Man this is annoying. It' s been "wobbly" at low speeds for a few months. First I tried rotating the tires, no help, but when doing this I noticed front left cv boot damaged and grease all over. Great that must be it!, so I replaced the drive axle, now it doesn't wobble a low speeds , it wobbles ( shudders ) intermitently at highway speeds..much scarier.

 

Item worth mentioning, with taking off the old drive axle, it came off the hub side easy enought, but after I removed the inboard pin and pulled, I yanks the whole drive spline shaft out of the transmission. ( there was NO resistance so I think it was already like this. The locking clip was still on the shaft at the tranny end bu couldn't get it all the way back in with the ring on, so I just pushed it in all the way and hoped the drive axle would keep it there.

 

I really don't feel like ripping it all apart again...

Just a guess...do you think you bought a defective drive axle?

It's possible, I just got the 50 dollar autozone one...I was more just wondering if any other subiefiles had ever un into pulling out the the splined shaft from the transaxle and if it's normal. It could be a wheel bearing too, but i'm not sure what the symptoms of that are.

check your steering rack or tie rod ends, my g/f's impreza wobbles all over the place...i havent had the time to fix it yet but i know she needs a new cv axle and theres alot of play when u push on her tie rods

that clip should be on the trans axle stub. it's not a big deal that the stub came out, that's how they come out assuming you have an automatic transmission. i can't say the possibility or probability of what may happen without that clip in place, but i'd rather it be there myself.

 

unfortunately for whatever reason aftermarket, rebuilt, remann'ed, auto parts store Subaru axles suck really really bad. you're better off installing an original Subaru axle than the "new" ones. or have MWE from colorado send you one of there's.

 

how many miles are on this vehicle?

does it ever feel loose or slow to respond when you steer? if so, then it is probably your steering rack bushings. older roos drive so much nicer with new rack bushings installed (very easy to do).

 

if it wobbles more through turns than driving straight and worse when turning one way than another, i'd suspect a bad ball joint.

 

otherwise tie rod ends may be to blame. make sure your axle nut is torqued tight and not backing off.

This legacy L 2.2 automatic has 111K miles on it, and runs like new. The steering feels tight...I had ball joints go on old vw rabbits and they would shake like tits after you hit a bump...this "unbalanced vibration in the steering" feeling seems to happen on the highway going straight with no bumps, and it comes and goes....

 

Is the normal way to install that spline shaft w/ clip to put it on and the just tap the splined shaft in until the ring pops out on the other side?? I was afraid of bashing the differential gears or having the ring fall off and boucing around inside the tranny...

that circlip should tap back inside like you said. will require some force to get it to clip in place. it's been awhile and i haven't done it often, but it should go in with some help.

 

if it's an AWD i'd wonder if one of the ujoints in the driveshaft are going bad if everything else seems to be good and tight. or i'd suspect the aftermarket axle, i've had very bad luck (exploding to pieces) with brand new ones from the parts stores. i only use Subaru or MWE rebuilt ones now.

Thanks GG...Yes it's AWD...The cheap drive axle has a lifetime warranty, I may have take it appart once more and see if the "spline shaft not held in by clip" causes any driveline vibration, and if THAT doesn't fix it I guess I take it apart AGAIN and return the axle for another one....

 

@#$%%^^&**((*^$%$##$%^!!!!!!!!.

It sounds like a bad CV joint. The driveshaft wont give feedback through the steering wheel. Put the clip back in and see if it goes away (that can be causing it). If not there have been problems with cheap axles, and dont get another from the same source if you can avoid it. Find out who they buy from so you know not to use them again.

 

nipper