Scruit Posted April 22, 2013 Share Posted April 22, 2013 Make sure you check them. One of the ones I just got had an epic vibration under acceleration. Took it back out after a total of 5 miles and the inner joint had a lot of slop in it (Chinese burn test - hold the axle still and twist the inner splines, a noticeable play and clack) 5 more days on special order for the replacement. Luckily I have a spare old axle lying around. Has 110k on it but no play=no vibration. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scruit Posted April 22, 2013 Author Share Posted April 22, 2013 And these were new axles, not rebuilt. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
frank_ster Posted April 22, 2013 Share Posted April 22, 2013 ^ what brand? just poor qc.. Now that's thinking out of the boxer! fyi all 05 + legacy's have built in code reader Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scruit Posted April 22, 2013 Author Share Posted April 22, 2013 Dura last Dura last-time-I-buy-autozone-axles, more like. But I put a pair of AZ axles on my wife's outback (pinned, not c-clipped) and they have been fine for 5 years. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
frank_ster Posted April 22, 2013 Share Posted April 22, 2013 but was it sloppy before you installed it ? Now that's thinking out of the boxer! fyi all 05 + legacy's have built in code reader Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NutBucket Posted April 22, 2013 Share Posted April 22, 2013 Probably. Parts store axles have horrible QC. How else can they offer a lifetime warranty? I learned that lesson years ago. Rebooting is well worth the effort. Its just a bit messy but at least it'll work right the first time. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scruit Posted April 22, 2013 Author Share Posted April 22, 2013 but was it sloppy before you installed it ? Didn't check Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
frank_ster Posted April 22, 2013 Share Posted April 22, 2013 well can figure the human fucks up at least 5% so for the hundreds of axles that were sold with out issue, makes me not worried about it. you had bad one, and i doubt you will get another bad one in your entire life. Now that's thinking out of the boxer! fyi all 05 + legacy's have built in code reader Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scruit Posted April 23, 2013 Author Share Posted April 23, 2013 well can figure the human fucks up at least 5% so for the hundreds of axles that were sold with out issue, makes me not worried about it. you had bad one, and i doubt you will get another bad one in your entire life. We'll see when I pick up the replacement. I'll give it the Chinese burn test before I accept it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
frank_ster Posted April 23, 2013 Share Posted April 23, 2013 We'll see when I pick up the replacement. I'll give it the Chinese burn test before I accept it. chinese burn ? ah .. you mean indian burn .. yes i do that to any axle mostly because i like playing with stuff.. Now that's thinking out of the boxer! fyi all 05 + legacy's have built in code reader Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VermontGT Posted April 27, 2013 Share Posted April 27, 2013 you had bad one, and i doubt you will get another bad one in your entire life. Want to put some money on that? Look at it this way. These new axles are made in China - then shipped to the States (which costs money) then distributed to the wholesalers (which costs money) then sold to the point-of-sale stores i.e. Autozone (which costs them money) then marked up and sold to the customer to make a profit. And after all this, the axles cost us (the end-user) how much? $85? $100? For a "new" axle that likely cost about $20 to manufacture in the first place. It doesn't matter if the axles are new or remanufactured; you get what you pay for. Period. Several stores in my area (my employer included) are buying "high-performance" Subaru axles specifically because those 2 or 3 axle numbers (which fit almost all Subarus from '01 to '09ish) are so prone to driveline vibration and failure and we're tired of warrantying axles all day long. Of course, these HP axles are about twice the cost of the el cheapos, but again, you get what you pay for. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
parad1mg Posted April 27, 2013 Share Posted April 27, 2013 are we talking about the autozone part#7336 re-manufactured axles? i just installed one on my passenger side a month ago to replace the oem one with the common split boot problem. cost was $65 and an hour of my time. so far, no vibrations or issues on mine. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
careercadaver Posted April 28, 2013 Share Posted April 28, 2013 Rebooting is well worth the effort. Its just a bit messy but at least it'll work right the first time. This. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
frank_ster Posted April 28, 2013 Share Posted April 28, 2013 i have a 42$ new rock auto axle on mine, and its fine yes i understand the get what you pay for thing. but now a days.. everything is up side down. what is better a chineese guy making your axle or some 21 year old kid who was hungover last night and hates his job who is operating the resurfacing machine. Now that's thinking out of the boxer! fyi all 05 + legacy's have built in code reader Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VermontGT Posted April 28, 2013 Share Posted April 28, 2013 I'm not saying that any axle you buy for less than $150 is gonna be crap - I'm saying that there isn't much (if any) difference between an Autozone Axle, an Advance Auto axle and an Autopart Int'l axle. We could re-title this thread simply as "When you buy axles..." and leave it at that. Does anyone know off the top of their head how many major axle manufacturing companies are out there? I know DSS is a big one, and I also know that Empi recently shut down their production because it was getting so cutthroat from a pricing standpoint... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cobb Posted April 28, 2013 Share Posted April 28, 2013 I bought autozone axles and had subaru install them, they advised against it because the diameter of the spline that goes into the rear diff was 10/1000 smaller then the stock one which would cause premature wear and vibration as its not built to oem specifications I would just recommend subaru brand axles because they also come with dust covers for the wheel bearings Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
