driveshaft issue and POSSIBLE solution

[Coy]

so ive got a rubbing sound in the driveshaft any time i let off the gas pedal and im in gear, im assuming its one of the three U-joints but im not completely for certain. ive checked all 3 auto parts stores in town and none of them list U-joints for the car.

ive had planned for teh last three weeks now that i needed to move out of state and its a six hour trip to my destination. just my luck it would start making this sound AFTER i get off work on my last night. ive checked every salvage yard within 30 miles of here since i cant find anything new and they have already scrapped the legacy's that they did have last summer. i dont have the avalible funds to go to the dealer to replace them since im sure they wouldnt be cheap.

im sure my idea isnt feasible but its about the only other solution besides just driving it even though its making this sound but here goes anyways.... can i temporarily convert a 5-speed AWD into a FWD without thrashing the center diff or something else in the tranny? i bet that the general idea would be the same as towing the car on a dolly, but its only one of two options. money is the main setback here.

[gto7419]

I dont know about converting to fwd, but I totally agree - whoever was in charge of cupholders was a complete moron....

I took the bracket out competely - I got tired of people trying to use the damn thing and having stuff spill all over my alpine headunit...

[Hocrest]

I'm pretty sure that won't work in a manual tranny.

have you tried www.car-part.com ??

If it's the front section that's bad, you'll need to source it off of another MTX, if it's the rear section, it can come off of a MTX or an Auto.

[Coy]

checked all the salvage lots already. i think ill just call napa and the dealer. i dont have a way or the time to order them online.

[Coy]

no luck, but i did find out that the u joints arent replaceable and i need to replace either the driveshaft section or the whole damn thing. cant belive it took me two weeks to find THAT out.

so irecently went and looked at a driveshaft from a 90 legacy and found that it only has two u-joints where as mine has three. i was hoping to use the rear section of its driveshaft in place of mine since my rearmost u-joint is no good, but it doesnt come into sections as mine does. is the WHOLE driveshaft from the 90 legacy useable on mine? both are MTX, both have 4.11 rearends, and both are non turbo.

if it doesnt fitwhat are some other options as far as driveshafts or driveshaft sections? this 90 that im trying to use parts from is the only legacy ive found within 40 miles of the town i live in.

[Legacy777]

Yeah it should fit. As long as the driveline is from a MT, and you're sticking it into a MT, you should be good.

[Coy]

the teeth that go into the transmission are the same and its not any longer or anything?

ive also found a 96 legacy sedan that has a 2.2 but i THINK its an auto, and an old 85-88 turbo AWD either gls or loyale with a manual transmission at another lot. ive gotta know my options im three weeks behind on moving out of state and im getting anxious to get out of here.

[Hocrest]

The drive shafts ARE rebuildable.

Find a driveshaft shop near you and they can do it. Prices are going to vary, I know a guy that get's them rebuilt/shortened and balanced for SVX's for $200. If you just need one joint replaced, it would be less.

If you can't find any driveshaft shops in the phone book. Call around to some of the older independent garages near you and ask where they take driveshafts to get rebuilt. Dealerships and chain stores are going to buy new, you need to call the little greasy places.

When you say that the one you saw had "two" do you mean one U-joint at each end and a different kind of joint in the center?? That's the way some SVX's are, that center joint isn't a U-Joint, it's more like a CV joint. It is also rebuildable. I didn't know that they came on Legacy's??

[Coy]

te one that i went to look at had 2 u-joints, both of which where bad and the CV in the middle.

i see, well this is a helpfull bit of that they are rebuildable. ive got a place to give a call tomorrow about getting it rebuilt.

now id still like to know what other subarus i can use driveshafts from, so that way i have some financial options to get this taken care of with little to no more hassle. i miss drivin my car.

[Legacy777]

the teeth that go into the transmission are the same and its not any longer or anything?

ive also found a 96 legacy sedan that has a 2.2 but i THINK its an auto, and an old 85-88 turbo AWD either gls or loyale with a manual transmission at another lot. ive gotta know my options im three weeks behind on moving out of state and im getting anxious to get out of here.

If it's from a first gen legacy, yeah it should swap just fine. The second gen legacy will probably still swap, but I can't guarantee it.

[Coy]

the only guarantee in life is death and taxes. well, we'll see then.

[Coy]

the driveshaft from an automatic 98 outback wagon fit into my 92 leg with a manual transmission. while ive been lookin for this driveshaft everwhere has always been asked whether its an auto or a manual, so i would assume that the shafts would be different depending on the transmission. the only main difference is that the center suppost bearing seems to sit slightly lower on the shaft from the outback, so it rubs a little on the top of the cat and that guard right before the rear diff. im going to have a little cut off that rear guard and have my exhaust pulled down about a quarter of an inch. my car orignally had two bad u joints which where the front one and the rearmost one and my center support had some play in it. the shaft i got from the outback had a good center support and the front u joint was good, but the two joints on the rear where worse than mine. so the problem isnt quite fixed yet but i should be about done. im going back to the lot i got the shaft from and im going to get a rear section with better joints.