old ones out... there is no retainer clip on the inside or outside of the shoulder. on the outside of the shoulder where a cap should be, there is metal molded out so the cap CANT come out that way. And there is no room for it to make it through the center of the two shoulders... so im quite certain that they are staked in from the factory. i wish i didnt buy the one from rock auto....

they are staked in , you can remove some material  with a dremel  grinder ,  and rent  a c press  (ball joint press) from advanced auto  and remove them.  then you have to hand fit the new u joints  in  , they cant be too tight  ,as to distort the joint going in ,  but they have to  be tight enough to hold them  square ,   the new joints use clips to retain them.

Pain in the ____ to replace, but doable.

 

AutoZone has them, P/N 2-0430DL for about $20 each

rockforddriveline.com lists them also, P/N 430-10. No price given on the site.

 

I used a cut-off wheel to cut the cross out, then pushed the caps inwards. Cleaned up the staking marks with dremel tool.

 

Thinking I'll let a shop do them if ever needed again.

Move your spare one by hand - if it's smooth and not lumpy - you know it's in good shape.

If it's lumpy - probably still fine for a long time, depends how bad it is.

 

 

 

Ask around - any automotive machine shop can do it, just have to find one willing.

Any driveline shops around locally?

 

They're pricey from Rockford, like $30 or $40 each.

 

This:

 

 

I used a cut-off wheel to cut the cross out, then pushed the caps inwards. Cleaned up the staking marks with dremel tool.

n.

 

Cut from the inside with an angle grinder or cut off wheel - takes 2 minutes.  Get the center bits out then bash the remaining caps in (gently bash LOL).

Edited September 3, 201510 yr by grossgary