Hi gang,

My 98 Legacy L auto AWD has the front passenger inner CV boot torn. It's
very recent - within 500 miles as I had just inspected this area last
weekend. Joint itself is not making noise (yet) So the questions are...

Replace just the boot? If so reco on the manufacture? Googled and found
that people are happy with NAPA model. I know for certain the tear is less
than two weeks old.

Replace the shaft too? If so reco on a store for the reman?

Is this something I can do myself? In my young (and poor) days I was an
okay shadetree mechanic. But in my older age I've softened some! :~)

Thanks for the help!

DJay

Lots of folks will say replace the complete axle. I don't adhere to this.
I just clean the joint and install new boots. My 95 wagon with nearly 200K
miles is still running all its original axles.

"johninKY" <gflong (AT) nospam (DOT) kih.net> wrote

Thanks John,

I saw some posts on other groups advocating the Napa "split boot" so the
shaft doesn't have to be removed. In your opinion should I consider this or
is this something to keep away from? Thanks, Djay

On Mar 2, 9:15 am, "djay" <Nos... (AT) verizon (DOT) net> wrote:
Split boots by NAPA worked great for me. I strongly recommmend it.
kd

I recommend to mark all the relative positions of the components in the
joint, disassemble, clean thouroughly, inspect it and reassemble using
the Subaru kit. Do not forget to lubricate the inside of the new boot
with the same grease used for the joint.

Even if you were to use the split boot, cleaning the joint properly will
require that you disassemble it.

Good luck

djay wrote:

Never used a split boot so can't comment. Can't clean the joint if you go
that way. I just soak the joint in a bucket of diesel to remove the old
grease. Just FYI one of the joints, can't recall which end, is removed by
just whacking it with a hammer as it has an internal snap ring. I just
remove that joint to replace both boots.

"djay" <Nospam (AT) verizon (DOT) net> wrote

and boots, and the thing is guaranteed for life! We figured it out, and
with parts and labor replacing just the boots was not much less than
replacing the entire assy. He's not real hot on the split boots.

"djay" <Nospam (AT) verizon (DOT) net> wrote in news:U_NFh.4123$Tg7.2635@trnddc03:
The cheapest place I've found for Subaru boot kits is here;

http://www.sjmauto.com/

They're a German import oriented page but their parts catalog has good
prices on Subaru parts.

The inner boot kit for your car is less than $15 including boot, bands,
and grease. The split boots are a sort of roadside emergency thing like
muffer bandage. Everyone who likes them is quick to brag about how
*many* of them they've used. Not exactly the best recommendation from my
POV. :-)

The break point is the labor. Doing the job right means pulling the
axel, tearing down the joint, and doing a clean and repack. Recon axles
are cheap enough and shop rates are high enough that paying a mechanic to
replace the boot won't save you much.

The DL/GL/Loyale series fries this boot on a regular basis because it's
located right above the catalytic converter. I've learned the shortcuts
that make an axle swap on mine a half hour job, and started keeping a
spare with fresh boot installed laying around the garage. So far I've
owned five of these cars over the years and replaced that boot at least
once on every one of them. :-)

Later,
Joe

Sheldon wrote:

Any chance of finding out the brand on those axles and/or a source? My
wife's 97 OBS is going to need at least one since the boot is going sad.

Hi DJ!

On Fri, 02 Mar 2007 04:46:44 GMT, "djay" <Nospam (AT) verizon (DOT) net> wrote:


By all means.

If the tear is recent, and you haven't yet tossed all of the grease
out (your nose knows ;-), slap on another boot. OEM boot is best, but
will require almost as much work as replacing the axle. The ones that
are split, and then glued after installation are pretty easy to deal
with, and seem to hold up OK.

ByeBye! S.
Steve Jernigan KG0MB
Laboratory Manager
Microelectronics Research
University of Colorado
(719) 262-3101