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Anyone care to help diagnose this....


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Is it ea81? not enough torque on the castle nut will cause excessive wear. Or maybe its not a worn part i've run into a situation that was close to what i see on the video. Parts store gave me a CV that wouldn't press itself into the hub. turns out the bell of the thing was slightly different tried 2 different ones til they got me one that worked and they were all the same part number

 

hope you get it figured out

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Is it ea81? not enough torque on the castle nut will cause excessive wear. Or maybe its not a worn part i've run into a situation that was close to what i see on the video. Parts store gave me a CV that wouldn't press itself into the hub. turns out the bell of the thing was slightly different tried 2 different ones til they got me one that worked and they were all the same part number

 

hope you get it figured out

Its an EA82.  First axle they gave me the bell was too big as well.  I've done a lot of these and that was the first time I had that problem.

Axle nut is tight enough and the axle is pressed in all the way.  I've never seen a worn hub but I cant think of anything else. 

 

It wiggles maybe a 64/100 of an inch, if that.  When you hit a pot hole you'd think the whole right front of the car is gunna depart!

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Well thats what I would typically think too.  I didnt pull the bearings out to inspect them but as I said the grease was full, clean and there was no roughness nor movement in them.  Guess there is always a first.....

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Its an EA82.  First axle they gave me the bell was too big as well.  I've done a lot of these and that was the first time I had that problem.

Axle nut is tight enough and the axle is pressed in all the way.  I've never seen a worn hub but I cant think of anything else. 

 

It wiggles maybe a 64/100 of an inch, if that.  When you hit a pot hole you'd think the whole right front of the car is gunna depart!

 

Uhh.....64/100ths is  ...............over 5/8th an inch........I don't think it's moving that much.....lol

 

Wheel bearings......plain and simple......

 

If the cone washer and nut are tight....and the axle wiggles in the hub it's wheel bearings.....every time.

 

Hammering axles in and out will often wear them out.....as it stresses the inner race in a lateral direction.

 

best to install new bearings with a new axle......they are so cheap.....

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Uhh.....64/100ths is  ...............over 5/8th an inch........I don't think it's moving that much.....lol

No, I mean the other 64/100ths of an inch....LOL!  I mean a 1/64 of an inch.  Ok, bearings it is.  I'll get it done, thanks for the help.  

Before I do that, anyone have a part number handy for these?

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NOTE: Keep in mind when you are diagnosing things like this, the less common things to notice - such as how the grease in there looks. if its worn bearings, they will discolor the grease in a certain way more than usual, and the inside of where they are held would likely have some wear sround the edges, from the bearings slopping around.

From my experience, which is old, but spread across 7, now 8 subarus of three or four different models, the sound in your video is familiar, and I get the gut feeling that whatever the problem is, it is inside that bell, that is why it has a slightly hollow sound to it.

It could be a simple defect of tolerances or length in manufacture too.

If you replace the axel, keep in mind that reman ufactured ones often have some spray paint at the ends that completely changes the tolerances, and can make it hard to put it in. In those cases, once things were well in place or threaded, I would just start tightening up anyway, and the paint would scrape off as things came together.

But if you don;t catch this, it might seem liek you have the wrong axel and it just does not fit, just because they had to put some spray paint on the end.

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No spray paint on it.  I've done quite a few axles, everything is sucked up where it belongs.  The grease looks perfect, there is no roughness to the bearings, all that typical bearing stuff.  Bearings are on the way so I will know in a few days if that was it.

 

The wobble is the same as it was before the axle and the cone and washer.

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Hmmm.... that says a lot actually, pretty much dispells any notion of it beaing wear-related.

I would be very tempted to jump to the presumption that if its "newer" it might be a defect, and otherwise its been a long time, but I can;t remember, are there any large "dammit clamps" as my dad used to call them (they opften go flying off when you try to take them off or put them on), or ring snap keepers, whatever the hell they call those things, what if some simple thing like that was missing? Think about anything that if wrong or missing could "only" cause a slight difference in spacing or tolerance.

Wild guess - what about the pin and hole where you attach the bell to the tranny? Not likely, but I'm trying to remember being in those situations...

- Wait! Since you have experience, this is not likely, but when you reassemble the works, and put the axel nut on, there are two washers, one slightly cone shaped and a flat washer, if the flat washer were missing, it could cause just that much play - or maybe something similar to that?....

I dunno, when I get fully back into my subaru my memory and experience will come back better I'm sure, lol....

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Then there are two likely possibilities...

#1: Its not the axel at all, and unfortunately it has to do with the tranny.

#2:

(A) What kind of price can you get on a good used axel (Yeah, I know)

(B) Would replacing the axel be more work than you want to hassel with?

© Do you have a spare axel, in almost any condition that will not have the same problem?
If it is not the tranny, and I had/could get another old axle, I would see if I could get a deal where I could bring the new/good replacement axel back for refund, when you go to replace the axel, put the old junky one on first and see if it does same, if it does, put the new one on, it will likely be fixed, if not, its definitely the tranny.

 

Hope its not the tranny, that's the only real issue you have, because replacing an axel is far better than a tranny problem.

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Not the axle.  I pulled a good axle out but replaced it because the boot was ripped.  It wiggled just the same with the prior axle.  Surely not the tranny because there is no movement on that end.  Its right in the wheel and has to be bearings or something other than bearings.  ;)

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If you are certain it is in the wheel, and you know its not any kind of missing part, then there are two possible answers:

(A) replace that wheel hub. The axel has very limited interface with parts there, very few parts to be missing or defective.

(B) Stick to 1st and 2nd generation Subarus? - Sorry, I have a real bias there, but one based on reality.

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Replace bearings, no more wobble.  Still got a bang bang though when you hit a pot hole, small bump, etc.  I have checked everything and its gotta be something with the strut yet there is no indication of it. [sigh]

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No, its more like on the rebound on a bump.  I think its a defunct strut.  I checked ball joints with a bar...no slop.

 

I would vote for the struts causing that problem. 

 

Mine did noises when the rear struts were going out.  Every little wave or bump in the road produced a klunk in the trunk.  Pushing up and down on the car didn't really indicate anything close to the noise on the road, but when I got the struts out it was clear they were toast.

 

Worst case is you will simply have to put them back in if they are still good.

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Have you installed the other flat spring washer in between the cone washer & the axle nut?

 

I've done this by accident before & it means that the nut bottoms out on the end of the thread before it gets the axle tight.

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