Snowman Posted August 27, 2004 Share Posted August 27, 2004 So here's my story from last weekend: A friend calls me at work, saying that her daughter was driving their 88 sedan into town (they live 39 miles out the highway), and it died at 15 mile. I talked to her daughter, who is ridiculously hot by the way, and ascertained that it was probably a toasted clutch, since it was close to time for one anyway. Armed with all the tools needed to tear the car apart on the spot, as well as a tow strap, another friend and I drove out to where the car was stranded. I stuck it in 4 low to get back on the road and it drove fine. After putting it back in 2wd, I took off down the highway, feeling a tiny bit of slippage at times. I made it to town before the slippage suddenly made it impossible to drive. We then towed the car to my house. I replaced the clutch with a good used one that had lots of miles left in it, which took just a few hours via the engine-pull method. The old one was okay, but it looked like the pressure plate might be quite weak. After that, I started it up and backed out of the driveway, or tried to, that is. SAME THING!!! The exact same metallic sort of noise and no motion of the car. I then remembered that it went fine in 4 lo, so I put it in, trying to rule out any weird tranny issues. It did indeed go just fine, so I tried 4wd, and it went great in 4wd. Then I put it back in 2wd and no go. I then jacked up the front and turned the wheels to check for any strangeness there. Well, I thought it was pretty strange that the driver's side wheel spun but the castle nut stayed put. It turns out that the splines in that hub were completely gone! It took me half and hour to replace the hub and boogie down the road again. I would attribute the failure to improper torque on the nut after a CV axle change, which occurred about six months prior, just enough time for that loose hub to wobble about and destroy itself. Anybody ever hear of this? I thought it was rather odd. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GeneralDisorder Posted August 27, 2004 Share Posted August 27, 2004 It happens, but yeah - pretty rare. Probably as you surmise, the nut was not properly torqued. Either that, or the cone washer is worn, or the spring washer improperly installed.... The problem might have been made worse by loose fitting splines. There will always be slight variations in close tollerance parts like that, and perhaps the manufacturer of the CV joint had the spline machine set too deep that day..... GD Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
edrach Posted August 27, 2004 Share Posted August 27, 2004 Not that unusual at all. I had a friend with the same problem just this week replace the hub in my driveway after having had the car towed here. I've seen the same problem three other times over the last 5 years. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Snowman Posted August 27, 2004 Author Share Posted August 27, 2004 Hmmm, I'm truly surprised that something like that would fail so much. C'est la vi. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GeneralDisorder Posted August 27, 2004 Share Posted August 27, 2004 Wow - must be a rash of ill-fittin axles out there or somethin..... tell me, is it the hub splines that get tore up or the axle splines? Inquiring minds want to know..... GD Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Turbone Posted August 27, 2004 Share Posted August 27, 2004 Its usually the hub that gets reamed out. It happened on my first Soob - 82 GLF - changed out a axle and was unable to torque it right. I did the same thing that Snowman did, replaced the clutch and still no go. Finally I put it in gear with the wheels blocked and stepped out to see the castle nut spinning DOH! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
edrach Posted August 27, 2004 Share Posted August 27, 2004 Worn hub every time; easy and cheap fix if you have a junkyard nearby. Wow - must be a rash of ill-fittin axles out there or somethin..... tell me, is it the hub splines that get tore up or the axle splines? Inquiring minds want to know..... GD Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GLCraig Posted August 27, 2004 Share Posted August 27, 2004 Yeah I saw a few worn hubs and brake drum splines while working at a Subie shop. One of the contributing factors not mentioned yet is spending too much time in 4wd without enough wheel slip between front and rear. Those cast iron splined don't fair as well as the hardened steel that fround in the rest of the drivetrain. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
beauregaardhooligan Posted August 27, 2004 Share Posted August 27, 2004 Been there, done that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GeneralDisorder Posted August 27, 2004 Share Posted August 27, 2004 I guess I'm just always a little heavy handed with my axle nut torque or something. I've never had one loosen or strip or anything. Weird. And I go through a LOT of axles. GD Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
