legacycentral bbs

For those of you who read my post on new GR2's last week you know that my drivers side Axle started making clicking/clunking noises when making right turns or accelerating hard right after I switched out the struts. So this Saturday I'll be putting in a new half shaft on the drivers side. I got if from a local rebuilder but I have a couple questions.
1) The inner joint seems to be very smooth all around, the outer joint(nearest the wheel) isn't very smooth at all. It's very tough to move around using my hands. Is that normal on a rebuilt unit?

2) I've heard that the only axle nut to put back on is the one from the Dealer and not the one from the rebuilder. Are the nor Subie nuts really that bad?

3) Do i need to replace the seals while I'm in this procedure?? Pretty sure they've never been replaced in 175000 mi.

Btw, the one I'm replacing was a rebuilt and it lasted about 30000 - 35000 miles. Is that about average?

thanks in advance for your answers.

This may be too late, but.....

1. Not sure on the smooth vs rough. Double-check w/the rebuilder.

2. I've not read about issues w/the aftermarket axle nut. Make sure you torque it correctly (don't know the ft/lbs off the top of my head).

3. I'd replace the seals if leaking, otherwise not bother.

Aftermarket, non-OEM axles are notoriously bad. 30-35K isn't unusual, but you'll get a lot more w/Subaru or MW Axles. I'd even pull a used OEM one off and reuse it before buying another 'cheap' one.

Better late then never!

Well I replaced the drivers side half shaft and that didn't solve my clunking/clicking noise. Boy it sure sounded like the drivers side! I went underneath before I replaced it and tried to move each axle back to front and they both felt the same with no real excessive movment so that was no help. The boots didn't seem to have any breaks in them either.

So with the drivers side replaced I went back to the cv rebuilder (CV Express in SLC, UT) and bought another half shaft and installed it this past Monday. Clunking problem solved. I don't own a torque wrench so I put my 220 lbs about 10 inches out on a breaker bar and lightly bounced down hoping that it gave me the 123 -151 lbs torque I needed. While I was at it I replaced the Ball Joint on the passenger side as the boot was completely torn. The new ball joint came from the Subie dealer.

I have to say that my car hasn't run this smoothly in years!!! ( along with new GR2 struts all around) A real pleasure to drive now. I think I'll replace the drivers side Ball Joint in March just to keep things even. My thought being that after 175000 mi it's probably seen better days. Maybe look into new sway bar and control arm bushings this summer??

Anyways, I appreciate the response. I did replace both seals that fit in the steering knuckles, again because their better days were most likely behind them. So far so good. Lots left to do this Spring! Replacing the shifter bushings, replace the brake fluid and coolant. figure out why my PS pump is leaking and then replace the steering rack boots. Whew! Then I gotta work on my wife's 96 Legacy! There goes the summer...