I just thought of this while posting on another thread. I have found the newer style axles found on the 00 on up subies are holding up 10 times better than the style found on the 93-98/99ish. The boots have more convolutions and dont get stressed as much. The only thing you have to do is knock the tone ring off ot the out board joint before install. We started doing it when we ran out of good used older style axles.

I just thought of this while posting on another thread. I have found the newer style axles found on the 00 on up subies are holding up 10 times better than the style found on the 93-98/99ish. The boots have more convolutions and dont get stressed as much. The only thing you have to do is knock the tone ring off ot the out board joint before install. We started doing it when we ran out of good used older style axles.

 

ok i'm a dummy, what's a tone ring and what's it look like??

ok i'm a dummy, what's a tone ring and what's it look like??

 

+1 lol

really you don't say, well seeing as how one of my axles is clicking all of the sudden I'm gonna have to invest in a pair.

 

Now please splain the tone ring Lucy .

It's the toothed ring pressed onto the axle that the ABS wheel speed sensor reads off of. The older ones have the tone ring bolted to the hub under the rotor.

What does the ring interfere with if not removed?

That is correct as explained above. It is the cogged ring that the abs pulls its reference from. I dont know for sure that it will interfere but we pull them off because it is on the hub itself. I would probably rub the spindle though if you left it on.

that's great info xrturbo, thanks for posting.

What models are interchangeable here?

 

does that mean 2000 - 2002 legacy axles will fit in 95-99 legacy's? i'm in the market for some 95 and 96 legacy axles and would like to get the newest used subaru ones i can find.

 

will these newer ones fit 95/96 model legacy's? and since i and some friends have impreza's (mid to late 90's), will they work on those as well?

grossgary

 

yes it will fit a 95/96 i just did this on mine and it works, it may also fit the impreza since the original parts are interchangeable

 

 

 

Hey Rich thanks for the heads up when i was up there at your shop

My only experience w/ tone rings is when I had new bearings put on one of my front wheels. The guy who attempted the job the first time busted the tone ring and I had to grab another from a salvage yard and replace it myself. (The guy who did the job the right way after that was a Subaru owner, so he was good) That was almost 4 yrs ago. As I recall, they aren't exactly fragile, but you shold still handle the tone ring w/ a bit of caution...

I ran into this issue when I recently replaced both front axles on my ’97 Legacy L sedan with A/T, the original axles had baffle plates on the outboard ends, while the new axles had the tone rings. Although the website I purchased the axles from http://www.autohausaz.com/ listed one part number for my application, the catalog from the manufacturer (http://www.empius.com/) listed another part number. Now the only difference between the two parts number was the application of the tone ring versus the baffle plate. I was actually able to get a hold of someone from EMPI and they clarified the overall specs were the same and if I wished I could either leave the tone ring or remove it, in my case I chose to remove the tone ring and then replace it with the baffle plate as all of the diameters lined up. Now if you look at their catalog, the application looks like this:

 

Legacy including Outback

00-0480-5521

1999 A/T 80-5521

M/T 80-5511

90-98 80-5511

 

I have attached pictures of the two parts (5521 vs. 5511) and you can see the only difference is the tone ring versus baffle plate. Also note the 5521 which has the tone ring is for later models (00-04). Now if locations are trying to limit the on hand part numbers and both parts are similar in specs, I am curious if they are just stocking the later part number? I have also attached a pic of my axle versus the new one, making note of what xrturbo said in the original post: The boots have more convolutions and dont get stressed as much.