Best source for axles?

[DaveT]

4 hours ago, Hex1 said:

Though the chassis has 300k so it’s likely not OEM axles?

Look at the ends at the transmission - Do they have ribs?

Look at the ends at the knuckles - are they painted dark green?

If yes to both, they are most likely OEM.

 

[idosubaru]

9 hours ago, DaveT said:

Look at the ends at the transmission - Do they have ribs?

Look at the ends at the knuckles - are they painted dark green?

If yes to both, they are most likely OEM.

 

Do all EA82 axle cups have those ridges that are parallel to the shaft?  Crazy I used to do almost all old gen and now, Other than mine, I haven’t seen another one in 10 or more years, they’re all rusted away.

[DaveT]

I'll have to look through mine later and see.   And check the FSM. There were 3 versions for a while.     As I remember at the moment,  one had different spline count, the other 2 were the same, except one was slightly heavier, and used on 4WD.

[Hex1]

Heard a bad clacking while making a U-turn today so I think I need to just replace the whole thing. First time I’ve heard it so it’s only at full crank, I think it’s only the outer joint - can actually feel it through the floor board. But the consensus Is there’s no good new options available?
 

Is it worth it to get OEM axles at the junkyard?

Edited October 23, 2020 by Hex1

[GeneralDisorder]

48 minutes ago, Hex1 said:

Is it worth it to get OEM axles at the junkyard?

Very unlikely you are going to find EA82's in the junk yards here in Portland, and if you do, about a 99.9% chance they don't have OEM axles. Subaru axles haven't been available from Subaru for that chassis in many, many years. 

The consensus is that there ARE NO GOOD OPTIONS.... period. full stop. Not new, not used..... nothing. It's a wasteland out there for EA parts. 

Half the time the click is because the cone washer and possibly the hub itself are knackered, and/or will be shortly after the next guy takes it apart and doesn't know how to properly assembly a mechanical shaft locking axle/hub system. 

GD

Edited October 23, 2020 by GeneralDisorder

[DaveT]

I have one OemEM one that the balls had gotten damaged on.  Put in new balls, and it's been fine.  Another, had worn (I could see wear in the cup) from being on the left side of cars, I put it on the right, and it's been fine.

Both got dissasembled,  cleaned,  regreased, new boots before I installed them.  They have been good so far.  

[Ionstorm66]

So I got the OE boots in the mail as well as the Becks. They are much thicker than the Dorman, but not as stretchy. The Beck and OE look the same, and both came with circlips. Also they came with easily twice as much grease as the Dorman.

[idosubaru]

6 hours ago, Hex1 said:

Heard a bad clacking while making a U-turn today so I think I need to just replace the whole thing. First time I’ve heard it so it’s only at full crank, I think it’s only the outer joint - can actually feel it through the floor board. But the consensus Is there’s no good new options available?
 

Is it worth it to get OEM axles at the junkyard?

Just clean it out, grease it, and reboot it.  I’ve done it with a 100% success rate so far. It’s not a big deal, but always on OEM axles, I wouldn’t waste time on aftermarkets.  If the boot is still intact and old the grease will just pour out like water because it’s old and garbage, it’s not even functional grease anymore. Clean it and Give it some grease. 

[idosubaru]

37 minutes ago, Ionstorm66 said:

So I got the OE boots in the mail as well as the Becks. They are much thicker than the Dorman, but not as stretchy. The Beck and OE look the same, and both came with circlips. Also they came with easily twice as much grease as the Dorman.

Beck Arnley doesn’t always fill the box with the same suppliers. I’ve bought two of the same Beck Arnley parts and found different manufacturers in the box.  By “different” I mean it’s the correct part but clearly a different manufacturer. Two identical parts are visually different. 

[scoobydube]

I bought refurbished front CV axles from both O'Reillys and Autozone.  Put them both on at the same time.  The Autozone axles went out in 30,000 miles. The O'Reillys axles are still going strong.  Apparently Autozone uses chinese axles, according to O'Reillys.  If you wait until they start making noise, it is too late to just add grease.  Auto mechanics will smear brake fluid on the rubber so that they crack in 30 days, simultaneously.  So then it's back to the auto mechanic again.  Funny how that works.  Tip:  stuff as much axle grease into the wheel bearing area as you can because it helps with the longevity of the wheel bearings.   Pressure wash the inside of your brake area so that you don't get dirt into the wheel bearings when you go to reinstall the cv axle.

