How To: Replace/Rebuild torn CV boot and/or Axle

[sashadg1]

There is a turbo and non turbo model however most parts stores do not show different part numbrs which is BS. make sure you get Turbo. this is for auto and 5mt but for turbo only....

 

hope that helps

[fishbone]

Right, and I have an auto turbo, so technically it means it should have fit, which clearly is not the case.

[sashadg1]

It should look exactly like your stock one but black instead of green cover. Not sure what they did look for another source. I got mine at Haps or Hubs Auto. In OC, Cali make sure you get the, also make sure it the part number ends with 190N not 196. That is a common mistake auto parts stores make. Mine is manuf by AUP Automotive.

[sashadg1]

for that manufacture that is the complete number 190N I'm looking at the box now.

 

Hope that helps,

 

 

Scott

[Jim_KT]

^^^^^^^

 

Thank you.

 

I'll get one on order as a spare to my original.

 

I went ahead and repaired the boot this afternoon and it took a total of about 4-5 hours. Less than 40 minutes were spent removing and installing the axle. The rest of the time was eaten by marking the bearings, cup, axle shaft, and rebuilding the inner joint.

 

The original poster's walkthrough was 100% on the spot in my case.

 

For members that want to attempt this repair, and need an expedient CV boot solution, look toward the Beck/Arnley 1032976 as a viable solution. The CV boot kit fit like a glove.

Edited July 10, 2010 by Jim_KT

[fishbone]

So for the purpose of rebuilding the axle, about how many oz of grease should one pack in there?

Also, say that the present boot is slightly cracked around the smaller clamp. Is there anything one can do to prevent it from cracking further? I thought about "gluing" it with silicone, but I'm not sure if that's a good idea. That's how my other boot failed, it cracked around the outer (smaller) clamp.

[Jim_KT]

I'm not sure how many ounces of grease was used as the entire grease pack was thrown in there. Personally, I would just replace the boot altogether and/or monitor it till it fails.

[GEE-OTTO]

no difference in turbo axles versus N/A axles btw so don't chalk it up to that

[fishbone]

^I wouldn't be so sure about that

http://legacygt.com/forums/showpost.php?p=3019217&postcount=53

[birkhoff]

On these MAC halfshafts, I believe the castle-type ring is an ABS input mechanism. Our setup does that within the hub itself, so the ring is a free bonus feature.

 

There are a couple of 'issues' I found with installing the MAC halfshafts. The outer spline distance (from seat at the inside of the hub to the end of the spline) is longer than OEM. You can see that clearly in the picture. When you install the outer spline, check very carefully that the axle nut is taking up on the hub, and not just interfering with the end of the spline on the halfshaft. Second, the ABS sensor ring is VERY close to interfering with the hub mounting bolt heads. Be sure to check on the install that they don't hit. I had two marginal front hubs with quite a bit of play in them. Everything looked fine while on the axle stands, but when the weight went down on the wheels, the hubs shifted just enough to cause interference. Found that out the hard way!

 

The inner joint seems to be a good fit. Went in with no issues. The axles are shipped very compressed. When you pull them out into place, the boots collapse. Not to worry; a couple of times around the block and everything adjusts. The boots fill out.

 

I have new hubs going in. Since others have used these shafts, I assume that the clearance issue will be settled (just barely). To the fellow from MAC who was monitoring this thread -- is it possible to remove the ABS sensor ring? That would give more clearance, but then the bearing shield behind would now be quite far from the hub. Probably not a good idea. Can you source axles that are a little better match to OEM? MAC's service is good. Price is GREAT. But the fit is . . . well. . . time will tell.

 

 

 

 

Can anyone shed some light on this issue of mine? 2005 Legacy GT automatic. Outer end (hub side) does not match what I got from Mac Auto. What gives?

Mac Auto is top, mine is bottom.

 

http://legacygt.com/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=86999&d=1278118780

[fishbone]

On these MAC halfshafts, I believe the castle-type ring is an ABS input mechanism. Our setup does that within the hub itself, so the ring is a free bonus feature.

Have you tried installing these shafts? When you do, you will quickly realize this is not a bonus, but in fact the reason why you cannot use these. At all. The ring cannot be removed, at least not without taking the whole thing apart and if you have to do it, might as well be rebuilding your own axle. The whole point behind buying an axle is swapping it in as a direct fit.

[birkhoff]

Have you tried installing these shafts? When you do, you will quickly realize this is not a bonus, but in fact the reason why you cannot use these. At all. The ring cannot be removed, at least not without taking the whole thing apart and if you have to do it, might as well be rebuilding your own axle. The whole point behind buying an axle is swapping it in as a direct fit.

 

Fishbone is right. In fact, the interference of the hub bolts with the ABS sensor ring WAS solved by getting rid of the play in the old hubs (new units both sides). However the spline length was a hopeless mismatch. The end of the spline actually came past the end of the new hubs (it was just flush with the old hubs). Torquing down of the axle nuts will just jam on the end of the axle shaft. I had about 1/16 axial inch play in the spline after snugging up the nut.

 

This is actually quite dangerous. If you are not paying attention during the install, just assuming the axle is a good fit, and IF you are lucky, like I was, and the ABS ring cleared the hub bolts, you would drive off with an essentially unfastened axle at the hub. End of the hub at the very least. Beware.

 

In the end, I put the old (150,000 mile) shafts back in to get on the road! Back to the drawing board. Does anyone have a source for aftermarket shafts that are reliable and a good fit? I don't mind rebuilding shafts, but at that high mileage, seems a little bit dodgy.

