Best Axle Options

[wraedeohed]

Had my front passenger axle go, and replaced it with a used one....only to have that one be absolute sh*t out of the box.

 

Genuine Subie is $400....

 

Are there any other reputable manufacturers that are worth it, or do I just east the 400 doll Hairs?

[GTEASER]

Subaru does sell Remanufactured units, are they available for our cars? I had good luck with one of those in my daughters 2003 Forester and it only cost $200 shipped/core returned. I bought it online from a dealers eBay store. I believe the dealer was in WA.

[LatentWagen]

Many of the aftermarket axles will click, fit poorly, throw codes, etc. Go with Subaru OEM remans, or new OEM.

[FLlegacy]

Ebay usually has a good selection of used axles. I bought one for our Tribeca and then replaced the cvt boots that were torn.

 

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G920A using Tapatalk

[CapnJack]

I recently went through this with my 4th Gen and picked up some good information.

 

A1 Cardone Select HD are some of the cheapest and better built ones I've found. They are brand new, not rebuilt and come with a decent warranty. Rockauto.com has the best price I've found on them. They are built to OEM specs and have the oil grooves cut in them like the OEM shafts do. The shafts seem a little beefier and the boots a little thicker than OEM. I've had good results with them on my car so far after about 5K miles. Others have had mixed results with them.

 

Subaru re manufactured are rebuilt by A1 Cardone. Subaru does not rebuild their own axles. I've heard mixed results about them. Some have good luck, others don't.

 

Advance Auto's lifetime guarantee rebuilt axles are a popular option and also very cheap. Many have had good luck with them. Others have had to get 2 or 3 axles before they find a good one.

 

Raxles are a middle of the road option between OEM and Advance. Raxles rebuilds Subaru OEM axles to as good or better. Customer support is awesome and I've heard nothing but good things about them. Millennials hate them because you have to call and talk to someone to order. They don't offer online ordering. They also have a pretty hefty core charge IIRC because they need your OEM axle to rebuild. Cost is more, but still quite a bit less than OEM.

 

Subaru OEM are the most expensive and are what came on the car. Most have had successful results with them. I've read a few cases where a new OEM failed.

 

Many have rebuilt their own axles on the forum with new boots and innards if needed. Reliability really depends on how good you are and the shape of your old axle. If it's just a torn boot, expect to pay about $20 for a new boot from Subaru. If it's more than a boot, it may be not worth while to rebuild.

 

You could always try a junk yard as well for a used OEM. As long as the boots are not torn and the axle didn't take a hit, chances are the axle is still in pretty good shape. You could also try the part-out forum here as well to see if anyone has one.

[dgoodhue]

On my last car, I used raxles and was happy with them. I would try them again.

[pinesol]

A while back I messaged Raxles to check on 5th gen axles. I'd read a bunch about their 4th gen remans. I got a response pretty quickly that they had not yet started doing 5th axles. This was about 6 months ago.

[YeuEmMaiMai]

go oem, a lot of the aftermarket units introduce vibrations into the chassis...