[Ionstorm66]

25 minutes ago, scoobydube said:

I bought refurbished front CV axles from both O'Reillys and Autozone.  Put them both on at the same time.  The Autozone axles went out in 30,000 miles. The O'Reillys axles are still going strong.  Apparently Autozone uses chinese axles, according to O'Reillys.  If you wait until they start making noise, it is too late to just add grease.  Auto mechanics will smear brake fluid on the rubber so that they crack in 30 days, simultaneously.  So then it's back to the auto mechanic again.  Funny how that works.  Tip:  stuff as much axle grease into the wheel bearing area as you can because it helps with the longevity of the wheel bearings.   Pressure wash the inside of your brake area so that you don't get dirt into the wheel bearings when you go to reinstall the cv axle.

Yeah the Beck and OE come with almost to much grease I filled the cups before putting the balls in. It filled the outers to the brim, and the inners over half way. Put some on the balls as I assembled them, and added some on the outside after they were in the cup. I had so much it was pushing out the boots as I installed them.

 

Also mine were definitely rebuilt OE axles. There were hammer marks were someone missed trying to take the outers apart. Everything seemed good other than a single ball on the inner cv seems smaller than the rest. Will see how they last.

 

My passenger side is Subaru and drivers is Beck. Not that fair as the passenger side gets all the heat.

Also dear god dose it make a mess! I went though 4 sets of gloves an axle, plus 20+ paper towels, and 1/2 gallon of diesel to wash them.

 

[idosubaru]

15 minutes ago, scoobydube said:

 The Autozone axles went out in 30,000 miles. The O'Reillys axles are still going strong.  Apparently Autozone uses chinese axles, according to O'Reillys. 

I haven't  seen any issues but they're uncommon in my circles. I haven't seen many complaints in subaru groups either.  If 100 OReilly's axles were installed, there would still be a surprising number of failures.  They might be better than others, but they're still more problematic than Subaru OEM. 

15 minutes ago, scoobydube said:

If you wait until they start making noise, it is too late to just add grease.

Nope.  I've done it many times.  I won't do it with sand/aggregate damage, and only with OEM axles.  For an average daily driver on city streets and OEM axles with broken boots, no grease - I've got a 100% success rate cleaning and regreasing noisy and/or vibrating axles.  Often, initially, it's just a lack of available grease for the joint causing the issues, not actual damage.  Like a squeaky door hinge - initially it's not damaged, just lubricate it.   100% success rate multiple times, not just 2. 

29 minutes ago, scoobydube said:

Auto mechanics will smear brake fluid on the rubber so that they crack in 30 days, simultaneously.  So then it's back to the auto mechanic again.  Funny how that works.  Tip:  stuff as much axle grease into the wheel bearing area as you can because it helps with the longevity of the wheel bearings.   Pressure wash the inside of your brake area so that you don't get dirt into the wheel bearings when you go to reinstall the cv axle.

As well as, checking or replacing  the wheel seal is an important precaution during axle work, particularly since on this forum we're typically discussing older vehicles.  The wheel seal is what prevents cross contamination of the bearing and ambient conditions (weather, debris, etc) outside the axle.  And they're often cracked on the outer sealing surfaces.  They're readily accessible once the axle is removed.

Oh good grief the amount of debris that rains down when pulling and installing axles!!!!! 

[GeneralDisorder]

Auto mechanics do not smear brake fluid on boots. You're high if you think we do such things. 

People are such morons..... 

GD

[Crazyeights]

On 10/27/2020 at 9:19 PM, GeneralDisorder said:

Auto mechanics do not smear brake fluid on boots. You're high if you think we do such things. 

People are such morons..... 

GD

I guess that's the difference between "mechanics" and technicians

[xXArchusXx]

On 10/17/2020 at 10:07 PM, DaveT said:

If you have OEM axles, clean, re-grease, reboot.  All of the aftermarket are junk.

 

i have 160k miles on my axcles they are oem. so i just refresh with new boots and grease anything else? but do i have to replace any joints? i found oem stuff on the subaru website.

when you dissasemble do the axles slide out or do you have to go in to the diffrential?

i am new to cv things.

Edited November 9, 2020 by xXArchusXx

[DaveT]

The axles come off the differential stubs.  There is a roll pin you have to drive out.  You need a proper diameter punch.  Too small, it can get stuck inside the hollow roll pin, and you have a nightmare problem.   The punch needs to be only slightly smaller than the hole the pin is in.

You have to at least partially dissasemble the knuckle.  Lower ball joint, or seperate the strut from the knuckle.  I usually remove both, since it is easier to etc the axle out.  But mine are all put together with anti seize compound,  so the stuff just unbolts.  Might as well replace the seals for the wheel bearings while it's all apart.  And clean and grease them too.

[1 Lucky Texan]

search for videos - soob axle replacement and re-booting.

[DaveT]

I found the trick to getting the outer CVJ off the axle on youtube.  But can't find it again.   Drill a hole in a piece of 2x6, [about a foot long] just big enough to slide over the axle.  Disassemble the DOJ [inner], and remove from the axle.  Remove the outer boot.  Slide the block down to the CVJ.  Clamp the axle in a vise, with the CVJ pointing down, over something to catch it.  One or 2 moderate hammer blows on the block, with a 1-2 pound hammer should pop the CVJ off.    