edrach Posted August 27, 2004 Share Posted August 27, 2004 Rick, that's the key to preventing this failure; always torque that castle nut down. Over-tighten if necessary...it won't hurt it to be too tight. I guess I'm just always a little heavy handed with my axle nut torque or something. I've never had one loosen or strip or anything. Weird. And I go through a LOT of axles. GD Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chef_tim Posted August 27, 2004 Share Posted August 27, 2004 Ditto! Been there, done that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WJM Posted August 27, 2004 Share Posted August 27, 2004 I talked to her daughter, who is ridiculously hot by the way, Just how hot is that? Mine was making strange noises during turns....and after the last autocross, i took the hub off to check the bearing...it was fine...but the nut was not that tight. Tighten it down all to F and back...and no more noise! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
archemitis Posted August 27, 2004 Share Posted August 27, 2004 happened to my buddies ea82 2x wagon, right after he had a shop do a complete brake job. about 500 miles after, he goes to power shift into second on an on ramp, and it just spins. reely crazy i tried tightening the nut as hard as it goes, and noting worked. i think its because they use air tools too much at shops, and didnt get the splines lined up, and just pulled her thru. i have had a nut come loose a few times, and it just makes a creaking noise, never messed up my splines. i had never seen or heard of that before either Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
All_talk Posted August 27, 2004 Share Posted August 27, 2004 I’ve had the spindle nut loosen up on both my Subes, typically a few hundred miles after having it apart for some reason. I’d feel a little vibration or hear a noise in slow corners, but never stripped a hub. I’ve seen quite a few old VWs strip hubs due to under torqued nuts, most times the axel is damaged to some degree as well, which results in continually stripping hubs regardless of nut torque, I think I’d replace the axel too. Gary Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spanky_pete Posted August 27, 2004 Share Posted August 27, 2004 I have a 2wd Hatch sitting in the driveway that has that problem. Give it some gas and watch out the window and you can see the end of the axle spinning free inside the hub. Someday I'll get around to getting it fixed. That reminds me, can anyone tell me what size socket fits the axle nut on a 2wd? It looks a bit smaller than my 4x4s. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PHATBRAT Posted August 27, 2004 Share Posted August 27, 2004 Wow, At least she got a good clutch out of the deal. If it works in 4wd and not in 2wd that (Hubs/axles) would be the first thing to check. Stripped hubs is very common on a Subaru. I have seen it quite a few times, even with the correct torque. Just crappy design/engineering or something. The hubs should be a little harder metal. So, did she get down and dirty with you? (Greasy hands and such) If so, did you snap some pics? Always good to see the females gettin dirty too (Especially the HOT ones) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
northguy Posted August 27, 2004 Share Posted August 27, 2004 Good wrench work, Kelly. You'll go far. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WagonsOnly Posted August 27, 2004 Share Posted August 27, 2004 Happened on my first Soob, too...but that was crusher-bound in a few more months when it happened, anyway. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scoobywagon Posted August 28, 2004 Share Posted August 28, 2004 So here's my story from last weekend: <SNIP> Well, I thought it was pretty strange that the driver's side wheel spun but the castle nut stayed put. It turns out that the splines in that hub were completely gone! It took me half and hour to replace the hub and boogie down the road again. I would attribute the failure to improper torque on the nut after a CV axle change, which occurred about six months prior, just enough time for that loose hub to wobble about and destroy itself. Anybody ever hear of this? I thought it was rather odd. I've had this happen twice in my 81. It is my learned opinion (based on experience) that there are AT LEAST 2 types of hubs out there. One has s[lines in it that are less than a quarter of an inch long. These are the ones that fail. The other has splines the full depth of the hub. These seem to last forever. The problem is that they both (apparently) have the same part number at the parts store. I suspect that the first kind is a cheap knock-off from Lower Slobovia or something. My solution is to insist on hubs with full-length splines and accept no substitutes. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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