How To: Replace/Rebuild torn CV boot and/or Axle

I found a really interesting product over at Amazon. An air tool that stretches new boots on. Pretty nifty tool but not one I'd spend the $116.00 for unless I had a fleet of Subarus to maintain.

[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oEKY0uFlBpc]CV Boot Replacement - STRETCH Boots - YouTube[/ame]

7336 - Autozone. Installed so many I cant count.

Thanks. This is good to know. Autozone was a NIGHTMARE for my Maxima! It's good to know they are fine with Subaru's. I'm sure I'll be doing this job soon enough on my wife's '05GT. I can already see the inner passenger side boot turning a new color as the turbo heat "paints" it.

I call TOTAL BS. As the owner/operator of a full service Subie shop and the (current) owner of 3 LGT's and 1 WRX I guarantee I have far more experience than most on the forum and deff more than some internet wiz telling everyone else how to ruin their cars.

 

It costs approx $75 (after core exchange) for a re-manufactured axle with a lifetime warranty. Two new boots, all new internals. You are wasting money and time re-booting at those costs.

 

I routinely remove axles (with torn boots) that customers drove until they "heard a noise". Guess what? 9 times out of 10 when we pull the axle from the tranny it separates at the CV housing. Because the internal bearings are so shot and worn that with less than 10lbs of pressure it disintegrates. Bearings fall out and hit the floor.

 

All I can recommend is saving time and money, having a warranty and replacing everything with "new" (for less time and money then re-booting).

Fair enough. I've done it twice on the inner, neither were making sounds. One went several 1000's torn. Now gone about 5k on the first reboot, still fine. Takes about a 1/2 hour from removal to reinstall to clean up and reboot. That's worth $50 savings to me, but I'm a garage mechanic that doesn't have to worry about a customer complaining (if you don't count my wife!).

You still read posts with Subaru's vibrating in D after install of an aftermarket axle. Those posts made me shy of buying an aftermarket, which is why I rebooted. Now that I've done it once, I can't imagine not just doing that, unless the axle is making sound, at which point I would pull it apart and take a look and decide then what to do.

That's my experience, limited as it might be.

Tom

My SIL just had the DS axle replaced by a shop he used to take his Honda to. They replaced it with the wrong axle (and charged him an arm and 1 testicle plus sac) and it vibrated so badly that he took it to the dealer to get properly repaired with a Subaru reman axle. Vibration solved.

I had never heard of the part, nor the part number that the independent shop used.

Wanted to add some thoughts as I just finished the passenger front cv axle swap on my new-to-me 07 OBXT with manual tranny and 160k+ miles. The car was delivered to me out of CT and it was making the characteristic cv axle failure noises when I picked it up at the shipping facility in Pensacola FL. I made the decision to try and drive it the 115 miles home but in my first several miles of interstate driving the car began jerking on the highway so violently I was convinced I had blown a tire. I got out and looked the car over - tires were fine and lugs were all tight. I limped to the next exit and jacked all the corners up and the bearings appeared fine. I weighed the pros and cons and decided to leave the car at the truck stop and went back the next day and trailered it home. I was not sure what was afoot and did not want to do more damage. At home I decided the passenger front axle was definitely beyond it and figured I should start there.

First as always thanks to all of you that contributed help here it made my job much easier as until today I was flying blind with no manual yet for this car. I am firmly in the swap the whole axle camp and I got 2 7336s at Autozone and OEM seals for the job but have only done the passenger side so far.

I have a pretty good bit of experience with used subies that spent their childhood in the NE so I knew breaking the connection at the ball joint was no small task and the joints seem in good order so I elected to take Apex XT's approach listed on page 8 of this thread and break loose the inner LCA mounts. Worked like a charm thanks Apex.

There are several things I thought I might add in the overall experience column.

1. Upon pulling the axle loose at the transaxle I got at least 8 ounces of gear oil dumped on the floor of my garage. I don't jack my car that high so that could have contributed but I will have a oil drain pan in place next go round and would offer that as advice as well. Enough comes out to make a mess and it stinks up the garage.

2. My axle unsnapped and slid about 2 inches out of the transaxle and then caught on something. I tried everything within reason all the way up to and finally including brute force to get it to finally come out. And come out it finally did with half of the sheered circlip falling on the floor of the garage and me having to fish the remaining piece out of the tranaxle itself. I do not know what the circlip got hung up on or how just wanted to share that it happened.

Lastly, the axle I removed was clearly not OEM and lacked the three lobes on the inner cv joint housing characteristic to both the OEM driver side unit and rebuilt Autozone 7336s. I don't know if somehow someone got the wrong axle fitted onto the car and that was contributing to the violent binding it was doing but again just figured I would share it at face value.

Thanks for all the help again

ss

7336 - Autozone. Installed so many I cant count.

Thanks, Mike.. gonna order mine next week. I've hesitated far too long.

Forgive my ignorance, but 7336 is listed for $64.99 and the +core $37. What's the core?

The old cv axle you are replacing. They refund your core charge when you return it to the store. They rebuild it and sell it again.

ss

It was my turn to change an axle today, here is my story:

After driving with a ripped boot for about 6 months on the front passenger CV, the axle finally started to make some ugly noises.

I picked up a new axle from advance Auto, Tough One P/N NCV66002.

The New England weather has not been nice to the car, being a 2005 with 100k on the clock I couldn't get the ball joint pinch bolt to budge with my impact or get the lower control arm to separate from the stake on the ball joint.

The method that worked for me was to separate the end link from the control arm and remove the hub from the shock then get a pry bar and massage the axle out of the hub.

Note: The upper bolt of the shock to hub is an eccentric bolt, make sure to mark position on the bolt head to the shock.

Note 2: I have a 5EAT, no clue if transmission fluid was going to / supposed to leak out, I did not have a problem, car was jacked up on 1 side.

After I got it all back together and took it for a test drive, I noticed that the advance auto axle actually gave the car a horrible vibration. The vibration is only present when the car is in drive / reverse, and is at rest with the brake applied. What gives?

If I took out all the time taken with the other various failed methods of hub mobility, it wouldn't have taken that long!

Chris

Incorrect axle. The reason so many shy away from non-oem axles. Many aftermarket suppliers supply the incorrect axle. When we find a supplier consistently handing over the correct axle (like Autzone) we try to pass on the good word.

Yep I think the axle on my car when it arrived was the wrong one the more that I think about it.

ss

1. Upon pulling the axle loose at the transaxle I got at least 8 ounces of gear oil dumped on the floor of my garage. I don't jack my car that high so that could have contributed but I will have a oil drain pan in place next go round and would offer that as advice as well. Enough comes out to make a mess and it stinks up the garage.

Just did mine, done loads of CV's now. Just jacked it up quite high and had zero trans oil leak out.

Off to the dyno tomorrow

Finally gonna have time to do this one in a few weeks... only thing I'm worried about is breaking that notorious seal.. on the tranny I guess?

Just get yourself a new seal and go ahead and replace it and just be gentle inserting your new axle, its low cost insurance.

ss