Replacing Half-Axle (2002 Subaru Forester)

[heypete]

Hi folks,

My friend has a 2002 Subaru Forester (130,000 miles) that has a torn CV boot. Based on the amount of grease thrown all over the underside of the car and the grime in the now-spattered-grease globs on the car, the boot has been torn for a bit.

The local Subaru dealership wanted $200 just to clean, re-grease, and re-boot the single joint, which seems a bit high. The dealer is the only one in a 100mi radius or so, so they charge quite a bit.

To be on the safe side, he'd like to replace the half-axle. He's a former bicycle mechanic and I'm reasonably handy and would like to move up to doing a bit more than just oil changes, so I think we'll be able to handle the physical replacement.

He's going to pick up a Haynes manual in the next day or so to see how difficult it is on this particular car, but I was wondering how tough of a job this might be, and if it requires any specialized tools. We're hoping to spend not more than 6-7 hours to change one axle (but can spend up to 3 days if needed), and hope that the AutoZone near us would be able to loan out any required tools.

From what I've been able to read, one can get the parts on loan from AutoZone, including the pullers and the torque wrench (the axle nut needs to be tightened to ~140 ft-lbs), which is nice.

AutoZone also has remanufactured Duralast-brand half-axles for $69 (including a $10 core), which seems to be a reasonable price, particularly when that includes the lifetime warranty.

Neither my friend nor I have done such work in the past, but we're willing to do the work to not only save money, but also to learn...assuming it's not horrific work. If we manage to get the one axle replaced and it's not too bad, he's considering doing the second front one while we've got the car jacked up just so they're matched and with new boots. We haven't looked at the rear boots yet, but will do that tomorrow.

Has anyone else had experiences with changing half-axles, particularly on Foresters (but input from any vehicle is welcome) and, if so, would you be willing to share any advice?

Should I brush up on my dictionary of swear words just to be on the safe side?

 

[tig1]

I have changed several, mostly on older Fords. I did one on a Buick Riveria and Honda Accord as well and they are all about the same. Follow your manuel and you should be OK.

 

[tomcat27]

I've replaced a few on various cars altho never a subie. sometimes it helps to have a second person to help reassemble to line up the parts as guide things together as you pry down on suspension/steering parts. other than that, I;ve never had problems. you need a really big socket for the axle nut. unless the boots are cracked elsewhere, I dont think that I would replace the others.

 

[gavinl]

I recently did the half-shaft on my Impreza (same chassis as the Forester) and the only real pain was trying to tap out the retaining pin on the inboard side.

It's a split pin so there is a lot of resistance, I used a variety of taps and even tried drilling it but there wasn't much room to position a drill. Eventually constant tapping (not much room to swing a hammer too) got the pin past far enough to pull out.

My first thought before you start the job is to spray tons of penetrant into the pin the night before.

 

[heypete]

Originally Posted By: gavinl
I recently did the half-shaft on my Impreza (same chassis as the Forester) and the only real pain was trying to tap out the retaining pin on the inboard side.

It's a split pin so there is a lot of resistance, I used a variety of taps and even tried drilling it but there wasn't much room to position a drill. Eventually constant tapping (not much room to swing a hammer too) got the pin past far enough to pull out.

My first thought before you start the job is to spray tons of penetrant into the pin the night before.


Excellent. Do you know how big the axle nut is so we can get a suitably-sized socket? I think it's 22mm, but I'm not 100% sure.

Did you need a breaker bar? Is there enough room to apply the necessary torque to the axle nut? I don't have a lift, and will be doing all of this on jackstands. I was hoping to just apply body weight to the torque wrench until it clicked at the proper setting, assuming there's enough room.

I do have tons of penetrating oil, so we'll be sure to let things soak well the night before.

Originally Posted By: tomcat27
I've replaced a few on various cars altho never a subie. sometimes it helps to have a second person to help reassemble to line up the parts as guide things together as you pry down on suspension/steering parts. other than that, I;ve never had problems. you need a really big socket for the axle nut. unless the boots are cracked elsewhere, I dont think that I would replace the others.


