workman Posted October 28, 2010 Share Posted October 28, 2010 I am new here, and I have a problem with my subie. It needs a new passenger side spindle, according to a mech. friend. How hard is this to replace, I have never done one before Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GeneralDisorder Posted October 28, 2010 Share Posted October 28, 2010 The term "spindle" refers to..... well basically nothing on a Subaru unless you are talking about the rear 4WD stub shaft that drives the hub from the rear axle. That is a spindle in the usual sense of the word. I can't see how that solid chunk of steel would have "failed" and need to be replaced unless you are also going to be replacing a lot of other stuff that got broken in the process of getting hit by that train...... What are you talking about? Front or rear? Axle? Hub? Knuckle? Wheel bearings?!?! No way to tell you what to do since that's not consistent with Subaru parts terminology nor does it ring any bells with my knowledge of machinery in general as it relates to a Subaru drivetrain. More info required . GD Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
workman Posted October 28, 2010 Author Share Posted October 28, 2010 Sorry for the lack of proper terms. I believe it is the steering knuckle on the passenger side front. possibly the front hub. VERY long story about this car, used to own it for a long time, sold it, then guy after three years wants to sell it back to me (cause I love the car:rolleyes:) just dont want to buy it back again if I cant tackle the current problem on my own Thanks for the replys Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GeneralDisorder Posted October 28, 2010 Share Posted October 28, 2010 (edited) So what is wrong with the knuckle? It's a peice of cast steel and there's really not much that can go wrong there. Is it a wheel bearing problem? They take 6207 ball bearings (2 per side) - $10 each at your local bearing house. If the seals aren't nasty you can reuse them if you use a drift to drive out the bearings and push the seals out - or they are about $6 each. So what's the issue exactly? That car is what we call an "EA81" which refers to the engine. These cars are very near bulletproof - simple and cheap to repair and maintain. There is almost nothing on the road so simple and reliable in the light 4WD vehicle catagory..... GD Edited October 28, 2010 by GeneralDisorder Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
workman Posted October 28, 2010 Author Share Posted October 28, 2010 SO, after chatting with the guy who currenty has the car, and after he explained to me that the wheel has in/out play in it, I have concluded that it sounds like a wheel bearing (or a loose connection to the axle). having never done bearings before, how tough is this going to be? Like what tools will this require....I work on my own cars/trucks and have for ten years so I know how to do quite a bit, just never bearings(thought u needed a press/puller for these..) Really want the old car back but cannot afford to have a shop do this... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scoobywagon Posted October 28, 2010 Share Posted October 28, 2010 I'm making a few assumptions here because, as GD said, more info required. First, I'll assume you're swapping the knuckle. I've had to do that before when a previous owner ignored all the warning signs of bearing failure and the knuckle itself got pretty seriously chowdered. If this is the case, then here is what I would do. As a disclaimer, I haven't owned an EA81 vehicle in at least 5 years. So I'm working out of memory here. With the wheel off, you'll want to look at the back side of the brake caliper. As I recall, there is a pair of 14mm bolts holding the caliper on. Remove those and then the caliper should rotate out of the way on a slide pin. Pull it off the slide pin and hang it out of the way so as not to stress the brake line and fittings. Next, you'll need to remove the axle nut. I've forgotten how large it is, but I want to say it is something like 35mm. Behind that nut should be a flat washer and a conical washer. Be very careful not to lose those. Now you can wrestle the hub and rotor assembly off the axle. As I recall, the easiest way to do this is to turn the rotor with one hand and use a dead blow mallet in the other to gently tap the assembly off of the axle stub. Next, you'll need to remove the ball joint from the knuckle. In your case, I'd recommend taking the old ball joint with the knuckle and putting a new ball joint in with the new knuckle. Reach underneath the lower control arm and remove the 12mm castle nut there. That will let you drive the shank of the old ball joint out when the time comes. Next, you need to remove the axle from the knuckle and bearings. There is a special toll for doing this, but most people don't have it. Since you aren't trying to replace the axle this time, use a wood block and a hammer to drive the axle out of the bearings. It is a VERY tight fit and will take a bit to remove this way. You won't be able to get it entirely out of the bearings, as the DOJ and CV joint just don't compress enough to allow that at this stage. Just get that axle pushed as far in as you can. With the axle out of the way, remove the bolt holding the strut in the knuckle. Now, you can pop the ball joint's shank out of the lower control arm and remove the knuckle from the strut. The axle should stay put and, voila, one knuckle no longer in the car. If you merely have to replace the hub (much more common repair), then the procedure is even more straightforward. Pull the wheel, brake caliper, axle nut and hub/rotor assembly as described. At this point, just remove the four (?) bolts that attach the rotor to the hub. Swap in appropriate new parts, reassemble. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scoobywagon Posted October 28, 2010 Share Posted October 28, 2010 OK, wheel bearings it is. Use the instructions I posted previously to remove the knuckle from the car. Use a seal puller to remove the seals. As GD said, use a drift punch or screwdriver to reach through the bearing on one side and push the other bearing out. If you don't have a press, use a couple of C clamps or a hammer. Just be careful. Make sure to pack the new bearings full of grease. When you are ready to reinstall them, I've found that a large socket makes for an excellent way to drive the new bearings in. Install the new bearings, install new seals....voila....no more wobbly down the road. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GeneralDisorder Posted October 28, 2010 Share Posted October 28, 2010 As SW says - you don't need a press. And you don't even have to remove the knuckle from the car. Just remove the axle, drift out the old bearings (brass punch works well), clean everything and install the new bearings and seals. Then just reinstall the axle. Get your bearings from a BEARING SUPPLIER - not from the auto parts store. They are much cheaper and bearing suppliers know how to handle bearings - auto parts people are much more likely to drop one and then put it back on the shelf. For a couple dollars more you can get 6207-2RS bearings which are sealed and pre-greased. Usually about $12 each. You should be able to do the entire job for about $35 for the two bearings and new seals and it takes about 1 to 2 hours. GD Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
