Steering column U-joint, what fits?

I know this may seem like a stupid question, but anyways.

 

My U-joint is loose and making a small "Toc" sound when moving the wheel. I wanna replace it, but i'm sure the dealer would rip me off for a new one. My guess is that I have to get one from a 2nd gen sedan or wagon obviously, but since these are not the most common things you find in your local junkyards, was wondering if anything else from another subaru would fit to widen my research.

what car, model, miles, trans, year are we talking about?

 

generally, the legacy and GT and impreza will share the same u joint. only the outback, which is taller, has a different u joint.

 

i do not know about the forester.

 

but thre years after 04 may be different.

my bad : 1998 legacy GT wagon manual 100k miles (supposedly)

you can use legacy, L , brighton, GT, and probably impreza.

 

NOT outback. i don't know about forester.

Appreciated. I'll give back some news about it.

So, after swapping my old, rusted, loose and seized U-Joints, I figured I'd talk about my experience.

 

 

First : I found myself a clean, like new U-Joint on a 97 Impreza coupé for 50 bucks in a junk yard. I guess I could have paid less in a U-Pull, but as I was already over there and I don't have that much spare time these days, I took it anyways. Thinking about it now, and the efforts the guy had to do in order to remove it from the donor car from the top of the engine bay, because the car was sitting in the mud without wheels, well it was worth it.

 

 

For future references : U-Joint for this impreza was identical with the one from my LGT, so yes impreza fit. I also examined some from Legacy Outback and I confirm they are longer and wont fit. I still don't understand why tough. In my head I'm thinking the Outback is only higher from its higher springs? Does it have a different Steering rack and why?

 

 

Second : Secure your LGT on ramps. its way easier to do this job from underneath of the car. I would recommend ramps over jack stands because theres less chance that your steering rack move while doing the job, since the wheels will be resting on the ramps. Note that you could still do it from over the engine, but prepare to talk to Jesus a lot.

 

 

3rd : Get yourself

- A 12 mm socket with ratchet or wrench or both.

- A hammer with either a long punch bar or solid, long, flat screwdriver (At least 12 inches)

- Some duct tape or rope.

- A blanked for your back or whatever you want to rest on while doing the job.

- Some Anti-seize (optionnal)

- Some Grease (optionnal)

- Glasses (optionnal)

 

 

Its important when you do this job that your wheels are straight before jacking the car. When the car is jacked straight, use the Duct tape to tape your steering wheel to the dashboard so it does not move. When you disconnect your U-Joint, steering could turn and besides the fact that when reassembling everything your wheel will not be straight, it could also have some impact on your Airbag sensor in the steering column meaning it could break the sensor and then no more Airbags plus one more light in the dash board.

 

 

Now get under there, find your U-Joint on the driver side just over the left Axle boot. Theres 2 bolts holding the U-Joint in place. Loosen them up. Note : look how the bolts are positionned, maybe the top part bolt could be easier to loosen by the top of engine bay. Be gentle at first with the bolts, they are probably a bit rusty and you dont want to strip them. Be sure you have a good grip on them with the socket/wrench. Some of them tends to be really harder to loosen than other.

 

 

The U-Joint gotta come out by sliding it upward on the column You are going to see that on the Steering column part (up), the "tread" gets over the U-joint about an inch, compared to the steering rack piece (lower part). In order to do this, get your hammer and punch or screwdriver. Pass it up through the steering rack and behind the axle boot in order to push on the lower and smaller part of the U-Joint. I sincerely doubt it will come off with simple hand force.

 

 

Thats where the Glasses comes in handy because while you will punch with the hammer, theres probably some rust pieces that will fall right on your face, just below.

 

 

It took me some hard hammering, but eventually you will see it move and it will fall off the bottom part. Now you should be able to pull it out of the top part also. Inspect this piece and enjoy the fact that your car will handle a lot better after it is replaced.

 

 

Put some anti-seize on both "treaded" part where the u-joint attaches. I'd say this is not really important, but I figured it would be better while it was already removed from there anyways. Take your replacement U-Joint and put anti-seize on the inner groove also. Now the installation is the reverse of uninstall. Note : Look on the Steering column Groove to notice that theres a flat spot somewhere on it. Thats where the "open" part of the U-Joint will be. Also, try to put the U-Joint the straightest as possible when getting it on the lower part "tread". I found that theres only one way it will fit without much force. Again if its not correctly installed, steering wheel will be off.

 

 

Don't forget to tight both bolts. the U-Joint will not turn on the shaft itself if its not tighted, but you still want it to not move at all. You can also grease the sucker so it is protected from rust and seize.

 

 

Enjoy! I hope this can be of some help for some of you.

 

 

N.B. Don't worry if some of my description seems sketchy and incomplete, when you'll actually look at the thing yourself you'll understand everything!

Great write up as I will be takeling this in the next couple of days, how much would a new steering u-joint cost, and about how long did it take you. Once again great write up!

I haven't checked how much a new one would be out of the dealer, but my guess is that it would be well over 150. I got mine for 50, and it was like new, it had been changed on the car I took it from.

 

For the whole job it took me around 40 min, including preparation, but I could do it in 20 now that I know how.