Sounds good. I think we'll just give this one axle a shot. If it's easy, then we're that much better prepared for future axle replacements.

 

[artificialist]

Except for that roll pin, replacing a half shaft is no more difficult than any other Japanese car.

Don't be cheap about replacement halfshafts. They usually don't last more than 50,000 miles.

One preventative measure you could do for the other halfshafts is to take them out, and then re-grease and replace the CV boots.

 

[mechtech2]

Getting the axle nut off at home is a big deal. You loosen this FIRST.
An impact gun is best. A breaker bar extension works well. Take the cotter pin or 'staking' off first!

To get the axle out of the trans, use two big prybars or screwdrivers on each side of the inner joint. Quickly 'POP' and pry them at the same time to get the 'C' clipped joint out. Fluid may leak out. prepare for this first, and have replacement fluid available.

Rebuilt axles are great. Cheap. Surprisingly cheap. And two new joints and boots!

 

[benjamming]

mechtech2,

You list two things as first. Which are you saying - axle nut or cotter pin is really first?

 

[bdcardinal]

Originally Posted By: benjamming
mechtech2,

You list two things as first. Which are you saying - axle nut or cotter pin is really first?


depends on what the car has. some use a cotter pin, and others you stake the nut into a slot, and others just has a nut.

 

[gavinl]

Originally Posted By: heypete


Excellent. Do you know how big the axle nut is so we can get a suitably-sized socket? I think it's 22mm, but I'm not 100% sure.

Did you need a breaker bar? Is there enough room to apply the necessary torque to the axle nut? I don't have a lift, and will be doing all of this on jackstands. I was hoping to just apply body weight to the torque wrench until it clicked at the proper setting, assuming there's enough room.


IIRC it's a 32mm nut, I used a 2' breaker bar and it came loose without a fight

 

[NYSteve]

If you're going to do it, do it with the best part possible:

http://www.raxles.com/

The are the only guys you should be ordering axles unless you are getting OEM parts. Numerous Maximas, Volvo, BMW, etc forums swear by these guys.

 

[joel95ex]

re-booting is not a good idea. just replace it. i have done both on my accord. it is not very difficult. it is easier if both the wheels (front or rear since u are 4wd) are on jack stands since only one side lifted will create a lot of tension on the sway bars etc. also, do not use the pickle fork to free the ball joint from the knuckle....i used a puller. the haynes manual is what i used...the first one i did on my driveway, the 2nd was much easier since i did it on a lift and already had experience with the previous one. another tip is after you remove the castle nut from the ball jt., turn it upside down and thread it onto the ball jt to protect the end---since it has holes in the bolt for the cotter pin, it is easliy damaged which will prevent you from re-installing the castle nut-----don't ask me how i know this

 

[bcossa2001]

I recently replaced on my 97 Avalon--took about 3 hours, but I did not have to "pop" the CV out of the diff--it was bolted in. Highly recommend the penetrating oil on the axle nut and also the splines at the wheel. Also had to buy a large nut for the axle and use a 2 ft cheater bar....

 

[heypete]

Follow-up: we pulled the half-axle today, took apart the inner CV joint (which was the one that had the boot rip), de-greased it, inspected everything, found there to be no abnormal wear, re-greased it, re-booted it, and put it back together.

Total amount of time actually spent working: about 4 hours.
Total amount of wall clock time spent: about 12 hours.
Trips to AutoZone (which is two blocks away and within walking distance): 4.