workman Posted October 28, 2010 Author Share Posted October 28, 2010 As SW says - you don't need a press. And you don't even have to remove the knuckle from the car. Just remove the axle, drift out the old bearings (brass punch works well), clean everything and install the new bearings and seals. Then just reinstall the axle. Get your bearings from a BEARING SUPPLIER - not from the auto parts store. They are much cheaper and bearing suppliers know how to handle bearings - auto parts people are much more likely to drop one and then put it back on the shelf. For a couple dollars more you can get 6207-2RS bearings which are sealed and pre-greased. Usually about $12 each. You should be able to do the entire job for about $35 for the two bearings and new seals and it takes about 1 to 2 hours. GD THanks for the replies....I searched this forum and found a pretty good writeup by nug on replacing the wheel bearings...and seems to par with your responces. The car has 178K on it and the only other problem I have is the 4 speed tranny will pop out of fourth when going below 40-45. It did this when I owned it as well, I sold it at 161K. Really want to get it back, kinda of attached to the old rusty hunk o metal. Have owned three of these, one blew rod at 299K, and the others 4 speed would NOT go into gear anymore..260K abouts... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GeneralDisorder Posted October 28, 2010 Share Posted October 28, 2010 The 4 speed is the only real weakness of that car (the Hitachi carb isn't great either - swap to a Weber 32/36 DGV ) - if you swap it to an '85 to '89 5 speed dual-range you can get half a million miles out of them with good engine maintenance. GD Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
workman Posted October 28, 2010 Author Share Posted October 28, 2010 So can you bolt an 85-89 5 speed up to the ea81 engine? And by dual range I guess your talking the transfer case as well. One of the reasons I love the 80-84's is the 4hi/lo selector, never got into the push button selectors that ive seen on some of these later model cars. That and I dont know what it is about the 80-84 body styles, but I love em... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GeneralDisorder Posted October 29, 2010 Share Posted October 29, 2010 No - there is no transfer case on a Subaru. It's all one unit called a transaxle. In '85 they had both push-button single-range, and lever-activated hi/lo selectable 5 speed's. Yes - it bolts up with minor modifications to the driveline, transmission cross-member, and some swapping of clutch parts. It's definitely the most common transmission swap on the older Subaru's and is very well documented on this board - check out the retro-fitting forum and the USRM links, etc. It's been done by probably hundreds of members here. GD Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
workman Posted October 29, 2010 Author Share Posted October 29, 2010 Thank you for the info so far GD!!! Just on a side note, How much does an 83 subaru four door gl wagon weigh? Reason is, I might tow it back to where I live on a car dolly, 300 miles or so, and want to know if my pickup can handle this or if I could damage the car in any way by towing it so far.....pretty sure Im getting back into the old car:) 178K and decent shape, other than the fourth gear "pops out" under 40MPH for $900 sound fair? New clutch, brakes, radiator, alt, plugs/wires, and some other repairs. I really dont want to have to put a new tranny in it soon, could just be right around the corner when fourth no longer works????? Once again, thanks guys for the info!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GeneralDisorder Posted October 29, 2010 Share Posted October 29, 2010 $900 would be a little high around here - about $500 is all they are worth out here on the west coast. I have no idea what the value would be in WY... craigslist is usually a good reference. $500 with a bad wheel bearing and tranny on the way south would be a no-sale in my neck of the woods. $300 and you are talking my language.... It's worth about $50 more than it's scrap value to most people. They are very sweet little cars though and this one has some value to you since you previously owned it so it's your call.... Weight is about 2300 to 2500 lbs or so. You can tow it with a dolly just fine as long as it's not in 4WD when you do it . If you have at least a V6 truck you should be fine. I've towed them on dolly's with mini-vans before - as long as you have 150+ HP and enough brakes to stop the train you'll be ok. Tranny will probably keep chugging along without 4th for some time. The one in my hatch (same tranny) has about 235k on it and 3rd is nigh-impossible to find through all the grinding - I've been using 4th gear lo-range for several years. Still gets down the road. GD Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
workman Posted October 29, 2010 Author Share Posted October 29, 2010 Yeah, $900 is kinda high but he already took it in:banghead: to fix the bearing..175:eek:....whatever I guess, havent paid the man yet. As far as fourth gear goes, its not grind it to find it quite yet, goes in fine but will eject out once rpms get lower (40 MPH and below in 4th). Probably on its way out??? Wish I knew of this forum when still had it, coulda kept the damn thing and kept fixing it....love the writeups on here and the great advice.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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