Looking to replace a front axle on my '95 Legacy. I have the Chilton manual which is unhelpful to it's usuall standard. Before I start taking things apart, is there anything I need to be particularly wary of? Any helpful hints or tips? Thanks.
I just like to take off the TOP camber bolt after I mark it or know where it's set at and then pull it off from the tranny then out from the hub.
^ +1 i had to do a buddies using an allen wrench to pop out the roll pin. as for advice its pretty simple. make sure when you get the new one in that you have the roll pin holes lined up perfecly, one little spline off and it will look "ok" but it wont be fun putting the pin in. as as matt said a big hammer for the ball joints, otherwise you can use a pickel fork on them but say good buy to your ball joint boots.
Oh also i dont know if i just had luck when i did mine, but the last shaft i did on an Sti, that roll pin hole is offset from center on the shaft to one side. So if you cant get it to line up no matter what you do, rotate the axle around 180* and try again.
All very good advice of which I will heed in the future. My personal schedule has been uncooperative lately though and I ended up paying a shop to do this one.
Blew a CV boot sometime this winter and front right has started the tell-tale clicking. Getting some stuff lined up so I can replace the axle. Where can I get a good price on a new or reman'ed axle? What size is the castle nut on the axle stub? 32mm? What size punch for the roll pin at the DOJ? I got one I used on my old EA82s; same size? I got a pickle fork for ball joints; sounds like it's rough on the boots though. I haven't looked at how my Impreza OBS front running gear is engineered; on the old EA82s you didn't have to touch ball joints to replace axles. Why is this different? Is it just to get the knuckle out of the control arm so you have enough 'space' to pull the DOJ off the tranny stub axle? Can't you just undo the control arm from the front main crossmember to give you enough room, pull the DOJ off the tranny stub axle, then pound the axle stub out of the hub? I'm very interested in the methold FujiK mentioned. Anyone else done it this way? Other tips to this method? I'm guessing that undoing the top bolt drops the whole suspension down enough to give you enough room to pop off the DOJ from the tranny stub then pound the axle stub out of the hub; right?
