replacing rear cv boot on the car?

[idosubaru]

one of my rear boots is busted. normally i would leave it but this new confounded state i live in has yearly inspections :-\

 

looks like the axle is seized to the hub and won't be any fun trying to remove, already tried.

 

how does the rear axle disassemble? from the inside or outside? it's the boot by the rear diff, can i disassemble that side to replace the boot while the other side is still in the rear hub?

[GeneralDisorder]

Depending on the axle, some dissasemble from both ends (DOJ's on both ends), and some only dissaseble from the inner end like all the front axles. I don't know what the criteria was for which car's got which types but I tend to see more of the one's with CV's on the outer and DOJ's on the inner (talking EA82's here - EA81's all have double DOJ's). If the outer joint doesn't look like a DOJ, then it's not going to come apart while still on the car. The inner side will - just like all other Subaru DOJ's so if you can get that side loose then you can replace the boots easily without pulling the axle off the car.

 

GD

[Numbchux]

the rear axles aren't one piece through the bearings and hub like the fronts. so if the nut is seized to the hub and such, you can pound the pin out, and slide it off.

 

or, if it's the pin that's seized, you can pound the spindle out with it just like a front axle. getting that nut off is just a matter of having a big enough breaker bar

 

 

but yea, '85/'86 EA82s have dual-DOJ rear axles that can be disassembled from either end. all others just from the inside. so yea, you could do it lying under the car. but I wouldn't...yuck

[idosubaru]

the pin comes out easily - the axle cup itself won't slide off the splined spindle.

 

it's the boot by the diff that's bad, so sounds like i can just replace that. awesome.

[torxxx]

this is a common problem with these cars. I've fought seized axles for days before. I did find something that works very well for getting them off. its kind of dangerous but it works about 50% of the time. Take a tap and thread in zerc fittings into both sides of where the pin normally sits (only has to go down the thickness of the DOJ cup. and then put a grease gun on one of the zerc fittings and bump the hell out of it. The grease HAS to go somewhere so what it does is slide inbetween the splines on the DOJ and the axle and it will actually break the axle free using hydrostatic pressure (or some scientific name like that, cant remember exactly. an old guy showed me this years ago)

 

The only other way of getting it off is take a torch with MAP gas and put the flame into the hole where the pin sits heat it up, spray with PB blaster and repeat a few times. the heat sucks the PB into the splines and helps bust that crap loose. When you go to reassemble, put some copper antisieze or Lithium grease (the red stuff) all over the axle splines and inside the doj cup where the splines go. it helps to run a wire wheel over the splines too. I do this right before spring and right before winter and never have a problem with it. But then again I'm too cheap to buy new rear axles, so I run JY axles in the rear. The front only gets NEW (not reman'd junk) since they are the steerables and its never fun when one seizes up at 75 mph.

 

The do make those cheesy split boot deals too that never seal for more than a week. lol

[idosubaru]

The do make those cheesy split boot deals too that never seal for more than a week. lol

i don't think they do for the rear or I'd buy one, I only need it to pass inspection so i'd do that if i could.

 

since i can disassemble the axle though, sounds like i can ignore all of this.

 

though i'll give heat and Yield a run to see if it can come off. but i'm not spending hours on this.