Turn Left, CLUNK CLUNK CLUNK

Right CV Joint bad?Makes sense. Turn left, weight transfers to right, thus putting a load (stress) on right CV Joint ...& causing it to make all sorts of noises.Outboard or Inboard?Um, Outboard is wet, but know knows... The whole bottom of my vehicle is caked w/ oil from god knows where.*This isn't a "WHOL WHOL WHOL" noise like a wheel bearing is going. What's interesting though is it sounds like it's coming from the front left. Meh, acoustics...The tutorials on .com are GREAT & I thank the forum for that. However, I don't live in fairytale land where it's 80 degrees all year round, no salt, no snow, etc...So let's see how difficult this "simple task" is on a vehicle that's spent it's last 100k 30 miles from the Canadian border.Here we go:Cars Jacked up. Passenger tire off. -Anyone know the torque specs on the nuts?Center axle nut: 1, Screw Driver: 0http://i1274.photobucket.com/albums/y424/TehRicer/477_zpsa693cee7.jpg& it breaks again...Excellent. Off to a good start. I'm used to this kind of stuff.http://i1274.photobucket.com/albums/y424/TehRicer/478_zps61ebfd50.jpghttp://i1274.photobucket.com/albums/y424/TehRicer/479_zpsc4b316cc.jpgI spliced it!http://i1274.photobucket.com/albums/y424/TehRicer/480_zps9c25677f.jpg^That normal? Guess I'll use a more dull flat head next time...Excellent. It's off.http://i1274.photobucket.com/albums/y424/TehRicer/482_zps4a7a127a.jpgThis. Rusty bolts are hard enough getting off w/out fvcking, & when I say that, I mean "snapping" the bolt in half or something creative. Lol, anyways, after floppin' around on the floor for 20 min (don't ask), I finally moved the nut 1.5" http://i1274.photobucket.com/albums/y424/TehRicer/483_zpsc03000e7.jpgJacked it up & popped it out.http://i1274.photobucket.com/albums/y424/TehRicer/485_zpse8579b84.jpgOkay, now lets drop the ball joint. -That what you call that?http://i1274.photobucket.com/albums/y424/TehRicer/006-1_zpsfd6e7142.jpg(always a battle. Remember. ...lol damnaodsihfnaosaodsh)http://i1274.photobucket.com/albums/y424/TehRicer/007-1_zps76e833a6.jpgAt this point, I've gone through about a quarter can of WD-40. Who am I kidding. I saturated the thing with whatever I could find. Freezers, various loosening oils, PB Blaster, ...etc. Damn thing still wouldn't budge.Finally! It came out! What's great about this was as the bolt was coming out, I got a good visual on the threads falling to the ground.http://i1274.photobucket.com/albums/y424/TehRicer/008-1_zps49182a3d.jpghttp://i1274.photobucket.com/albums/y424/TehRicer/011-1_zpsbde9d181.jpg^that whole bolt is shot except for the 4-6 threads near the tip. I put that on the back burner & went to grab the pry bar so I could drop the ball joint. NOPE. Not moving ANYWHERE. At this point I gave up. I needed to put the Skid Loader back in the shop (t'was getting cold & the skiddy don't like to start) & I wasn't about to go breaking anything where I couldn't move the vehicle.So I put the bolt back in & lmfao, you know how it's suppose to be threaded? Lol, yeah no. I slid the whole bolt through 90% of the way before it even hit any threads. So it's basically on there for looks. I have no idea what to do. Here's what I do know:130k miles on the vehicle. I have 4 CV joints, well technically 8 right including the outboards & inboards. Well, anyways, there bound to go out sometime. Is this going to happen on every one?What is the part called that the bolt goes through? This part holds the ball joint. It's like a clamp where when you tighten the bolt, the part "clamps" together to hold the joint in place.Yeah, that thing is beyond rusted. Replace all 4 of them? Okay, what happens when I go & replace them & whatever they're connected to breaks because of so much rust? I should have looked at it closer...

BumpAnyone know what that part is called that holds the ball joint & whether or not I need to replace it or all of them

Let me guess... you either live in the northeast or the car spent some years undriven sitting outside? I can feel your pain (actualy been through similar with a few cars). The best I can suggest... buy a couple cans of PB Blaster... and start using it a few days before you actualy plan to do the work if you can. Give all the things you wanna undo a squirt as often as you can. Get up in the morning, give it a squirt. Walk by it later, stop and squirt. Just finished lunch? go give it a squirt. Time for bed? not till you squirt and brush your teeth.... Do this as aften as you can and for as many days as is convenient. I've found PB to be one of the best penatrating oils but it only works "instantly" on things that are lightly bound up. It works best when given a chance to "penitrate"... and reapplied often.

 

As for the "clamp" on the ball joint... That the steering hub or sometimes called the steering knuckle. The wheel bearing is pressed into it, the strut, brakes, ball joint and tie rod are also connected to it. It is basicly the focal point of your stearing/suspention... EVERYTHING is attached to it. It looked from the pic that the threads stripped off the bolt. Are you saying you think the threads stripped out of the hub too?! I haven't worked on this part of a subie in some time but is it even threaded into it at all? I thought I remember it passing through open holes with a nut on the other side?.... altho I could be thinking of a diff car (I know my dodge uses a bolt and nut, I thought subies did too). As for how to fix it... You could try adn get another hub from a junk yard... then you run the risk of more shit braking getting that one off... Also, the way the bolt passes through a recess in the side of teh ball jount body, its actualy the shaft of the bolt that holds the ball joint into the hub. The clamping force only really keeps things tight and quiet. My point is this bolt has little to no vital load on its threads. You may beable to get away with drilling it larger and putting a heli-coil in it (spelling?). I really cant say cuz I've never had this problem before.

 

And pro tip... BIG bottle of anti-sease... goober EVERYTHING.

 

I just bought an 05 Legacy 2.5i while in TN for work... (I live in VT but I travel for work) So when I get my corrosion free southern car back to the salted VT roads I'm going to take apart most of the suspention and slime up everything with threads.

 

Good luck... if need be stop and count to 10 before throwing a ratchet through the windshield....