Broken axle questions

[Yoda3000]

Just like the last time I broke an axle, the car will accelerate if I don't give it too much gas, but if I do the axle breaks free and spins freely. When this happens, all the torque goes to that axel and the speedometer and rpms skyrocket.

Question 1: both this vehicle and the last one this happened on are AWD, why does ALL the torque go to that one axel, I thought the rear wheels should still get SOME power.

Question 2: I have a Subaru Chilton's, but I was wondering how hard it is to replace an axel myself. I already have the spare axel in another car, but do I need special tools or skills?

Question 3: I knew my Front tranny differential is going bad (noise from bearrings), could it be possible that my problem is the diff. and not the axle. (Last time the problem behaved identically and it was an axel.

Also, when the car is still and in Drive, one of the front axels does spin slowly.

Thanks.
--Mike

[Beav]

Being as both cars are LS-L, are you certain they're both AWD? Kinda extra-coincidental that neither will send power to the rear. An AWD drive car will split the power pretty much 50-50, front-rear, during accel from a stop.

The front diff is an open diff - no type of limited-slip device involved.

Changing a front axle is about a fifteen minute job for a pro. If you have any mechanical skills and tools you should be able to do it in an hour or so. You'll need a pry bar, 14 & 17 mm sockets, a hammer - bfh preferable, a socket for the axle nut - I can't recall the size off the top of my head but it will be either 30, 32 or 36 mm. You'll also need a long shank pin punch to drive the roll pin from the inner joint.

If you have a front axle spinning while the car sits still the diff isn't the problem, most likely the outer joint is shot. Gee, it hasn't been making any noise for the last, say... few months, has it?

[Yoda3000]

Being as both cars are LS-L, are you certain they're both AWD?

Yes, the first one had JUST gotten a tranny rebuild too. Strange. Maybe I should call a subie dealer and ask them.

Gee, it hasn't been making any noise for the last, say... few months, has it?

and by it you mean...

Thanks, maybe I will try to do it myself. Like I said, I have a chilton's, but how do I torque the nuts properly when putting them back on?

[want-a-fast-svx]

ok first of what he means by it wasn't making any noise is when your axles go and get dirt and all the crud inside them from the boot being damaged the axles tend to make noise. Normally its a clicking or popping sound when turning. The axle install and removal is very straightforward and is not worth the money a dealer is more than likely going to charge you for it. Not sure if this is the way to do it by the book but i just did this 2 days ago.

1) pull the wheel off
2) take axle nut off
3) take cotter pin out of tie rod bolt and undue tierod. This will probably be in there very tightly. If you have a tie rod /ball joint seperator use that here. If not he BFH will work just fine.
4) Then undo the bolt that goes through the top of the ball joint and seperate the control arm from the assembly.
5)Take appropriate size punch,screwdriver, whatever tool fits the pin on the inside part, and tap it out so it comes off the stubb.
6) Pull hub assembly and rotor towards you and the axle will probably pull out of the rotor
7) Once out of the rotor just slide the axle out, prying down on the control arm will give you more room to get the axle out.

I would start with the car that has the spare axle on it. The only thing you need to be careful with is the boots. When you are taking them out and putting them in make sure nothing cuts the boot up or else youll need to get the boot replaced.

[Beav]

The axle only fits on the inner stub one way. If you look you'll notice that the pin hole is centered in a groove on one side and on a spline 180 degrees opposite.

You may find it easier to remove the three bolts attaching the ball joint to the control arm rather than removing the one nut securing the ball joint stud to the knuckle.

When using a tie rod separator (pickle fork) it is easy to damage the boot. Usually a whack or two from a BFH against the side of the knuckle (where the tie rod passes thru - don't hit the tie rod end!) will pop it loose without risking the boot. Don't smack the threaded end of the tie rod, that will just smash the threads.

[Yoda3000]

Ok I think my dad and I are giong to attempt to do this ourselves, but do you guys have any more advise? It sounds very complicated and a lot of the terms you're using are confusing and I can't find them in the chiltons.