turboguzzi Posted May 31, 2020 Share Posted May 31, 2020 wasnt expecting this, but i am in middle of a clutch change and turns out that my inner CV joint are of the integral shaft type, no rolled pin to push out.... odd because all my previous subarus had the pin holding the green CV on the stub these have the stub as an integral part of the CV.... so how do i remove the CVs from the gearbox? looks like some sort of forked instrument is needed ? or simply a hammer blow on the housing? thanks in advance Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
1 Lucky Texan Posted May 31, 2020 Share Posted May 31, 2020 yeah, held in by spring C clips (circlips ?) and just need some force to pop out. If you work with big screwdriver or similar at the trans end, be careful not to damage the seals. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
turboguzzi Posted May 31, 2020 Author Share Posted May 31, 2020 well, being the DIYer I am, built a tool.... half an hour of work with some old iron angles and it worked like a charm. What sucks is the length of the shaft! you really have to pull out the hub outwards a very long way! Didn't manage to disassemble the bottom steering ball from the housing like the manual suggest, every time i tried it would cock when half way out and get stuck, so for now, on one side i had to disassemble the whole bottom suspension arm and only then it went ok... Compared to the old style CVs this is hell... on my old Legacies it was just removing the front arm bolt, pull a little bit and CV was out of its short stub. Same with the a first gen forester, on 2nd gen they really went backwards in serviceability. or is it just me? any tips for the newer CV removal are welcome ... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lmdew Posted May 31, 2020 Share Posted May 31, 2020 Yep no easy way. Have to remove the knuckle from the strut and bottom A - arm to get enough room to prevent seal damage. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GeneralDisorder Posted June 1, 2020 Share Posted June 1, 2020 All you have to do is pop the ball joint out of the knuckle. It's no big deal really. GD Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
brus brother Posted June 1, 2020 Share Posted June 1, 2020 5 hours ago, GeneralDisorder said: All you have to do is pop the ball joint out of the knuckle. It's no big deal really. GD whoah, did you say pop the ball joint out and no big deal in the same sentence?? Not sure about the op in Italy but here in the northeast rust belt, that ball joint is usually rust welded in place. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lmdew Posted June 1, 2020 Share Posted June 1, 2020 GD's in Portland, OR. Almost as rust free as CO. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
montana tom Posted June 1, 2020 Share Posted June 1, 2020 Remove the two large bolts from the strut housing. Turning the nuts not the bolt. Mark the top one as it needs to be in exactly the same position on reassembly. Whole knuckle rolls outward. Plenty of room to swap axles 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
turboguzzi Posted June 1, 2020 Author Share Posted June 1, 2020 well, it went better on the other side, it pop'd out... it worked best by using a pray bar between arm and housing. only then realized that the top area is kind of barrel shaped so the cocking on the way out is no issue, was just afraid of making things worse with stronger blows. should have searched a picture of the ball joint before.... on the "bad side", with the arm loose, managed to wiggle it out too, it was really quite rusted, took quite few blows from front an back to come out. odd because my area is not bad with rust... the underbody of my 15 yr old car is perfect otherwise, all bolts are totally rust free, the only ones to have rust where the two holding the ball joint in the housing. looks like water enters through the slot in the metal and just stays there. rust never sleeps... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
carfreak85 Posted June 1, 2020 Share Posted June 1, 2020 11 hours ago, brus brother said: whoah, did you say pop the ball joint out and no big deal in the same sentence?? Not sure about the op in Italy but here in the northeast rust belt, that ball joint is usually rust welded in place. It's not hard once you invest in the proper tools. http://company23.com/products/subarutools/532 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
turboguzzi Posted June 1, 2020 Author Share Posted June 1, 2020 50 minutes ago, carfreak85 said: It's not hard once you invest in the proper tools. http://company23.com/products/subarutools/532 neat, bit to use it you need to pop out the ball joint from the suspension arm.... is that easier? for the procedure recommended by the manual, doesn't really help... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Numbchux Posted June 1, 2020 Share Posted June 1, 2020 (edited) If rust is a possibility, messing with all that suspension stuff if you don't have to is big bad news. Even if rust isn't a concerned, doing all that work while under the car is for the birds. If you don't have a hoist and transmission jack, pull the engine to change the clutch. And yes, much easier to remove the ball joint from the control arm, than from the knuckle. Edited June 1, 2020 by Numbchux Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
turboguzzi Posted June 1, 2020 Author Share Posted June 1, 2020 well, the clutch is changed and tranny is back in already... there are a few reasons i pulled the tranny from the bottom in my two foresters: 1. dont have a hoist, but it was easy to build a simple adapter to my floor jack to support the tranny 2. both my cars are LPG, so taking the engine out means disconnecting also the LPG related gas tubing and connectors to the LPG CPU 3. seen this well detailed how to and it seemed easy, indeed, in my 1st gen forester with the old style Cv i did it all in 12 hours. https://www.rs25.com/threads/diy-clutch-replacement-pictorial.128163/ 4. thats also what my trusted subaru mechanic recommended, thats how he does it in his workshop looks like engine vs tranny out is quite a topic of discussion, Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
