92 Loyale clicking during acceleration after replacing front cv axles

[cherrythesubaru]

Just replaced both front cv axles on my lifted 92 Loyale (5spd manual 4wd) and I'm getting some nasty clicking/clunking noise multiple times per rotation during acceleration straight or on turns. There is no noise while coasting in neutral.

I used aftermarket axles as the originals had already been replaced and the axle lengths seemed to match what was already on the vehicle when I bought it. 

Could this just be a result of using shitty aftermarket axles that can't handle the angles of the lift? What should I check for potential issues caused by errors during install? 

 

[SuspiciousPizza]

How high is your lift? I've heard 2" is about the limit of the axles but I'm not experienced in lifting these cars so other's experiences may differ.

It seems to be the general consensus that aftermarket axles aren't worth running if it's avoidable. 

If anything, check out the grease in the joints. I highly doubt they'd assemble them dry but knowing the quality of modern aftermarket parts for these cars, it also wouldn't surprise me. 

I'd try packing the joints with a good quality grease and seeing what happens. I recommend Yamalube Molybdenum Disulfide grease. It comes in 4.5oz bottles which is the perfect amount for one joint. I squeeze out as much as I can into the joint, then I cut the bottle open and scoop the rest into the boot. It's expensive but it's very good grease. 

Try looking out for used OEM axles. It's a pain to track the right axles down but if you run them with good grease and quality neoprene boots they should be just fine.

:]

[bushytails]

It's kinda hard to know what's up without being in the car, but some other things that make noises...  most of which I've seen before...

Does the noise get worse when turning?  If not, it's not outer CV joint angles.  I've only broken one joint from exceeding its angle, and it was flexing the suspension while at full lock. 

Does the noise go away if you have a passenger (or 300lbs of bricks, or something) in the front seat?  If not, it's probably not inner cv joint angles.  Feel if the shaft can wiggle in and out a bit, or if it's jammed up against the side of the cup.  Wiggle the inner cups up and down to make sure they're free on the splines, not jammed downwards by the shaft.

Bad wheel bearings or loose wheel hubs (the hub nut needs quite a bit of torque), causing brake rotor to clip caliper bracket.  I've seen this a half dozen times...  Also make sure no gremlins stole the cone washers when you were putting it back together.  Jack it up and make sure you can't wiggle the wheels in any direction.  Lug nuts are tight too, right?

Bad transmission; differential going out.  Not sure how to diagnose this one.  I haven't seen it myself, but I've heard of it for that year range, especially on full-time transmissions.  Does it do it in reverse too?

Worn transmission stub shaft splines causing the inner cups to flop around.  I've only seen this cause vibrations, but noise is possible too.

Bad driveshaft u-joint.  Probably not if it's a part-time transmission; possible if it's a full-time.

Broken transmission or engine mounts (including pitch stop), and you're hearing the transmission banging the crossmember or tunnel or such.

Wrong axle length, I guess,  Never seen it, but it's a possibility.  Hop on the fender while watching the shaft, and make sure it can move in further than the resting position.

Defective axles.  Some of the chinese ones are really crap.  I have GSP ones now and they seem better than the other chinese brands I've used.

 

[el_freddo]

I’d put my money on the aftermarket shafts being the issue. 

Been there a few times ;( 

I do like the suggestions from bushytails. As for the front diff issues, I’ve never seen an issue with the manual transmissions and their front diffs. 

 

[cherrythesubaru]

Thanks yall. 

I jacked it up again today and made sure the axle nut was tight as well as the lug nuts. There is a little vertical play in the passenger side wheel but that was there before when there was no clicking noise prior to replacing the cv's (I have to replace the wheel bearings but didn't have time while doing the axles). I could replace the bearings and see if that fixes it 

Noise is the same while turning and I haven't been able to test with another passenger yet but will try to do that today. The inner cups seem to have a lil bit of play - don't think they are jammed downwards by the shafts. 

Cone washers are installed.

This noise only started after replacing the cv axles so I don't think there are any issues that suddenly arose with the transmission, driveshaft, or engine mounts. 

I've uploaded a video of me driving here: https://youtube.com/shorts/xNpCdfp6KzQ?feature=share 

Hope this is helpful!

