2011 forester driveshaft u-joints

[PerryC]

Hello all, I am hoping someone has some experience with this.  My 2011 Forester has a slight vibration so I pulled off the back of the driveshaft and sure enough the staked u-joints are tight and rough. So I am 99% sure that is the issue. As you all know the U-joints are not supposed to be replaced. However Rockford driveline sells u-joints with internal clips for Subies but they cannot confirm that they will fit the later model Forester. I tried to measure the distance between the yoke ears this weekend but under the car, still attached, I could not get an accurate or repeatable measurement. So...has anybody used the Rockford u-joints on a late model (2009-2013) driveshaft?  I would rather spend 50 bucks and a little garage work than 250 bucks for a rebuilt driveshaft.  Thanks for your replies.

[DaveT]

I don't specifically know - see if anyone does - but here's what I'd probably do.

 

If the car cannot be down for a while, get a used driveshaft. If it's good, put it in. Rebuild whichever one is worse.

[idosubaru]

They fail so rarely it's hardly worth it. Get a used shaft for cheap www.car-part.com or sometimes eBay but they're usually expensive on eBay.

 

I've only done it on 1980s Subarus where used shafts are hard to come by.

 

Over time the few I've had don't feel as smooth as I'd like anyway - maybe it doesn't matter, I've never had a Rockford Subaru replaced unjoint fail but I'd rather it feel smooth like it's supposed to. If we could compare 100,000 miles each on 1000 units of low mileage used shafts to staked in replacements installed at home, I would guess the used shafts have a higher success rate. They routinely see 200,000 and 300,000 miles. The only faikure I've personally seen is in a 1988 and I've seen tons of 200,000+ Subarus.

 

I highly doubt you'll find anyone that's done it to a vehicle that new. Subaru driveshaft faikure is so uncommon and most newer vehicle owners don't work in their own cars. I've barely maybe heard of anyone doing it even to any 2000 and up era vehicles.

[PerryC]

They fail so rarely it's hardly worth it. Get a used shaft for cheap www.car-part.com or sometimes eBay but they're usually expensive on eBay.

 

I've only done it on 1980s Subarus where used shafts are hard to come by.

 

Over time the few I've had don't feel as smooth as I'd like anyway - maybe it doesn't matter, I've never had a Rockford Subaru replaced unjoint fail but I'd rather it feel smooth like it's supposed to. If we could compare 100,000 miles each on 1000 units of low mileage used shafts to staked in replacements installed at home, I would guess the used shafts have a higher success rate. They routinely see 200,000 and 300,000 miles. The only faikure I've personally seen is in a 1988 and I've seen tons of 200,000+ Subarus.

 

I highly doubt you'll find anyone that's done it to a vehicle that new. Subaru driveshaft faikure is so uncommon and most newer vehicle owners don't work in their own cars. I've barely maybe heard of anyone doing it even to any 2000 and up era vehicles.

Thanks for the replies.  I've never used www.car-part.com until today but I see a couple used ones in my area for under $100. So that seems like the best option. I can get one and see how the u-joints are.  Even if the joints are bad on that one I can get accurate measurements and new joints from Rockford, do the rebuild myself and it's still cheaper than a rebuilt.  CHA-CHING.  

[PerryC]

Update: So I went to the local recycler and had them pull out a driveshaft from a low mileage (40,000) car. I was not too surprised to discover that the u-joints on this driveshaft were just as stiff as the ones on my car with 100K. I am guessing that the u-joint staking process somehow puts too much pressure on the end of the u-joints and wrecks them from the word go. So I emailed Dorman who rebuilds driveshafts (thank you RockAuto) and they actually machine slots in the yokes and use c-clips rather than re-staking them so they don't have that issue.  A rebuilt driveshaft on RockAuto is about $250. For the piece of mind of getting a professionally rebuilt shaft I think that is the way I will go.

[idosubaru]

way better than OEM costs for sure. 

 

 Considering how rare Subaru driveshaft failure is i would have thought you could land a good used one. weird

 

My 200,000, 210,000, and 264,000 mile Subarus all have original driveshafts - and that's normal, i've had many other Subarus with the same results.  I've replaced one driveshaft in 20 years of Subarus and that was on a well used 1980's Subaru. 

[PerryC]

This is a job that will wait for warmer weather. I'll live with the minor vibration for a few more months. 

[Fairtax4me]

Unless the Ujoints are totally locked up theyre probably fine. The Ujoints angles on Subarus are less than 2° so they barely move during operation.

 

Wheel bearings fail all the time. U joints, not often.

[PerryC]

Yeah, they probably are fine but they are causing a vibration between 55-65 mph. The vibration feels like a tire out of balance but about 4 times faster and from the bottom of the car. So that led me to the driveshaft. It's just annoying.