brus brother Posted June 2, 2020 Share Posted June 2, 2020 22 hours ago, carfreak85 said: It's not hard once you invest in the proper tools. http://company23.com/products/subarutools/532 Well actually the hard part is getting the damn bolt out that fits in the groove. They rust inside the knuckle and then the fun begins. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
carfreak85 Posted June 2, 2020 Share Posted June 2, 2020 I don't know about anyone else, but I always coat the body of the ball joints, the pocket in the knuckle, and the bolt shank with high temp grease. I don't live in the Rust Belt, but I do take frequent trips to the ski hill in the worst weather conditions, but I've never had parts rust together either. If reusing the ball joint or tie rod ends I use a removal tool and the Company 23 ball joint extraction tool when they're being replaced in the knuckle. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
turboguzzi Posted June 4, 2020 Author Share Posted June 4, 2020 well, it worked out ok, CVs are back in, car back on road, i used the complete hub to push the CV and make the C-spring snap into place the ball joint does get in the way of the hub as the rubber bushings of the arm push it up. found a simple workaround by tying the arm down with an adjustable strap to one of the jack stands. With CV in place, i simply released the strap and the CV pop back in after reading here, tried also to drive the bottom joint bolt out of the arm.... like no way, not for me, at least not without the proper puller. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lmdew Posted June 4, 2020 Share Posted June 4, 2020 To make the lower ball joint pop out of the lower A-arm I loosen the nut, jack the a-arm a little on the ball joint stud and then place a 3 lb BFH on the back of the a-arm and hit the front with another BFH. The ball joint will release. Remove the jack, remove the ball joint nut and pull it out. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
idosubaru Posted June 4, 2020 Share Posted June 4, 2020 (edited) On 6/2/2020 at 3:08 PM, carfreak85 said: I don't know about anyone else, but I always coat the body of the ball joints, the pocket in the knuckle, and the bolt shank with high temp grease. I don't live in the Rust Belt, but I do take frequent trips to the ski hill in the worst weather conditions, but I've never had parts rust together either. If reusing the ball joint or tie rod ends I use a removal tool and the Company 23 ball joint extraction tool when they're being replaced in the knuckle. No tool in the world works every time, except almost, maybe a torch. these rust in a wide range of severity. What is “bad” for one person, is average for another, and then there’s another level and another. This isn’t “rusty and stuck” or “not stuck”. The tools break. Metal arms and ends shear and threads strip. I’ve seen those things happen multiple times, I don’t have any ball joint tools except a torch. Or the tool rips just the ball out of the socket into two pieces, and the receiving side of the ball joint is still rust welded into the knuckle and you have to drill and chisel it to pieces to install a new ball joint. I avoid rusty Subaru’s but sometimes encounter them and don’t have any ball joint tools except a torch. Yes coating is done, but the first ball joint removal isn’t usually done until the car is very old (in rust terms) at which point you do not remove ball joints unless you have to or you don’t know any better Edited June 4, 2020 by idosubaru Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
turboguzzi Posted June 4, 2020 Author Share Posted June 4, 2020 44 minutes ago, lmdew said: To make the lower ball joint pop out of the lower A-arm I loosen the nut, jack the a-arm a little on the ball joint stud and then place a 3 lb BFH on the back of the a-arm and hit the front with another BFH. The ball joint will release. Remove the jack, remove the ball joint nut and pull it out. yep, more or less what i tried, but with shops closed, didnt want to risk deforming the threads on the bolt and then wait for a new part if SHTF @Ido All sage advice, some relevant for workshops/serial fixers... i am more in the "two subaru hosehold" range, not much room to hoard, so this type of event is a once in 5 years kind of thing... BTW, Ido is a very Israeli sounding name... Subarus were extremely popular there in the 80s-90's... any connection? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
brus brother Posted June 4, 2020 Share Posted June 4, 2020 Ido a name or as in I do Subaru? I was just watching an episode of Fauda on Netflix and noticed a Subaru. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
idosubaru Posted June 4, 2020 Share Posted June 4, 2020 (edited) 6 hours ago, turboguzzi said: yep, more or less what i tried, but with shops closed, didnt want to risk deforming the threads on the bolt and then wait for a new part if SHTF @Ido All sage advice, some relevant for workshops/serial fixers... i am more in the "two subaru hosehold" range, not much room to hoard, so this type of event is a once in 5 years kind of thing... BTW, Ido is a very Israeli sounding name... Subarus were extremely popular there in the 80s-90's... any connection? No connection, just three words stuffed together into one username Edited June 4, 2020 by idosubaru 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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