brus brother Posted April 9, 2011 Share Posted April 9, 2011 Well I smelled it a week ago and saw a tiny seepage on the passenger inner boot at the clamp and assumed not too bad I'll just get a hose clamp or tighten the old one. Well today I noticed that the driver's side is torn open and flung that stinking grease everywhere. I don't have ramps and don't feel like doing a limbo under the car for now so is there an effective temp fix to drive it for a few days. Wrap with plastic bag and duct tape or will you be reading about me on the nightly news. I'm having the dealer replace the boot(s) on Tuesday. BTW, do axles ever make any noises other than clicking when they are shot? I had noticed a grumbling sound (like snow tires) that I thought was wheel bearing but dealer told me it was bad tires. Any chance it is a bad axle as I'd hate to do the boots and then need an axle. I plan on getting tires in the fall. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Turbone Posted April 9, 2011 Share Posted April 9, 2011 If you're having them replaced that soon, I wouldnt worry about it. You already have grease all over, so if its still slinging you'll just have a little more to clean up. Anything wrapped around the boot is liable to get wrapped around a bunch of other stuff. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
brus brother Posted April 9, 2011 Author Share Posted April 9, 2011 Temporary fix leads to a new meaning for WReX... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
987687 Posted April 9, 2011 Share Posted April 9, 2011 If you were in a bind to get it fixed right quick you could get those crappy boots that don't need to axle to come off to replace. They have a seam that glues together and you just put it around the axle... On my last legacy I had a completely torn outer boot. I drove 20k miles on it all winter. Through mud puddles, salty roads, stuffed it in snow banks. And that axle never made a peep. You'll be fine for a few days... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
94Loyale Posted April 10, 2011 Share Posted April 10, 2011 Wow...I hope that wasn't you! As for the axles....I drove on mine for 4 years, with our winters, and a lot of offroading at local offroad parks. They were torn completely since I bought the car. They never made a sound, haha. Right after I replaced them with new ones, a month later I hear one clicking. As for the sound you are hearing, tires can make it sound like you have 4 bad wheel bearings. Some wear differently than others, and some end up making a lot of noise. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
idosubaru Posted April 10, 2011 Share Posted April 10, 2011 you can drive with broken boots for a LONG time, a couple days is pointless to worry about. If you're worried about it just stuff some extra grease up into the joint by hand, it works. More will sling out though but it will protect the joint. Subaru axles are extremely robust - i've put 50,000+ miles on broken boot front axles (that were clicking for much of it too) and 100,000+ miles on rear axles with broken boots. I used to live in MD (no yearly inspections) and I never bothered replacing an axle/boots unless I had to get in there for something else like brakes. Sand and really gritty winter snow treatments will ruin them quickly if it gets in the joints though. But most daily drivers aren't seeing that. I've rebooted axles that were making noise and they quieted right up too. My current daily driver has a set of rebooted axles that were making noise, but not after rebooting. What you want to avoid at all cost is aftermarket axles, they are junk. I (and many others on the boards) have had all sorts of issue. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
987687 Posted April 10, 2011 Share Posted April 10, 2011 +2 on aftermarket axles being garbage... I've had my share of issues. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jseabolt Posted April 15, 2011 Share Posted April 15, 2011 Funny that you should mention this. The same boot busted on my 2003 Baja about a year ago. Mine busted after pulling a trailer with a lawnmower on it. I was not pulling more than 1000 lbs. I've never seen an inner boot bust before. It's always been the outers on other cars that bust because they see more movement. I was able to fix mine in about 6 hours. Driving that stupid roll pin out of the axle at the transmision was the biggest headache. There is no room to swing a hammer in there. Is that pin really nessessary? I mean it's a splined shaft and even if the axle nut came off, the axle can't go anywhere. The Chilton's manual says this pin was deleted after 2004 or around that time. Maybe Subaru figured it was useless? Here's some pics of what to expect: http://s222.photobucket.com/albums/dd148/turbofiat/Subaru/ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
idosubaru Posted April 15, 2011 Share Posted April 15, 2011 I've never seen an inner boot bust before. It's always been the outers on other cars that bust because they see more movement. ]that's the norm now. the newer outer boots have more convolutions than older boots and therefore last longer. the inner boots are closest to the exhaust and therefore break often due to heat. usually the passengers side. Driving that stupid roll pin out of the axle at the transmision was the biggest headache. There is no room to swing a hammer in thereno doubt that one sucks. they make really long 3/16" punches for those -so you can just stand up above it, wiggle it through and drive it out from a long distance. i'm still behind the times and haven't done that yet. the ghetto alternative is to put the punch on it and use socket extensions with or without a socket as "extensions" to go over the end of the punch. Is that pin really nessessary? I mean it's a splined shaft and even if the axle nut came off, the axle can't go anywhere. The Chilton's manual says this pin was deleted after 2004 or around that time. Maybe Subaru figured it was useless?yeah i have no idea about that but you can go first! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
987687 Posted April 15, 2011 Share Posted April 15, 2011 Is that pin really nessessary? I mean it's a splined shaft and even if the axle nut came off, the axle can't go anywhere. The Chilton's manual says this pin was deleted after 2004 or around that time. Maybe Subaru figured it was useless? Sure the axle won't come off the tranny stub without the pin. But it can slide pretty far without the pin, so far off that maybe only 1/4" of the shaft is connecting the tranny to the axle. If you really got on it you'd probably strip the splines out of the axle or off the tranny stub The later ones that eliminated the roll pin (rear diff did away with it before tranny did) have a clip that snaps into the transmission. So with a little force the axle just pops out and snaps in. Much easier to deal with. They don't get stuck like the stub shafts can... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
unibrook Posted April 15, 2011 Share Posted April 15, 2011 If you were in a bind to get it fixed right quick you could get those crappy boots that don't need to axle to come off to replace. They have a seam that glues together and you just put it around the axle... On my last legacy I had a completely torn outer boot. I drove 20k miles on it all winter. Through mud puddles, salty roads, stuffed it in snow banks. And that axle never made a peep. You'll be fine for a few days... Echo this. I drove a whole Boston winter with a shot boot....no problemo. My driver's side inner boot is cracked now, probably been that way for months....still no sound coming from it. I might get around to replacing that axle sometime this summer. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
unibrook Posted April 15, 2011 Share Posted April 15, 2011 Is that pin really nessessary? I mean it's a splined shaft and even if the axle nut came off, the axle can't go anywhere. ... When I replaced my pass.front axle, I couldn't get the roll pin back in there to save my life. So I just used a big cotter pin. Works just fine. Yeh, me and my Lesbaru...........we're ghetto like dat! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
johnceggleston Posted April 15, 2011 Share Posted April 15, 2011 (edited) When I replaced my pass.front axle, I couldn't get the roll pin back in there to save my life. the hole for the role pin is off center, so if it won't go in, turn the axle 180* and try again. it should go then. i usually test it with my 3/16 punch before i try the role pin. the punch is smaller and if it hangs up any at all, i try it the other way to see. Edited April 15, 2011 by johnceggleston Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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