[scoobydube]

On 10/29/2020 at 8:13 PM, Crazyeights said:

I guess that's the difference between "mechanics" and technicians

If the genuine subaru mechanic did not smear brake fluid on the rubber cv boots, then how else are those boots going to both crack and require replacement at the exact same time.  As I recall, they did it too my vehicle twice. 

[scoobydube]

22 minutes ago, DaveT said:

I found the trick to getting the outer CVJ off the axle on youtube.  But can't find it again.   Drill a hole in a piece of 2x6, [about a foot long] just big enough to slide over the axle.  Disassemble the DOJ [inner], and remove from the axle.  Remove the outer boot.  Slide the block down to the CVJ.  Clamp the axle in a vise, with the CVJ pointing down, over something to catch it.  One or 2 moderate hammer blows on the block, with a 1-2 pound hammer should pop the CVJ off.    

I put the nut back on and this put a 2x4 flat over the nut and hit the 2x4 with a heavy hammer.  Obviously, the inner connection to the transmission, should already have been disconnected.

[scoobydube]

5 hours ago, DaveT said:

The axles come off the differential stubs.  There is a roll pin you have to drive out.  You need a proper diameter punch.  Too small, it can get stuck inside the hollow roll pin, and you have a nightmare problem.   The punch needs to be only slightly smaller than the hole the pin is in.

You have to at least partially dissasemble the knuckle.  Lower ball joint, or seperate the strut from the knuckle.  I usually remove both, since it is easier to etc the axle out.  But mine are all put together with anti seize compound,  so the stuff just unbolts.  Might as well replace the seals for the wheel bearings while it's all apart.  And clean and grease them too.

And the inner joint pin only come out one direction, and then only goes back in in the opposite direction.  A taper around the hole is at the exit and entrance end.

[DaveT]

Note - my post about the trick for CVJ disassembly above is NOT about removing the axle from the car, it is about popping the outer CVJ off the axle, once it is completely removed from the car.

[idosubaru]

12 hours ago, scoobydube said:

If the genuine subaru mechanic did not smear brake fluid on the rubber cv boots, then how else are those boots going to both crack and require replacement at the exact same time.  As I recall, they did it too my vehicle twice. 

You probably need to get it serviced somewhere else if A: you don't trust them.  B: you have recurring failure.  C: they dont' seem able to address the recurrent failure. 

12 hours ago, scoobydube said:

Auto mechanics will smear brake fluid on the rubber so that they crack in 30 days, simultaneously.  

You said "subaru genuine mechanic".  Dealers have a standard 12,000 mile/12 month warranty on parts and services.  For warranty you'd be talking to the service advisor and manager.  Given typical dealer volumes and models, it seems unlikely that the typical large team of mechanics, multiple service advisors and managers would be conspiring for CV boots. 

Which boots failed?  There's probably a simpler explanation...possibly equally negligent, but less intentional.
1. aftermarket boots can fail shortly
2. maybe you were *told*, or thought you were told, or the mechanic thought they were, but they weren't OEM - and they were aftermarket
3. maybe they were OEM and sat exposed to elements for a long time.  I've seen brand new OEM boots installed on axles that then sat for years, break very shortly after being installed - like less than 5,000 miles fast.  I'm not sure what causes that - how can just "sitting around" on a shelf, cause a boot to fail when that doesn't seem to happen to boots left in a box?  Before that happened I would have gladly took a new boot off an axle I had on the shelf and given it to a friend...now I don't.  I don't know why - but I've seen it happen more than once, and no one snuck into my garage and contaminated my axles on the shelf.  The rubber just appears dry and cracked. 
4. mechanic inexperience - maybe he did something to the boots during install, but not intentionally, that compromised them.
5. lifted vehicles, axles with swapped parts, boots getting stretched for some other reason...

All of the above can easily happen to *both* axles. 

And there are probably other viable options but - I've seen all of the above happen numerous times and stats nearly guarantee something other than "intentionally smearing brake fluid" is the root cause. 

Edited November 10, 2020 by idosubaru

[scoobydube]

On 11/9/2020 at 7:56 PM, DaveT said:

Note - my post about the trick for CVJ disassembly above is NOT about removing the axle from the car, it is about popping the outer CVJ off the axle, once it is completely removed from the car.

As I recall, once you remove the boot to uncover the ball bearing assembly, there is a circular wire clip that wraps around everything, that you pop out in order to disassemble it enough for the ball bearings to fall out onto your work table.

[1 Lucky Texan]

on many outer CVJ (Rzeppa joints) there is a snap ring on the end of the axle you remove. Then there can be some hammering involved if the inner part is stuck on the axle.