went to change out my front axles on my 97 legacy L wagon a/t awd wagon, 2.2 engine, marked the top strut bolt, went by the right up, went good, my question is should there be a cone washer behind the axle nut? and i was thinking there was a key way there also ? my new axles only came with the axle nut no cone washer ? i have replace axles on ea82 cars ,but they must be alittle different .thanks

make sure you marked the proper strut bolt - only one adjusts camber, can't recall if it's the top of bottom one?

 

don't remember on the cone washer, but the EJ series stuff uses an indention to secure the axle nut. you should have had to pry the notched in part of the axle nut out in order for it to unthread. with the new one installed, you use a punch to indent the axle nut again into the notch on the axle. they use that rather than a cotter pin you see on the EA stuff.

ok, on the marks, now having trouble getting axle into tranny , it seems not to go in all the way, it lines up ,but will not go in any further, ?

you mean it doesn't slide onto the axle stub of the transmission at all? or it partially goes on?

 

if it's not going on, keep trying, it should go. new axles may have very stiff joints and be hard to bend to get squared up, should be the same as EA stuff on this part of installing. just like the EA stuff as well, the pin will only install one way, you can look at the splines and tell before you go to install it or try and install...the axle will slide on, but the pin will not go in. if you have that problem, then rotate 180 degrees and try again.

 

i'm leaving and won't have internet any more but you can call my home number if you still have it and have any questions. i'll be there in about an hour.

it's in as far as it goes, now having trouble getting it into the hub ,?just not enough room ,boy next time going to take to a shop,

just not enough room

Try removing the sway bar link, this gives more room for the bearing housing to move down and get the axle in.

 

If the axle wouldn't go all the way onto the diff stub shaft (so that the spring/roll pin can be installed), you might be off a 1/2 tooth or something; try rotating it ~180 deg and see if that works.

i finally got it , + lined up all my marks on the strut bolts , i marked top and bottom bolts just to be on the safe side, i saw the notch on the old axle nut where it fits into the nut, it took me about 3 hours to do both sides, + cleaned off the brake rotor , becuase a few times i touched it + had a few cold drinks in between each one , thanks for all the help,

great job! i've found the EJ stuff much simpler than EJ's, just need to remove the top strut mount and loosen the bottom. i've never had to remove anything else to do EJ front axles, super easy. maybe some have different sway bars or something that make it harder that i haven't seen yet.

i did find 1 pretty loose axle nut ,, maybe i did some thing wrong ,but i had to remove both bolts,so i could move the hub around to get the axle out and back in , but job is done + no noise or anything else ,