 

[SuspiciousPizza]

If you do wheel bearings I'd recommend buying sealed bearings and foregoing the seals. If anything take one seal off each bearing, face the unsealed sides into the knuckle and pack grease between them inside the knuckle. The seals are a real pain in my opinion.

Front bearings are super easy compared to the rears, if you lift the engine & trans as a unit to get the axles out then you don't have to detach any suspension components. If anything take your outer tie rods out of the knuckle but I got away without it. Putting the axles back in, you may have to loosen/partially drop the control arms.

:] 

Edited October 7 by SuspiciousPizza

[bushytails]

Were these new or reman axles?

[bushytails]

I've never heard axles that bad going in a straight line... 

[cherrythesubaru]

New off RockAuto... stupidly went with the cheapos... https://www.rockauto.com/en/moreinfo.php?pk=9129200&cc=1270134&pt=2288&jsn=584 

[cherrythesubaru]

I've got a buddy coming on Friday to take a look and will report back with his opinion as well. Hopefully it's just a bad cv and I can find a decent replacement somewhere. 

[cherrythesubaru]

Ok, my Subaru buddy came over today and immediately confirmed the most likely candidate is the CV's being maxed out with the lift. Not sure how the old ones survived but perhaps they were meant for a lift. 

Anyone know a good option for extreme articulation CV's? Looking at these off RockAuto but any other suggestions would be awesome! https://www.rockauto.com/en/moreinfo.php?pk=13224045&cc=1270134&pt=2288&jsn=591

Cheers! 

[SuspiciousPizza]

From what my Parts Catalog says (and it only goes up to '90 so YMMV), the Loyale used a 95AC-23 axle (PN 23221GA373) which has 23 splines and a length between boots of 242mm. 

These axles are actually the shortest of all the OEM axles. You MIGHT (maybe, possibly, no guarantees) be able to get away with a longer OEM axle.

The 87AC axles (PN 23221GA233) have a length of 257mm between boots.

The 82AC axles (PN 23221GA244) have a length of 265mm between boots.

You could gain up to 23mm in axle length with OEM axles which are better quality than modern production axles. 

Sorry I didn't really answer your question. Me personally, I'd drop the car to standard height and swap in used OEM axles. But that's just my opinion. Second option I'd personally go for is keep the lift, buy some 82AC axles and see if they work. Third option I'd go for is getting the Rock Auto extreme articulation axles.

I'm sure they'd work, but for how long? And by that time would you be able to get them again? Going to stock gives you the most flexibility with parts and greater parts longevity.

I'm beating the "keep it stock" drum pretty hard, but whatever you choose to do is your decision, I can only offer my opinion.

:]

P.S. looking for the right axles can be a major PITA. If you need alternative part numbers just shoot me a line.

 

[bushytails]

Since turning doesn't make it worse, it would have to be the inner joints.  What was wrong with your old axles, and do you still have them?  You might try frankenaxles with your old inner joints and shafts, and your new outer joints, assuming the inners weren't bad (they rarely are) on your old ones.

[el_freddo]

What’s your lift combination with the heights/block size for the strut block, engine crossmember blocks and the gearbox crossmember blocks? 

What sort of springs are you running in the front end? 

I’m wanting to understand how your lift is possibly effecting your CV angles to max them out. 

Can you also measure the distance between the ground and the highest point on the arch of your mud guard/fender when the car is sitting naturally and then when jacking it up right at the point that the rubber starts to lift off the ground. This should measure your droop or downwards travel amount in the suspension. 

[cherrythesubaru]

On 10/10/2025 at 3:47 PM, SuspiciousPizza said:

From what my Parts Catalog says (and it only goes up to '90 so YMMV), the Loyale used a 95AC-23 axle (PN 23221GA373) which has 23 splines and a length between boots of 242mm. 

These axles are actually the shortest of all the OEM axles. You MIGHT (maybe, possibly, no guarantees) be able to get away with a longer OEM axle.

The 87AC axles (PN 23221GA233) have a length of 257mm between boots.

The 82AC axles (PN 23221GA244) have a length of 265mm between boots.

