Viss1

Just a follow-up with my personal experience in case anyone is reading this thread for the first time trying to decide whether to tackle this job themselves. After installing my left side axle and discovering the oil seal was leaking, I decided to cut my losses and have a local independent Subaru shop replace the seal and also the right side axle and seal. After learning the hard way how delicate the oil seals are, I realized there was no way I was going to be able to do the other side in my garage with jackstands. Apparently other folks have had a better experience, but basically I know when to fold 'em, and this was one of those times. YMMV.

Any tricks for replacing this? Looks like they are R and L side specific, so I'm guessing it's not a simple press fit...

Any more info about this? I took mine for a couple mile spin and it looks like I may have a leak. I figured I might have lunched the oil seal while installing the new axle... but I wasn't aware of an "inside" seal.

FWIW I just finished one side and the ball joint wouldn't budge. Rather than wreck it trying to get it out, I decided to use the control arm method. Removed the chassis plate, bushing bolt, and pivot bolt with no problems. The whole assembly swung out of the way enough to work. I did find it easier to install the hub side first, though. And boy, did that thing not want to go into the transaxle. After a few minutes of jiggling, pushing, twisting, and cursing, it finally slipped right in for no apparent reason. What is the secret for finessing these things in?

No. You're moving the fluid through the lines either way.

Well, I ended up getting the Mighty Mounts (24H) and a King Cobra bike rack. The Mighty Mounts fit nicely on the factory aero bars, and the King Cobra fits perfectly on the mounts. The whole thing is surprisingly quiet, too. The only thing that might bother some people is that the rack mounts "backwards" on the roof. This is because the rear wheel tray would extend too far back to open the hatch if mounted frontwards. So the bike goes on the car backwards. Doesn't make any difference except it looks a little unusual. But I actually think the rack itself looks better bikeless in that position. FWIW this is the Yakima-recommended way to mount this rack on this car, so it's fully official.

For the Outback: Forester XT Sport / 17x7 / +48mm http://www.legacygt.com/forums/showthread.php?p=1326390#post1326390

Yakima's MightyMounts adapt their racks to our factory aero bars. I'm just about ready to pull the trigger on that system, but am curious to hear feedback.

'05 Wagon 2.5i MT silver/gray