I am replacing the center diff in my 2001 MT legacy right now and I
have some damage to the transfer driven gear. 1 whole tooth has broken
off of it. I went to Pick N Pull today to see if I couldn't find one
there, but the ones I found were all more damaged than the one I took
out. I was looking online and saw that transfer driven gears for my car
listed on dealer websites are about $210, but there are ones that fit on
the 2000 MT legacy for only $85. Before I went to the junkyard I was
under the impression that I could swap anything in from 1999 to 2004, so
what is up with the price difference? Are they really not
interchangeable? I couldn't find any details on either of them to find
out what might be different about them.

 

I was also looking to possibly replace the tail housing, due to some scratches on
the inside of the part where the driveshaft slides in and out of, but
all the ones I found were scratched the same way. I initially had
trouble removing my driveshaft and the yoke had some pretty good gouge
marks on it, so I grabbed another driveshaft for $63.00. Will I be able
to reuse the tail housing?

 

Also, is it possible to just replace the part the driveshaft yoke fits into without replacing the whole tail housing?

 

Here are some pictures:

 

The material used in the tail housing bushing is very soft, and you can probably use some fine emery clotch to gently smooth out any scratches in it. Be sure to clean it thoroughly with soap and water afterward to make sure any abrasive particles are removed.

 

Not sure what the difference is with the gears. Some time in 99-2000 ish they changed the design of the center differential, and that may have also required changing the transfer gears, not sure.

 

Post in the classifieds here, somebody probably has a whole good transfer section they can sell you for less than going to the dealer.