Somewhere along the road from Alaska to Utah one of the boots of my front right CV axle blew a hole and I still haven't dealt with it properly, the axle is getting pretty noisy now. I browsed the forums here pretty thoroughly and compared what I read to the FSM Diagrams, then pulled the trigger on this axle from Rockauto which they have listed as fitting a front right 4wd MT Fuel Injected 1987 GL with my SOHC engine.

 

After getting the axle in the mail today though I counted the splines and realized it has 25, not the 23 the manual says I'll need. So I'm wondering if anyone else has experience with this so I can know whether or not the axle will fit before I tear the car apart and count the splines on the old one?

If gearbox is as left the factory...EA82 boday/engine combo ...manual efi got 25 splines, turbo is included as they are efi..my fwd turbo xt also 25 manual

auto turbo 3 speed was the 23 spline though same as car by and all EA81 models

No it won't. That 25 spline is for turbo EA82s like GL-10s.

You need to find used OEM 95AC-23 axles & reboot them. Look for the 3 bands at outer end of axle shaft when hunting. And ribbed inner joint.

Search PNW pick-n-pull yards for 86 to 94 NA GL or Loyale axles. There's a PNP in Salt Lake City if you're still in Utah.

http://www.picknpull.com/locations.aspx 

http://row52.com/home

My 87 GL wagon is a 5mt part time 4wd d/r like yours.

Edited August 29, 20187 yr by czny

Possibly you 'just' punch the pin out from gearbox end to slide inner double offset joint enough to mark and count your splines. Meanwhile a plastic fizz drink bottle and duct tape for urgent repair?

3 minutes ago, jono said:

Possibly you 'just' punch the pin out from gearbox end to slide inner double offset joint enough to mark and count your splines. Meanwhile a plastic fizz drink bottle and duct tape for urgent repair?

Nice roadside tech there jono.

That was posted up on fb by ausubaru.com ownerjuowner just sharing. 

I have only just replaced a shaft getting knuckly on turns...holed 30,000 km ago

6 minutes ago, jono said:

That was posted up on fb by ausubaru.com ownerjuowner just sharing. 

I have only just replaced a shaft getting knuckly on turns...holed 30,000 km ago

That 'no it won't' wasn't directed at you jono. I was typing out while you were posting. It was purely timing coincidence.

Figured so.Beauty about silent forum discussion. Brian really needs to check count to be sure rather that believe internet advice

Reboot your existing axle.  I've rebooted multiple loud, vibrating inner joints with broken boots and they quieted right up with 100% success rate so far.  Worth a shot over craptastic aftermarket axles anyway.  I've seen multiple aftermarket axles blow to pieces shortly after install, they're very inconsistent. 

On 8/30/2018 at 12:46 PM, idosubaru said:

Reboot your existing axle.  I've rebooted multiple loud, vibrating inner joints with broken boots and they quieted right up with 100% success rate so far.  Worth a shot over craptastic aftermarket axles anyway.  I've seen multiple aftermarket axles blow to pieces shortly after install, they're very inconsistent. 

I should send my shafts over to you as this trick hasn't worked for me

But they keep on trucking even though they're noisy as hell

Cheers

Bennie

5 hours ago, el_freddo said:

I should send my shafts over to you as this trick hasn't worked for me

But they keep on trucking even though they're noisy as hell

Cheers

Bennie

Nah - you know what you're doing, it's just a grease and boots.  I'm sure there's limits, I'm just saying it's not as cut and dry as people and mechanics typically say.

A way I have "tested" them is to stuff them full of grease by hand while they're on the car, before I do anything to them - if they then get better, there's a good chance they'll be fine after a thorough clean and rebooting. 

Don't know if it makes any difference but when rebooting axles I make a mark on outside of outer CVJ where one of 6 balls are then align inner DOJ race same way before finishing assembly.

Unless the axle shaft is too stubborn, I remove them from outer CVJ before clean & pack with fresh grease. Slip axle shaft into 4 ft of 1 1/4 inch pipe with end of pipe firmly against inner race then slam other end of pipe against solid ground or thick plywood. Just make sure c-ring on axle is OK before putting axle shaft back in. And you can go in too far if aggressive.

Axles seem to run smother this way, at least they do for me.

There was no marking balls for me, those little mongrels went every where when I pulled the joints and cages apart. 

I did make an effort to keep the inner and outer race and balls separate to each other. 

Anyway, I'm going with new aftermarket shafts that shouldn't be cheap Chinese junk. 

Wish me luck. 

Cheers

Bennie