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 well ive swapped so many parts and replaced all frotn end bushings and ball joints and still have shaking thogh it has gotten better. currently i have a shake in the steering that seems to be speed related and if i let off the gas the shake becomes much less. im guessing its an axle is there any way to tell witch side axle it is? or do i just need to swap them one at a time?

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I'll pile on with the obvious: wheel balance, bad tires.

But, if you've checked everything else... check play in the drive shaft? It's more of a rumble though in my experience.

Model, year and especially mileage might help in the diagnosis.

 

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1 hour ago, sirtokesalot said:

A 2001 Subaru Outback

That's a start. Any more information that would be relevant?

 

Vibration that worsens under load SCREAMS driveshaft ujoint. Pull the shaft and wiggle those joints around, I bet one of them is seized.

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I never even thought to check the driveshaft. I wouldn't have thought it would cause shaking in the steering. I may pull it out tonite after work if not tomorrow. I do have a collection of drive shafts i may even have another one that fits the outback around to swap in.

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53 minutes ago, heartless said:

driveshaft is connected to transmission, which is connected to front diff, which is connected to front axles.. so yeah, it can cause shaking in the steering

 

So right.  The takeaway is that in 4WD/AWD vehicles in general, a vibration anywhere in the system manifests pretty much everywhere.  I had an off-balance (rear) driveshaft in an old Dakota 4x4.  I chased that one around right up until my wife held a yard sale out on the highway with it - it took out the rear U-joint, then exited, taking a good chunk of the xfer case along with it.

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Driveshaft ujoint

Or inner cv axle joint - the only ones I’ve seen vibrate with no noise are on lifted subarus and had broken boots with very little grease  

00-04 front rear transverse bushings are known to fail

Failed captive nut on front suspension (front rear transverse bushing assembly bolts). 

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well i pulled the driveshaft today and the front u joint is a little notchy feeling so i dug out my spare and the front u joint was good rear was about the same feeling as the front was on the original shaft. ugg tried a junk yard and dident even buy what they had for me because both u joints were notchy. so i stuck the spare driveshaft in it anyway just because its front u joint was the good one and the shake definetly changed and is not as hard as it was before but still there. so i guess im searching for a good used driveshaft

 

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If it hasn't worn through the caps into the yoke, the joints can be replaced. I've done a few myself (requires a press). Or a driveline shop can probably do it for pretty cheap.

 

I've had the same luck with used ones, they're all junk.

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Fwiw, the two things (in addition to cats, of course, and the exhaust pipes they trash when cutting out the cats) that I can never get (at least from the self-serve yards) around here are gas tanks and drive shafts.  They destroy the gas tanks by punching holes to drain leftover gas, then the driveshafts - unless well recessed - get it from their forklifts.  The full-service wreckers tend to be a little more circumspect.  A driveline shop can also take care of balancing the shaft itself.

Edited by jonathan909
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Almost all old shafts are lumpy like that. I’m surprised if I find a good one with any age or miles on it. They’re often usable like that, obviously since all the ones chux and I see are lumpy.  But what a collosal waste of time swapping lumpy old driveshafts or having them shippped from a yard  

As he said they aren’t considered replaceable but a couple companies make ujoints to replace those staked in style. Rockford is one and I think Rockauto carries the other brand. 
Cut and press in.

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On 5/25/2021 at 1:56 PM, heartless said:

driveshaft is connected to transmission, which is connected to front diff, which is connected to front axles.. so yeah, it can cause shaking in the steering

 

Carrier bearing.

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Yeah as mentioned carrier bearing. You’ve been under that car a lot. I’m guessing you’d have noticed that by now but if there is one , check it.

 

Used to be CT Driveshaft and I’d see their van everywhere!!!  Quick search and I’m not sure about these places now but maybe the one in East Hartford is the original. 
 

Curious which yard you go to , and which ones you’d feel are worth investigating. I pretty much gave up on most of that these past couple of decades. Johnny’s in Thomaston was a good place you could roam.

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On 5/25/2021 at 1:58 AM, brus brother said:

I'll pile on with the obvious: wheel balance, bad tires.

But, if you've checked everything else... check play in the drive shaft? It's more of a rumble though in my experience.

Model, year and especially mileage might help in the diagnosis.

 

I bought a replacement for ~$200 for my 05 OB and may have posted the source. I'll noodle back through my history and check... stay tuned.

Sold the car recently and pitched all the paperwork. It was either through RockAuto, Parts Geek or Carparts.com

I likely went for the cheapest one figuring they would either work or not and the car already was approaching 200K.

The local rebuilders wanted nothing to do with this shaft here in CT.

Edited by brus brother
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found it

I bought a reman unit for my 05 and all is well. I will try and find the invoice and update post.

Found it: Partsgeek.com for around $250

There are always $15 coupons floating around. Let me know if you need one. They are always bombing my mailbox.

1 2005 Subaru Outback Driveshaft
Brand A1 Cardone
SKU 65-7001
Tracking Number 358507715197109
Shipped with FedEx on Aug 06, 2018
  2005 Subaru Outback Driveshaft
Re-order

Review Product
 
Qty Ordered 1
Qty Shipped 1
Price $241.98
Core $20.00
Looks like the prices have jumped in the past 3 years YIKES its now at $338 for the same part. I would probably still go the cheapest route. They either work or not.  
Edited by brus brother
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2 questions. 1st when buying a u joint witch one do i need? the ones i see online have clips to hold them in however i thoght the originals were staked in or press fit?

2nd for testing purposes if i put the fwd fuse in and disconnect the driveshaft from the rear diff and tie it up to the side am i correct to believe the shaft will not spin and can safely drive it like that to find out if the driveshaft is actually the cause of all the shaking? alternatively if anyone knows how to separate the 2 halves that would ideally be a better option

Edited by sirtokesalot
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