Rebuilt axles, clunking in turns

[89Ru]

2008 Outback wagon, 130k miles.  Car is new to me.  Car was clunking in turns, I think both ways.  Left axle (Subaru) had two torn boots so I had it rebuilt.  Still noisy but right axle was aftermarket so I had another used Subaru axle rebuilt and swapped it out. So now with two rebuilt Subaru axles it is still clunking, only left. Also replaced both ball joints and both lateral links with aftermarket parts. Noise is from left side in left turns. I have another spare rebuilt subie axle but I haven't had problems with rebuilt subie axles before. I suppose first time for everything.  What about the hub/bearing? Can those clunk? Attached a few videos of the noise in turns. Wheel isn't loose and no growling at higher speeds like bad bearing sounds. 

Variable speed left circle

https://youtu.be/9tgmE4NkDdE

Slow left turn up slope

https://youtu.be/9utvZ7WLv5I

Slow left turn

https://youtu.be/PXv3KyF4hX4

S turns driving.  Can hear a faint noise at first

https://youtu.be/wmXeJDweGGM

Backwards left turn. 

https://youtu.be/7q_lzYIo80A

 

[idosubaru]

i didn't listen to the videos, i generally avoid them because they take long and often recording isn't true to natural sound...and your links said "private" and I couldn't see them anyway. 

To me, CV noises have always been distinctive and impossible to confuse with anything else. 

If they saw significant sand, gravel, aggregate road treatment in the winter they can degrade fast.  In clean driving with no aggregate exposure they can go 10's of thousands of miles with broken boots with no problems....but if they see aggregate.  Imagine rubbing stone or sand on your car hood.... that's happening at high loads, temps, and RPM's in the CV joint if it sees aggregates.  did this thing go to the beach or shore or southern GA where there's lots of sandy roads?  Or was it offroaded or on a farm with signficant dirt/gravel exposure?

If you want to rule out axles you could swap the right and left sides and see if the noise moves. 

Edited October 6, 2020 by idosubaru

[89Ru]

Just published the videos, they should be public now.  I agree about the noise, it doesn't sound like anything else to me either other than a bad CV.  If anything, the sound is worse after the rebuild.  I'll swap out the left side with my spare tomorrow and see if that changes anything. Previous owner was a schoolteacher but I don't know its history if it was offroaded or not.  

[el_freddo]

Are you sure it’s not a centre diff clunk noise when turning? 

Cheers 

Bennie

[89Ru]

46 minutes ago, el_freddo said:

Are you sure it’s not a centre diff clunk noise when turning? 

Cheers 

Bennie

Hope not, I don't sense hesitation or feel the tires skipping or binding up.  Can the center diff be messed up and only clunk one way in turns?  It did have heavily worn and mismatched tires front vs. back...I just finished rebuilding the heads that were trashed from a t-belt snap.  I had it flatbed hauled here.  I haven't driven it more than a few miles just t-shooting the noise. Maybe I should do some slow figure eights with the windows down in a dry parking lot to recheck. It isn't insured or even registered yet so don't tell. 

[idosubaru]

10 hours ago, 89Ru said:

Just published the videos, they should be public now.  I agree about the noise, it doesn't sound like anything else to me either other than a bad CV.  If anything, the sound is worse after the rebuild.  I'll swap out the left side with my spare tomorrow and see if that changes anything. Previous owner was a schoolteacher but I don't know its history if it was offroaded or not.  

Yep good job noting the bad boots, I'd assume the axle is bad, it's not common but happens. If you filled the joint with fresh grease and it's properly assembled then the metal bearing surfaces are probably damaged. 

Edited October 7, 2020 by idosubaru

[89Ru]

2 hours ago, idosubaru said:

If you filled the joint with fresh grease and it's properly assembled then the metal bearing surfaces are probably damaged. 

Both front axles were professionally rebuilt.  He won't touch aftermarket axles. I've never had one go back for noise which is why I'm so confoozled.  Gotta do paperwork this morning then its back to wrenching. While I'm down there I'll spin the wheel bearing which I didn't do last time. If it feels bad I'll swap it out.  The other potential noisy items are strut bearing, diff, control arm bushing, and sway bar bushing. 

[89Ru]

Swapped out the left front axle with a spare. No more clunking in turns!  Wheel bearing was ok. Just because, I greased the pins of the left front brake, pads looked ok. Nothing obvious was loose. Axle goes back to rebuilder for another go.

[idosubaru]

1 hour ago, 89Ru said:

Swapped out the left front axle with a spare. No more clunking in turns!  Wheel bearing was ok. Just because, I greased the pins of the left front brake, pads looked ok. Nothing obvious was loose. Axle goes back to rebuilder for another go.

Good stuff.  That had to feel good after all the effort to try it!

[89Ru]

1 hour ago, idosubaru said:

Good stuff.  That had to feel good after all the effort to try it!

Sure does! Thanks for the axle-centric diagnosis.  Even my daughter, who I'm fixing this car for, said, "You know how to change an axle don't you?" 

[el_freddo]

@89Ru - the centre diff will make the clunk noise in either direction and no noise in a straight line. It sounds like a dull knocking sound that’s speed and load related. I don’t recall any skipping or real binding sensations when a gearbox I put in my sister’s Gen3 had a shot centre diff.

Good to see it was only a drive shaft though! Easy fix if not frustrating at the least. 

All the best! 

Cheers 

Bennie

[rverdoold]

More curious now what caused the clunking. A bad CV will usually only because of wear in one direction (forward). Since this is both direction it could be something badly assembled or missing in the CV joint.