So I've been meaning to change my axles for a while and have had a lot going on so I parked my outback for about a month and now finally have time to do it. I saw that there were two ways to get to the axle; you can take off the camber bolts or you can remove the lower control arm. I decided to go with the latter since I was having so much trouble with the camber bolts.

 

I removed the bolt holding the LCA to the hub. I figured I had to remove the nut from the steering and the top most sway bar bolt/nut. This is where I started to run into a problem. I can't get anything undone even though all the nuts are off. The LCA doesn't budge and I can't get the steering bolt out either. I saw a video where a guy used a pry bar but he also already had the steering part off.

 

Sorry if I can't explain this too well. Anyway do you guys have any advice for me? I've been hitting it with a hammer trying to loosen it and also sprayed a ton of wd40. Nothing budget and I feel like I'm just doing something wrong.

I always pop the ball joint loose of the LCA. Pull the nut loose and put some pressure on it with a big pry bar and smack the LCA with a BFH a few times and it should come loose. Once you do that you just have to swing the hub out and. Pull the Axel from the hub

Ok I'll try it with a bigger hammer and a pry bar. Thanks for the advice. Will the steering (rod/linkage?) Also pop out at the same time?

Since I live in the rust belt, popping the balljoints is usually a destructive task necessitating the replacement of the balljoint.... I always just remove the two bolts that hold the strut to the knuckle. Mark the cam bolt with a sharpie so you get the alignment back where it was. It's a much easier method.

Yeah for some reason I couldn't get the camber bolts off. I noticed the bolt head starting to get damaged so I stopped. It felt tighter than the axle nut!

one of two the camber bolts is eccentric, you'll have to loosen from the nut side instead of the bolt side.

The last few ball joints I've poped loose with my craftsman 36 inch pry bar didn't need to get smacked by a hammer. Needless to say it surprised me, usually got to beat in them for a while.

Thanks nvu I was doing that wrong most likely. Mikaleda, did you remove the steering bar thing first? Or did you do it simultaneously with the ball joint?

I don't take anything loose other than the ball joint. I can do an Axel on one of these cars in 15 minuets with a lift and a good 1/2" impact. Once the ball joint is loose all you have to do is swing the hub out and you can pull the Axel from the hub then you can go on to the transmission side.

I typicaly use a 36 inch craftsman prybar with my 3 pound estwing mininsledge, I've found that combination works most every time no matter how rusty. Some good penetrant helps as well, something better than WD40. I like pb blaster myself, but any good penetrant will help.

I usually undo the bolts on the strut then turn the steering wheel all the way one way or the other and that gets enough play. Just remember to dab some white out or something on the top bolt so that when you put it back on the camber will be close to where it was. Right on you have to turn the nut on the upper bolt because it's not just a normal round bolt. The lower one doesn't really matter but generally it's easier to turn the nut while holding the bolt. Mine are too rusty to do anything with the ball joints the bolt either just snaps and then even after drilling it out it puts up a horrid fight because the joint is rusted into the bearing housing.

Edited December 13, 201510 yr by porcupine73

I should mention I pull ball joint from the control arm and not from the hub. I find that is the easiest.

Ok well I finally busted it out. I left the ball joint connected to the LCA and busted it out of the hub. The balljoint is in ok condition and not broken. Axle came out easily from the hub. Now just need to remove it from the transmission side. I'll have to leave that until tomorrow as I ran out of time today. Thanks for all the help everyone.

 

Also, how hard is it to push the ball joint back in? Are they expensive? If not I feel like it'd be a good time to replace it anyway.

Its about $15 for an aftermarket or about $50 for an OEM Subaru one. Personally since they are such a PITA I buy the OEM ones.

Ok thanks for the advice. I think I'm just going to replace these one with oem. Also, the pin near the transmission; I heard it needs to be pushed out in a certain direction. Is this true?

roll pin can be tapped out from either direction. when you put on the new axle, get a bright flashlight and shine through the roll pin hole from behind.  make sure you can see a perfectly circular hole before tapping the new pin back in.  if not, pull out the cup and flip it 180deg and put it back in.

I pull the balljoint out of the knuckle. I remove the bolt then tap a small chisel into the slot behind the bolt. Pry with a bar, and a few taps with a hammer frees it up. Going back in can be tricky to get the stud lined up. Generally i pry down on the lca while lining it up, using my pry bar. Once it starts in, few taps from the bottom will seat it.

 

The axle pins are best driven from the side that isnt beveled. I use a 3/16 t handle allen wrench as a punch.

Well I finally did it. Front axle is completely on and now I just need to do the rear axle. I'm going to tackle it tomorrow and I'm pretty confident that it'll go much faster. Thanks everyone for the help.

The roll pin should go in from the beveled side.

If the pin doesn't go all the way in, the splines are 180 out.

Watch the orientation when you do the rear. Install in the same way it came out.

 

O.