[Hops]

Thanks for the write up! Just had to do my wife's LGT. Boot looked too time consuming for me, so I just bought a whole new axle. F*cking expensive! No remans available as of yet, so no core return. Boot replacement is the best thing to do until then if you don't want to spend ~$400.

[VR4Rob]

Thanks for the write up! Just had to do my wife's LGT. Boot looked too time consuming for me, so I just bought a whole new axle. F*cking expensive! No remans available as of yet, so no core return. Boot replacement is the best thing to do until then if you don't want to spend ~$400.

 

There are remans available. I put one on my car.

 

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=190387288525&viewitem=

[Hops]

Right on... I just had to have mine done right away. How's your reman holding up? I'll have to keep that in mind.

[VR4Rob]

Right on... I just had to have mine done right away. How's your reman holding up? I'll have to keep that in mind.

 

Doing quite well, I have almost 3K miles on it now. The reman unit is just hard to beat in the easiness department... it even comes with a new axle nut. Install from start to finish it took me about 35 minutes and I barely even got dirty.

 

My only concern about a reman unit is that it may not be as strong as an OEM unit. Of course this is just 100% speculation. I don't really ever launch my car and I've never had wheel-hop (major axle killer) in any 'low traction' situation. Given the way the AWD system is setup in this car (equal length axles front and back) and the fact that my car will never see more than much over 350awhp it's not too much of a concern.

[Hops]

Now I'm doing the cv on my '98 Outback... What a pain in the ass!!! Ball joint would not move; had to bust it off and now I need a new one of those... The spring pin sucks, too! So much easier to do on an '05.

[DOBERDEWD]

Greetings,

I just wanted to thank everyone that contributed to this post re the boot / axle replacement .... I've never done one myself so this was my first experience. It was on a 2005 Outback .....

Main concern was a terrible smell after driving a while ... When I racked the car and took a peak, I found that both inner boots were torn completely in half and all the grease was on top of the cats ... STINKY STINKY STINKY .... I used paint thinner (cuz that's all I had in bulk) to clean the cats and rest of the exhaust off but then used brake clean as a final cleaning agent so it would dry and not burst into flames when started ...

After reading through everything it was clear what I had ahead of me. The only problem I really had was getting the ball jts seperated. I had to put a lot of heat to them therefore destroying the boots on the ball jts. Even with all the heat and PB BLASTER, the pry bar I had to use was over 5 ft long ... Fell on my ass a few times when it slipped out .... Humorous but a little painfull when I racked my melon on the lift the car was on ....

Since I already had everything apart, I thought it would be a good idea to just go ahead and replace them while it was down ..... I opted for the Moogs .. A little more expensive but since this is my bosses wife's car, I wanted to cover my tookus ....

To get them out of the lower control arms was a real pain as well ...

LOTTO HEAT and one really heavy BFH .....

Again,

I thank you all ... Have a great rest of your ownership days ...

.

The DOBERDEWD

[VTownGT]

Hey, all... used the info on this thread and it helped me sooo much!

 

For all of you who are having trouble getting the Ball Joint out of the Knuckle, I found this thread to be really helpful, and I added some pics of how I got my very very very stuck ball joint out. (post# 17)

 

 

http://legacygt.com/forums/showthread.php/separating-lca-ball-joint-tie-rod-knuckle-medieval-style-113347.html?t=113347

Edited January 28, 2012 by VTownGT
fix link

[SSpeed]

Now I'm doing the cv on my '98 Outback... What a pain in the ass!!! Ball joint would not move; had to bust it off and now I need a new one of those... The spring pin sucks, too! So much easier to do on an '05.

 

I did this on a '98 Outback last night.. I realized you don't even need to mess with the ball joint, you can simply unbolt the shock mount and that gives you enough room to pull the axle out.

 

The spring pin was terrible though, thankfully that's changed on the newer models... Getting it back in was the worst...

[Hops]

Damn... I should have tried that. A new ball joint at the dealership is $42! Luckily I have a fleet account so it was much cheaper. Used a slide hammer for the pin. I have an equal length header on it, so I had to take it off to get to the pin!

[Hops]

Hey, all... used the info on this thread and it helped me sooo much!

 

For all of you who are having trouble getting the Ball Joint out of the Knuckle, I found this thread to be really helpful, and I added some pics of how I got my very very very stuck ball joint out. (post# 17)

 

 

http://legacygt.com/forums/showthread.php/separating-lca-ball-joint-tie-rod-knuckle-medieval-style-113347p2.html

 

Link no worky

[fishbone]

I think this was already addressed, but wouldn't it be easier and safer to get the ball joint nut off and separate the whole thing from the control arm, than prying the ball joint? That is how the mechanic that handled my replacement did it, a couple hits with the hammer to loosen it up and it was easy as pie to separate the two. Edited August 4, 2010 by fishbone

[greendragon_02]

WOW when I first saw your original pic, I thought It was my car! Same exact thing happened yesterday, only I found out because the grease got all over my o2 sensor and somehow fouled it out???? good thing that check engine light came on or I would have not found the broken boot for a long time.

 

I will be using this write up today to fix the shaft, Im replacing the whole thing.

 

CHEERS!

[Max Capacity]

Just replaced my left front axle. Got a 100% new one from Advance Auto Parts for list $116, my cost $75.00

 

Only problem I had was getting the ball joint out of the LCA, I have AVO and Whiteline bushings, the arm didn't want to move down. I just about had to hang on it.

 

I had to use a pipe on the breaker bar to break the 160ftlbs on the axle nut. I also used a cone shaped grinding bit to cut the bent over piece of the old nut.