Some interesting/humorous notes:

• It was beyond our abilities to remove the ball joint from the steering knuckle. No matter what force we applied, we couldn't get it to budge a millimeter even after removing all the bolts described in the Chilton's manual and a few other ones that were nearby that may possibly have been related to the joint (but later turned out were not). The manual said it would be easy to pop out with a crowbar, but wasn't. At modest risk, we attempt to use the floor jack to apply more force to the crowbar than we could apply with our bodies. (Naturally, we were in safe positions, the car was on stands, and we had protective gear. Even so, do not try this at home.) After the crowbar demonstrated some flex without the ball joint moving at all, we released the pressure and gave up on that method. All in all, we spent a few hours trying to get the ball joint out of the steering knuckle before moving on.
  
  Since we couldn't disconnect the control arm from the steering knuckle by removing the ball joint, we torqued all the nuts/bolts back to spec, replaced the cotter pins in the castle nuts, and then detached the control arm from the body by removing the various bolts holding it there, which served the same purpose.
• With the steering knuckle now free (though with the control arm hanging loose from the bottom), we were able to remove the axle from the knuckle using an axle puller. Very helpful tool.
• Removing the axle from the differential was a bit of a problem, as we got a punch stuck in the spring pin hole in the pin hole. After finally removing the punch and the spring pin, the axle came off easily.
• Disassembling the inner CV joint was remarkably easy. Everything, including the needle bearings, was wiped clean, degreased, wiped dry, cleaned, inspected, and when no evidence of abnormal wear or scoring was detected, re-greased, re-assembled, and re-booted. This took the longest amount of time of the actual "work" done, as we individually inspected, wiped clean, and re-greased every needle bearing. It also required a few trips to AutoZone as work progressed, as we needed snap ring pliers, and finally some diagonal cutter pliers to snip off the excess metal bands for the boot.
• Re-installation of the axle took only about 30 minutes, including time to wipe all the various parts on the car clean and apply grease where needed. Easy.

It would have been far, far faster if we simply replaced the half-axle with a replacement one rather than disassembling and reassembling the existing one, but he wanted to give this one a shot and have ordered a replacement if this failed.

An OEM Subaru boot cost about $12 at the dealership (only one in town, so they charge an arm and a leg for everything else, but the boot was reasonably priced compared to aftermarket parts), but they charged $22 for moly grease. AutoZone had a similar quantity of moly grease for $2, so he'll return the dealership grease back along with some nasty words -- a slight markup is not unreasonable, but an 11x markup? That's just not right.

My friend also decided to buy a full socket set at Costco (made in Taiwan and marketed under the Crescent brand, ~250 pieces for $100, not a bad deal) and had to buy some tools at AutoZone. Including the tools, total price for this repair, total price was about $170, far less than the $500+ quoted for a new axle and installation from the dealer, less than the $225 for a new axle and installation from a local independent shop, and less than the $200 for the dealer to do what we did and just clean, grease, and re-assemble the joint.

Any future axle repairs or replacements will involve only the cost of the parts (e.g. boots), as we have all the tools we'll need to do such work.

The only tools we needed to get on loan from AutoZone were the click-type torque wrench (indispensable, we could not have done the job safely or properly without it) and the axle puller (extremely handy, but we could have done without it in a pinch). All the tools were returned, and so we got the deposit back.

All in all, a greasy, fun way to spend a holiday Monday with a good friend, learning new stuff, and getting the car back in proper working order.

For those considering inspecting/rebuilding/replacing a CV axle, I highly recommend doing it yourself. It's not nearly as hard as it looks and remarkably fun.

 

[JustinC25]

Originally Posted By: artificialist
Except for that roll pin, replacing a half
Don't be cheap about replacement halfshafts. They usually don't last more than 50,000 miles.


I have 2 in my Camry that I paid $45.00 each for, and have had them in for more than 100k with no problems. Even the boots look new.

 

[flanso]

Good job and summary.

 

[artificialist]

Originally Posted By: JustinC25
Originally Posted By: artificialist
Except for that roll pin, replacing a half
Don't be cheap about replacement halfshafts. They usually don't last more than 50,000 miles.


I have 2 in my Camry that I paid $45.00 each for, and have had them in for more than 100k with no problems. Even the boots look new.

Consider yourself lucky.