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DIY: Subaru Axle Replacement (Front)


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I wrote this on another forum, but figured it would be useful on here

 

This is going to be a step by step DIY walkthrough on changing a front axle on a 1997 Subaru Legacy GT, but should be generally the same for any Subaru model. I did this in a gravel driveway with hand tools, so don't say you can't do it.

 

First step: Acquire Proper Tools

#1/2 Drive 32mm Socket

#Lug Wrench

#14mm Socket

#Mallet or Hammer

#1/4" round punch

#Wedge Punch

#GOOD Jack & Jackstands

#PB Blaster (penetrating oil)

#Book of Swears

 

Second Step: Removal

With the car still on the ground, pull the handbrake and/or block the rear wheels to prevent any accidents. Now is a good time to break the lug nuts loose as well. Pop off any type of center caps to gain access to the axle nut. Lift the car up just enough to take the weight off the wheel. Having someone sit in the vehicle and hold the brake may help to keep the wheel from spinning during this. Take your 32mm socket and a good breaker bar and break loose the axle nut. This is to protect the wheel bearing from any unnecessary strain from being released with weight still on that wheel.

 

(And yes, I know that’s a torque wrench. It is so far out of calibration that I use that one as a breaker bar. PLEASE do NOT use your torque wrench to break ANY nut/bolt loose!!)

http://i72.photobucket.com/albums/i184/moparpower2003/LGT/PICT6658r.jpg

Position your jack underneath the car. Towards the lower control arm is a good jacking location. You only need the car high enough to get the wheel off the ground, but higher would be more accessible. Make sure you put a JACK STAND underneath. Now remove the wheel and set it and the nuts in a safe place for later.

Now we should see something like:

http://i72.photobucket.com/albums/i184/moparpower2003/LGT/PICT6638r.jpg

 

Alright, now get your PB plaster or penetrating oil of choice and lay it to both the ball joint pinch bolt as well as the sway bar link bolts. You may not need it, but it always helps. Let it soak in for a few minutes. Good time for a cold drink, imho.

Next, take a 14mm socket and loosen the upper sway bar link bolt. You will have to hold one side with another 14mm socket/wrench as you loosen it. Arrow below points to the other side you must hold while loosening. (Nut already removed before picture was taken) Remove bolt from sway bar and set it aside.

http://i72.photobucket.com/albums/i184/moparpower2003/LGT/PICT6647r.jpg

 

Now take the same 14mm socket to the pinch bolt holding the lower ball joint in place.

 

http://i72.photobucket.com/albums/i184/moparpower2003/LGT/PICT6644r.jpg

 

Support the rotor/spindle with a jack to pull tension off of the control arm. Get your mallet or hammer of choice and knock the flattest part of the control arm downward to eject the ball joint from the spindle. If necessary, use a long bar as a long punch against it. Should only take a few good blows and then it should look like this:

http://i72.photobucket.com/albums/i184/moparpower2003/LGT/PICT6648r.jpg

 

Alright, now loosen the axle nut the rest of the way and drive it back through the spindle. Be very careful not to damage the internal splines.

You can now swing the whole upper assembly (spindle, rotor, strut, etc) up and away enough to pull the axle all the way out of the spindle and off to the side.

 

http://i72.photobucket.com/albums/i184/moparpower2003/LGT/PICT6674r.jpg

Now to get remove the axle pin from the transmission side. Find where the roll pin goes through the axle. Its going to be closest the transmission. Take a ¼” punch and hold it against the pin and drive it out with a hammer.

http://i72.photobucket.com/albums/i184/moparpower2003/LGT/PICT6668r.jpg

 

You should now be able to remove the axle from the transmission. A pry bar and a quick jolt may be needed to separate if the axle has seized to the splines.

Now sit back and have another cold beverage and realize you’re only HALF way done!!

 

Third Step: Installation

The best way to start reinstalling the axle is to drive the new roll pin just a little ways into the new axle to keep it in place. Align it with the hole on the transmission output shaft and drive the pin all the way through until flush. It makes it easier if you do that step first.

http://i72.photobucket.com/albums/i184/moparpower2003/LGT/PICT6672r.jpg

Now swing the spindle up again and slide the outer splines into the spindle, careful again not to damage any splines. Once it’s all the way through, put the axle nut on hand tight for now.

