i have a 04 wrx wagon that i love. i was changing the oil today and noticed the cv boot is torn. i thought about replacing the whole axle this week so any suggestions would be much appreciated. (what should i pay?, whats a good upgrade?, is there a trick to taking off the axle? is there any special tools i must have? is there anything i should do while im under there?) beyond that... seeing all that axle grease splattered under my ride got me thinking. what can i do to ensure the longevity on my car? im at about 80,000 and ive kept up with the usual maintenance (its never been in for scheduled maintenance since ive owned it, but i try to keep pretty good care of it) what would you suggest i should check, replace, upgrade, or change at this stage in my wagons life to make sure it last and keeps performing well? Also, i dont know if im just paranoid but i swear it been losing performance lately ... Thanks, M
it is easier to do what you're doing and just replace the entire axle. You can get the remans from advanced or autozone for ~$65 with a lifetime warranty. They are a pain in the ass to change, but fairly straight forward. If you've ever replaced an axle before it should be pretty similar to any other job you've done.
you kind of HAVE been losing performance lately....given that the warmer weather is quickly approaching, the heat tends to drop the performance of the car. Turbo cars LOVE cooler weather, but hate warmer weather. So, since the past 2 weeks or so have been 60+ almost every day, that has a lot to do with your performance going to shit.
I just replaced both of my front axles on Friday. As Jake said, if you have ever replaced one before, on any car, it is pretty straight forward. The only "special" tool that I didn't have on hand was the big ass socket (I think it was a 1 1/4 or something like that) to get the hub nut off, fortunately, there was one where I was doing the work. I picked up both of my new reman. axles at NAPA for about 65 each. If you have access to a lift the job will go much smoother, but that goes for anything you do under the car.
It is actually a 32mm socket. The only thing that can be a pain about the install is if you do not line the splines up correctly on the inboard joint, where the spring pin goes. It is not really a big deal at all, unless you don't find out that it is not lined up correctly until you have already bolted the corner back together...ask me how I know.
The CV boots seems to be a common problem for subbies???? I just replaced my right front at SGw when I went in for an oil chng( I fig something was up, I could feel it and asked them to check) at 78k. And I have heard of several others who have had issues, legacys and all.
Mine went out recently too...got a few more miles out of it than 90, but the others are all looking fine.
My honda mechanic friend thought it had more to do with road debris than anything. That would make sense if you lost 1 of 4 and the others are OK. If they all 4 went at about the same time = rubber degrading.