Sorry, xt6.net people for the repost, but this being a 4-lug Subaru, I thought you guys could help me out too.

 

I have this horrific dragging sound coming from the front left wheel of my 88 XT 5MT 4WD (EA82 MPFI N/A). It's repetitive, speed-dependant, but here's the thing: it only happens when I coast. It doesn't matter if I'm in gear or not, it doesn't matter if I have the brakes on or not, it only matters whether I'm accelerating or coasting.

 

I did change the front axles about 8k miles ago, and I did it the ghetto shadetree way: pound the old ones out, then pound the hub against the new ones to force them in. I hope I didn't damage anything that way.

 

Anyway, in case my description wasn't clear enough, I made a vid: http://www.thawa.net/gallery/albums/Videos/000_0216.mov Right click, save as please. It's a MOV file, so you'll need Quicktime to view it. You can hear it very clearly at the end of the vid.

 

Thanks in advance for any help!

Sounds like brake problems. I didn't think it was at first, either, but it was. Good luck tracking it down.

Thanks for the thoughts SuBrat, but I don't think it's brake related, since it doesn't matter whether I have the brakes applied or not.

 

Any other thoughts?

bearings out jack it up and see if the wheel has side to side or up and down wobble

 

mueller

Yeah... um... I fixed it...

 

I finally got around to taking a look to see what was wrong.

 

I put the front wheels in the air and put it in 1st and let the wheels start spinning. I didn't hear a thing, so that told me that it's only something that happens with weight on the car, which suggests something inside the hub. Great, I thought :roll:

 

I took the wheel off, and check a few things. Everything is in order visually. I scratch my head for a second and then remember a suggestion that Mike (Flowmastered) gave me: Check the axle nut...

 

Sure enough, it was hand-loose. So I took the pin out, and hit the nut with my handy-dandy impact wrench, and just for safekeeping, I did the passenger side too, which wasn't loose but needed some tightening nonetheless.

 

Put the wheels back on it and went for a drive. Haven't heard the sound since...

 

And to think, I hadn't driven this car for months because I thought it was something big and that I wouldn't have the time to deal with it...