Outback & Legacy Driveshaft Compatibility

[aero901]

I have an 05 Outback LL Bean with the H6 and 5EAT. Which model of Legacy driveshaft is compatible (length wise I guess)?

 

The roller bearings in the rear universal joint in the current shaft have rusted and there is a bad vibration when driving. It looks like the u-joints aren't serviceable; bearing cups are staked into the yolks.

 

 

I'm planning to eventually do a Legacy suspension swap to lower the car but not ready at the moment. However, I don't want to buy two driveshafts... Thinking about adding some spacers and longer bolts to the Legacy shaft carrier bearing to get the correct offset for the Outback setup for now and removing them once the other suspension bits are installed.

Edited September 27, 2021 by aero901

[Max Capacity]

I got my shaft from The Driveshaft Store. check their website.

 

The shaft has U joints that you can replaceable.

 

https://driveshaftstore.com/Subaru-Legacy-Driveshaft-2005-111630 Make sure you get the one for a H6

Edited September 27, 2021 by Max Capacity

[aero901]

I got my shaft from The Driveshaft Store. check their website.

 

The shaft has U joints that you can replaceable.

 

https://driveshaftstore.com/Subaru-Legacy-Driveshaft-2005-111630 Make sure you get the one for a H6

 

Yep, not wanting to replace it with the same shaft for the H6 if possible. My question is if I can use one of the Liberty shafts with the different carrier bearing. Wanting to do a Liberty suspension swap on car eventually to lower it.

 

It didn't look like the carrier bearing was removable on these? Otherwise I would just swap the Liberty carrier bearing over to a H6/5EAT shaft.

Edited September 27, 2021 by aero901

[Marvick08GT]

As far as I know the only difference in driveshafts is the carrier. Might be able to use metal to make a small bracket to make up the difference. (Driveshaft will bind if the carrier is not low enough)

Once you do the suspension swap, pull the bracket out and bolt the carrier directly to the body. Good luck!

[aero901]

Browsing through the RockAuto catalog:

 

- 05 Outback H6 w/ 5EAT shaft is listed as 57-15/16" to 58-3/8" long.

- 05 Legacy GT Auto trans is listed as 58-1/2" long.

 

No idea which points they are measuring from on the shafts to get these lengths (or if they are being consistent between manufacturers) but these seem close enough?

 

Is there room for some play in the length of the shaft when installed in the vehicle?

 

Plan is to fab some spacers and use longer bolts temporarily to fit the Legacy shaft to the Outback suspension.

 

 

FYI, here are the other shaft lengths listed for engine/trans combos:

- 05 Legacy H4 NA & Turbo w/ Auto trans: 62-1/8" & 63-1/8"

- 05 Legacy H4 NA & Turbo w/ Manual trans: 65-1/2"

[aero901]

I bought a 2005 Legacy GT 5EAT shaft from driveshaftstore.com and got it installed (https://driveshaftstore.com/Subaru-Legacy-Driveshaft-2005-111530). The length is good but, as expected, I had to add ~25mm worth of spacers and longer mounting bolts (M10 x 1.25 x 70mm) to make up for the different carrier bearing bracket offset.

 

Only issue is a vibration coming from the shaft under acceleration right around the 5mph mark. No vibration at higher speeds.

 

Comparing the OEM Outback shaft to the Legacy shaft there are a couple notable differences: Outback shaft has u-joints at the ends and a CV type joint near the carrier bearing. Legacy shaft has 3 u-joints and they look a lot beefier that those on the Outback shaft.