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I am very tired of changing front axel shafts


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The right front boot is tore. At least this last one lasted over a year. I was replacing the right front one every couple of months. I got the last one from Nappa. They come with a lifetime warranty but I am very tired of changing them...... Wahhhh! :banghead:

 

BTW it is an 84 hatch 4x4.

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Problem: Cheap boots that rub the pleats together almost all the time.

 

Solution 1: If you can find a car with 80K or less on it and original untorn axles buy the used axles as they will last longer than reman store bought ones.

 

Solution 2: Genuine Subaru Boots or an aftermarket company that I cant remember the name of.

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I had the same problem with napa boots I would only get 1 month out of a boot, went thought like 3 boots same axle, finally tried another brand, autozone or kraggen or something, the boot has given me NO trouble for over a couple years now.

If you look at the napa boots they are constucted as two halfes put together to form one boot. Mine would always crack on that seam throw all of its grease all over my exhaste, smoke like a son of a b*&%*. I would recommend trying a different boot manufacurer. Good luck.

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some boots have ribs on the inside, i was told they last longer. i think they are only $15. the right boot keeps ripping cause it's so close to the exhaust. i think some folks have had luck with a simple heat shield. not realy a heat shield but a simple piece of metal to guide the hot air away from your axel boot while moving.

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I had a couple GCK's that were clicky right out of the box and won't be going back. One that they tried to replace them with one that had the band clamps halfway slid off the end of the boot and not lined up even. I'm still not a big fan of Autozone. Last parts guy asked me "now really what year is your Brat cuz I can't look up things for 3 different years of car just cuz you think our computer sucks" This was for my 86 Brat with an 87 Ea82 dual range, 91 turbo rear diff, 88 XT6 alt......LOL. If I have to buy from them I bring in the part numbers from their poorly designed website.

 

Ill go with used or MWE Axles from now on.

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the sucker king..... I did put a heat shield over the CAT when I put the last axle shaft in. I was thinking that is why it lasted over a year this time.

We had bought this car brand new in 85. The originol factory axles lasted about 200,000 niles.

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one cv manufacturer suggests that bad engine mounts are the leading cause of axle failure.

I would contend that split boots are the #1 cause of axle failures, I have re-booted many and all are still running, I did four on my RX when I bought it, I have no idea how long it had been driven with them like that, but I’ve put 25,000 miles on it since with no problems. The right front inner does seem common and I’m sure it is due to the exhaust. I have had some trouble getting the right boots from the parts house (turbo 4WD rears seems the most problematic), but I have received some of the nicer silicone type at Car Quest.

 

Just my experience

Gary

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bad engine mounts could cause additional stress to boots as well. my boots are breaking at 30,000 miles or less (which is less than a year of driving for me). time to try something else - like engine mounts as mine are toast. i've tried different manufacturers including original subaru axles and don't get much life out of any of them. i even had a brand new axle blow apart last summer. my cv joint ended up in about 87 pieces lying on the ground. balls rolling around and everything, glad it happened in a parking lot.

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Wow, if your are actully blowing them up they may be getting to extreme angles and binding, REALLY bad mounts might do that. Does your engine jump around a lot. You can check buy opening the hood and watching the engine, lock the park brake and try and take off (easy now), the engine shouldn't move much, try reverse too.

 

Gary

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  • 1 year later...

Sucker king is right; the right boot fails more often since it gets a lot of heat from the catalytic converter. If you're running too lean it gets even hotter and causes the boots to fail pre-maturely. I once made an "air scoop" to deflect the heat away from the boot and run some cooling air between the scoop and catalytic converter. Worked pretty well.

some boots have ribs on the inside, i was told they last longer. i think they are only $15. the right boot keeps ripping cause it's so close to the exhaust. i think some folks have had luck with a simple heat shield. not realy a heat shield but a simple piece of metal to guide the hot air away from your axel boot while moving.
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this post is from 2004......ha ha. someone used the search function, woo hoo!

 

your location says "international" so it's kind of hard to say what a good price would be.

 

$200-$300 for both axles i'd say. low is good, high is well..high. $150 seems to be the going rate for axle replacement in the areas i've lived in (close to the city).

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