You can now align the spindle assembly back up with the lower ball joint. It may take some cussing, but it will align up and pop right back into place. Make sure it seats all the way against the lower spindle and torque the pinch bolt to 28-37 FT-LBS.

Pull the sway bar back into alignment with the link, install the bolt, and tighten the nut. Go back and recheck torque on everything and make sure you don’t have any extra parts. Roll pin back in? Ball joint bolt torque? Sway bar reattached?

Now you can put the wheel back on and hand tighten the lugs. Remove the jackstand and lower the vehicle down until the tire barely touches the ground. Tighten the lug nuts to 60 FT-LBS, and torque the axle nut to 137 FT-LBS. I always like to torque an axle nut, break it loose and then retorque it again to preload the bearings.

http://i72.photobucket.com/albums/i184/moparpower2003/LGT/PICT6660r.jpg

Lower the vehicle the rest of the way and you’re done! Test drive the vehicle listening for any kind of noises or play. Retorque bearing once more. Clean up, put your tools away and call it a day.

 

 

If I’ve forgotten anything feel free to let me know and I’ll add it back in.

 

I am in no way a certified mechanic, nor do I work for Subaru. Always use your best judgment. I can’t be to blame for any injury you might incur while using this walkthrough. Always verify torque specs as well, as we all make mistakes.

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  • I Donated
breaking/tightening the axle nut on the ground can cause wheel bearing damage, per the FSM

 

You can have one person sit in the cab and step on the brake while you bust the axle nut loose. They may have to start the car to have the assistance of the power brakes

-broknindarkagain

My Current Project - Click Here

COME AND TAKE IT

"The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing."

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I saw the torque wrench used to take off tires in teh first pic and almost said something...but then i read it lol

 

 

lol, yeah I figured a few people would be ready to give me a good bashing over that. One of my "friends" used said torque wrench years ago to break loose a harmonic balancer on a Civic, and needless to say, from then on it has been used as a breaker bar.

 

And yeah, I should have wrote it in a little better order. I had the weight lifted off the wheel, but not all the way off the ground when I broke everything loose.

 

edit- Didnt realize you can edit your own posts on here, so jamesm113, and brokindarkagain, I added some info back in about breaking the nut loose! Props for the info.

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You can have one person sit in the cab and step on the brake while you bust the axle nut loose. They may have to start the car to have the assistance of the power brakes

Yup. I got my girlfriend to pump the brakes & hold for me. Wheel didn't budge

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  • I Donated
Nice write up. I am going to need to do this soon too. I was hoping to do it when I swap in my new engine but it looks like I won't be able to.

 

If you wait until you pull the engine out - the spring pins that hold the axle to the transmission will be much easier to get to lol.

-broknindarkagain

My Current Project - Click Here

COME AND TAKE IT

"The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing."

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If you wait until you pull the engine out - the spring pins that hold the axle to the transmission will be much easier to get to lol.

 

Yeah, that was the plan. But it looks like I won't be able to afford a new axle and alignment when I do the engine so I will just have to wait.

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  • 2 years later...

Thanks for the write up. Used it today to replace the passenger side axle on my 98 L. This was a real help.

 

The only tricky thing on the passenger side is that the roll pin for the inside of the axle is up above the exhaust pipe and a little difficult to reach. I had to fit my punch in the end of a short piece of steel tubing in order to reach it. Also, 1/4" punch was just a tiny bit too large for my axle. Just mentioning it as a reference point for others.

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I don't understand why you guys are removing the ball joints pinch bolts instead of the 17mm castle nut that holds the BJ to the lower control arms. Removing them this way is far easier and the only time the pinch bolt should be removed is for replacing the ball joint itself. For the short time I've been a member here I've read countless threads on how to remove broken BJ pinch bolts and my response has always been the same. Why did you remove the pinch bolt and not the 17mm castle nut?

You don't need a pickle fork to loosen the ball joint from the LCA so no worries on tearing the BJ boot. All you have to do I hit the LCA right at the BJ and you see the LCA and BJ separate then with the lower nut and bolt for the sway bars end link removed, push down on the LCA and pull the knuckle assembly out of the way.