You could gain up to 23mm in axle length with OEM axles which are better quality than modern production axles. 

Sorry I didn't really answer your question. Me personally, I'd drop the car to standard height and swap in used OEM axles. But that's just my opinion. Second option I'd personally go for is keep the lift, buy some 82AC axles and see if they work. Third option I'd go for is getting the Rock Auto extreme articulation axles.

I'm sure they'd work, but for how long? And by that time would you be able to get them again? Going to stock gives you the most flexibility with parts and greater parts longevity.

I'm beating the "keep it stock" drum pretty hard, but whatever you choose to do is your decision, I can only offer my opinion.

:]

P.S. looking for the right axles can be a major PITA. If you need alternative part numbers just shoot me a line.

 

I thought about dropping things back to stock but I'd love to leave the lift as is for now if I can. Can't seem to find the OEM parts anywhere since they've all been discontinued... might have to go with the RockAuto extreme articulation axles unless you might be able to share some sources for axles or good alternatives? 

 

[cherrythesubaru]

On 10/10/2025 at 6:03 PM, bushytails said:

Since turning doesn't make it worse, it would have to be the inner joints.  What was wrong with your old axles, and do you still have them?  You might try frankenaxles with your old inner joints and shafts, and your new outer joints, assuming the inners weren't bad (they rarely are) on your old ones.

The old axles were aftermarket as well and even worse off than the new ones I put in. Not sure if they were longer or different than stock in some way as I didn't install them and they were already failed when I got the vehicle. 😕 

 

[cherrythesubaru]

On 10/11/2025 at 3:05 AM, el_freddo said:

What’s your lift combination with the heights/block size for the strut block, engine crossmember blocks and the gearbox crossmember blocks? 

What sort of springs are you running in the front end? 

I’m wanting to understand how your lift is possibly effecting your CV angles to max them out. 

Can you also measure the distance between the ground and the highest point on the arch of your mud guard/fender when the car is sitting naturally and then when jacking it up right at the point that the rubber starts to lift off the ground. This should measure your droop or downwards travel amount in the suspension. 

No clue what the lift combination is to be honest. It looks like whoever did the lift just put bigger struts in... that was one of the first things I looked for and I still haven't found blocks anywhere. The history of the vehicle is a bit of a mystery... the previous owner said they found it abandoned in a parkade. There was apparently already a lift on it at that point. 

I'll see if I can get you some measurements when I go to work on it next. 

[SuspiciousPizza]

Junk yards and online (eBay, FB marketplace) would be where to source the axles. Problem is finding a car with the right axles. There's 4 or 5 different types of axles. While there's general guidelines you can follow to know which axles will be in which car, it also seems that Fuji just grabbed a random set of axles off the shelf and just put them on each car as it was going down the assembly line. It's really annoying tracking down axles.

I had to buy 3 axles that were listed as the axle I needed before I got the one I was looking for.

Unless you go there in person and can identify the axles, assume the person who listed the axle (new, refurb, or used) doesn't know which axle it is. 

In the FSM, there is an axle chart (in section 4 I believe) use that to find the identification bands on the axle shaft, the shape of the inner joint cup, and the inner joint spline count. These are your general identification landmarks.

For the interim, I'm sure the Rock Auto axles will work just fine. But once you get the car rolling, I'd be saving up for used OEM axles, new front struts, a set of 4x140 wheels, some wheel bearings, and strut mounts. Just my opinion but if you're even considering dropping the car to stock height, start locating parts ASAP.

KYB struts can only be found easily shipped from Australia. So shipping is very expensive, plus the "old a** part" tax. You'd be looking at $700 for a pair including shipping. 

Strut mounts (again, KYB brand) are also very hard to find. And typically go for $40-$90 per mount. 

It'd be expensive to drop the car and give the suspension the attention it probably needs or will need soon. But it's easier on the car long-term and makes the parts struggle a little less complicated. 

Tldr: The Rock Auto axles are a good permanent solution for a "throw away" car but if you plan to keep it long term, I'd recommend going to stock suspension. Begin your hunt for the parts required to make that swap ASAP. Last call for parts was a decade ago, we're stumbling out on the end of a bartender's broom at this point.