frank_ster Posted April 28, 2013 Share Posted April 28, 2013 my cardone came with the dust covers Now that's thinking out of the boxer! fyi all 05 + legacy's have built in code reader Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cobb Posted April 29, 2013 Share Posted April 29, 2013 The duralast ones didn't Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AZP Installs Posted April 30, 2013 Share Posted April 30, 2013 We've had good luck with EMPI and to a lesser extent FEQ. We install about 10 a month and get about 1-2 per year failure rate. So that's <1% failure rate which is pretty good. -Mike Paisan AZP's First Private Track Event, June 19 at NJMP Thunderbolt $315 including Classroom and Mentor! http://www.pbase.com/paisan/image/91072632.jpg http://www.pbase.com/paisan/image/145749898/original.jpg http://www.pbase.com/paisan/image/133406601.jpg http://www.whiteline.com.au/images/logos/perf1.jpg 11+ Years Maintaining, Modifying and Educating TriState Subaru Enthusiasts. Call directly as We carry almost every manufacturer now, so before you buy parts call us. Like us on Facebook! | E-mail: sales@azpinstalls.com | 725 Fairfield Ave | Kenilworth, NJ 07033 | 908.248.AZP1 (2971) | T-1 Certified Amsoil Direct Jobber |AIM: AZP Installs "Race Tested, Enthusiast Approved!" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VermontGT Posted May 1, 2013 Share Posted May 1, 2013 We've had good luck with EMPI and to a lesser extent FEQ. We install about 10 a month and get about 1-2 per year failure rate. So that's <1% failure rate which is pretty good. -Mike Paisan FEQ = DSS. So that's interesting. Have you tried their XB axles? We also had "good luck" with Empi, to the extent that we had less (quantitative) failures with them than with DSS. But we also sold far fewer Empi axles than DSS. As I mentioned before, Empi is out of the axle bidness and all you can get at this point is old stock from them. Too bad, because they were/are a a great company to deal with. Of the FEQ / DSS axles that you sell, how many of them are on 2000+ model year Subarus? Those seem to be the ones with the most problems - mostly excessive driveline vibration. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AZP Installs Posted May 1, 2013 Share Posted May 1, 2013 We only really work on 2000+ cars. Most of the axles we've replaced are 05-09 LGT and 05+ WRX/STi cars. Usually the passenger side ones due to the turbo placement etc. We haven't had a problem getting the EMPI ones lately so we will see where we go if we can't get those anymore. -Mike Paisan http://www.pbase.com/paisan/image/91072632.jpg http://www.pbase.com/paisan/image/145749898/original.jpg http://www.pbase.com/paisan/image/133406601.jpg http://www.whiteline.com.au/images/logos/perf1.jpg 11+ Years Maintaining, Modifying and Educating TriState Subaru Enthusiasts. Call directly as We carry almost every manufacturer now, so before you buy parts call us. Like us on Facebook! | E-mail: sales@azpinstalls.com | 725 Fairfield Ave | Kenilworth, NJ 07033 | 908.248.AZP1 (2971) | T-1 Certified Amsoil Direct Jobber |AIM: AZP Installs "Race Tested, Enthusiast Approved!" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
z28dreams Posted July 26, 2013 Share Posted July 26, 2013 We only really work on 2000+ cars. Most of the axles we've replaced are 05-09 LGT and 05+ WRX/STi cars. Usually the passenger side ones due to the turbo placement etc. We haven't had a problem getting the EMPI ones lately so we will see where we go if we can't get those anymore. -Mike Paisan How are aftermarket axles holding up? I just spoke to my local subaru mechanic and he said that for automatics (I have a 2005 5EAT), the aftermarket ones vibrated so go OEM only. Maybe I should just ask about rebooting or find a remanufactured OEM one? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
joeleodee Posted July 26, 2013 Share Posted July 26, 2013 What is the main reason you guys are buying new axles? I had my boot tear in one of them and I took it to my buddy's shop and he repacked a new boot for me. Think he charged me $60-$70. He owns a Subaru shop and recommends that as the best option as the OEM axles have the best track record that he's seen. Unfortunately, a lot of places don't offer that service as it's roughly the same price to just install a new aftermarket axle. If you really want to cheap out, there's actually a walkthrough thread on here somewhere about how to repack new boots yourself. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
apexi Posted July 26, 2013 Share Posted July 26, 2013 $60-$70 is a very, very good price if he pulled the axle and everything. Any other shop probably would have charged at least twice that, subaru quoted me like $320 to reboot one axle. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
frank_ster Posted July 26, 2013 Share Posted July 26, 2013 meh i hate repacking axles.. and have no issues with the 43$ rock auto axles Now that's thinking out of the boxer! fyi all 05 + legacy's have built in code reader Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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