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Also every Legacy I've ever worked on have 12mm nuts and bolts for the sway bar end links. The roll pins for the axles are easier to remove from underneath the car tapping the roll pin upwards. Make sure to use a longer punch with smaller diameter that won't get stuck in the hole for the roll pins. I noticed this from the last legacy I R&I a new axle. There is a secondary axle seal that I believe to retain the grease the factory puts on the splines.
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I replaced my driver's side axle a few months back and kind of just figured stuff out as I went along. Probably not the best way to do it either, but I ended up disconnecting the strut after scribing alignment marks on the strut and bolts and then just bent the hub down enough to get the axle out. It was a PITA though. I originally tried removing the castle nut, but couldn't for the life of me get the ball joint to come out of the hub. And yeah, I just tapped the roll pin up from under the car.
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I have been have trouble with my 96 2.5 I replaced the headgasket and it overheated after spending a lot of time trying to get the air out. after that I replaced the thermostat,still over heating, after reading about it I learned that there are better results with Subaru thermostats, so I replaced that with an OEM thermostat and installed a new water pump. Still overheating a after a ten min drive. When it overheats the lower hose is cold and the heater is hot. I even replaced the radiator cap, still the same, any suggestions? The way I see it it's either the radiator or the head is cracked. Any suggestions?
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You could've started a new thread but I'll help ya.

Being that your upper hose is hot and the lower is cold it sounds like a flow issue. Here are the four main problems that would cAuse this. A bad waterpump not pumping the coolant throughout the system, a bad t-stat not opening, a plugged radiator and air pockets in the system. Since you replaced the WP and t stat I would guess either the radiator is clogged or you have a lot of air in the system. There is a bleeder plug on the top of the radiator on the opposite side of the radiator cap. You should fill the system until coolant flows out of that bleeder port. It sometimes helps to jack the front of the car up to help the coolant flow throughout all of the system. A bad radiator cap wouldn't cause this it would cAuse it not to build pressure and it might leak. Try flushing out the radiator really good then fill and get all of the air out. I don't think a cracked head would cAuse this either but it would depending on where the crack was create too much pressure in the system or you would be burning it and you would have white smoke out your exhaust.

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If you removed the 17mm nut you shouldn't have been trying to remove the BJ from the hub but the lower control arm.

 

Sorry, that's what I meant. Either way it was in there tight, which is odd considering I just recently replaced the ball joints like a year ago, lol.

I'm going to be doing my other axle tomorrow, most likely, so I'll try removing the castle nut and I guess just give everything a whack with my [unfortunately, normal-sized] hammer.

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So removing the castle nut worked wonderfully on the right side. However, the axle puller I got from Advance does not fit on my hub, and the axle is set in there pretty tight. I've resorted to the PB blaster and a sledge but even that isn't even budging the axle. Fuuuuuuu...
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Well that turned into a clusterfuck. TWO HOURS of hitting the axle with a sledge and it wouldn't budge. Ended up having to stop because the end was flattening out so much that it might not come back through the splines. Ended up taking the whole knuckle off and bringing it to a shop where their super air hammer took two minutes of pounding to get it off (and then they charged me "minimum labor" of $34.) In the process of doing all of this, the bearing was damaged, so I got a new one from Advance for $50. I'm going to bring it back to that place tomorrow and have them press out the old and press in the new - I suppose I'll probably have to get new seals too. This is becoming way too complicated and expensive of a job. I literally cannot afford all of this, and I have no idea how I'm going to make it to my next paycheck.
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This is becoming way too complicated and expensive of a job. I literally cannot afford all of this, and I have no idea how I'm going to make it to my next paycheck.

 

^hearrrd dat, brah! same boat with my swap right about now..

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What do you mean, that axle joint looks good to me. Just add a little duct tape and JB Weld and send her down the road. LOL.

Yeah I have a large assortment of tools being a Auto Mechanic and I have a bad ass Matco air hammer that has yet to fail getting a stuck axle shaft out of a hub. It better not the darn thing costed me $350.

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