Saabaru/Impreza in rust belt - replace subframe?

Cross posted on another forum because I'm SUPER short on time:

Step one in replacing my differential is to pull the halfshafts out. The driver side axle nut and shaft threads were corroded into a mess and when I went to unbolt the control arms from the knuckle, that 8 inch long bolt snapped its head right off. I had to use a sawzall to get the knuckle off and hopefully I can get the remainder of the bolt out of the control arm outboard bushings, but that’s yet to be seen and I don’t have much hope for it. I am getting a new knuckle for that side and half shaft, too.

So now I am trying the passenger side and I got the axle nut off and now I am trying to get that lower knuckle bolt out. I don’t care if I need to replace the bolt, I just need it out. I have tried hammering on it, but of course it’s on the forward side and there is very little room to get a swing in. I tried turning it, and it never really breaks loose, which leads me to believe that the bearing is spinning inside.
Which leads me to my question: is there actually a way to get this bolt out??

The only YouTube video I have found about replacing the rear differential is from an STI and the guy seems to have no trouble at all getting that bolt out, of course it's not a rusty mess, either. 

Second question: I can possibly get an entire rear subframe from another car. Is that going to be easier in the Rust Belt than trying this piecemeal and breaking things left and right?

I assume rear.  The FU bolt is a real FU, isn't it.

Look up 541 Motorsports on eBay.  I purchased a set of rear links with all six bolts for a very reasonable price.  Also a rear subframe.  And a front subframe.  And a fuel tank heat shield/strap set.

I'm not really using all that much from the donor WRX, in hindsight...

Now.  It is possible to get the diff out without pulling halfshafts.  Too late now, I know... but you have to lower the subframe so the links are horizontal, unbolt the diff, unbolt it from the T frame, shove it all the way to one side to get one axle out, then slide the other out.  This is how I removed the diff from the parts WRX because there was no way I was going to try to disassemble the FU bolts.

In reply to Pete. (l33t FS) :

<insert swear words here>

Well, on the pass side I was able to disconnect the lateral links/control arms from inboard near the diff and took it off the strut to get some movement. The diff came out okay except it's still stuck on the driveshaft and it was too late last night to go banging on it. 

So now I'm ready for either a WRX LSD and shafts or a NA diff and one shaft, depending on which one can come through first/cheapest. 
 

I'm so done with this job. I watched the dude on YouTube get it done in 20 minutes (granted some skipping) and by having to constantly roll with the punches and reevaluate where I was heading I'm a whole day into this. 
>:/

Colin adventures

This one is more like colon adventures.

I had to call all over creation to find a place the had the parts on-site and weren't just reselling parts from PA that wouldn't arrive before next week. I finally found one and ponied up for a knuckle with the control arms on it and a diff from the same place. My relief didn't last long because APPARENTLY the 9-2x uses a lateral link proprietary to only the Impreza wagon and itself. And this wasn't one of those. 8/

I kept calling around and ppl have knuckles on hand that they've chopped the ends off of, or vanishing diffs in the back room, or just not calling me back. stuff like that. 
 

In the meantime I worked my butt off and finally got the wedged bolt pieces out of the two lateral control arms. So I called the place back and said I'd take their $50 knuckle after all -- as long as they removed the bolt from it first. Well... they're still trying to get that bolt out. 
 

meanwhile I was deliberating on all these places wanting $150 for a NA diff vs one place with 4x for $75. My "click - respond" said $$$ = better, but I'm also cheap. THEN I noticed that some of the $150 places were RESELLING the $75 ones, but with shipping added on. SOLD to the man with the bloody knuckles for $75!!

So we're doing a family outing tomorrow and picking up the parts and going to the zoo. Then when we get home I'll see if I can put this thing back together successfully. SMH 

Odds are 4:1 against me succeeding and getting to rallyCross on Saturday. 

HEYYYY! Phil's Auto Parts just called and they got the bolt out of the knuckle!

Any advice on visually inspecting a diff that's been sitting on the shelf for years?

Pete. (l33t FS) said:

I assume rear.  The FU bolt is a real FU, isn't it.

 

Look up 541 Motorsports on eBay.  I purchased a set of rear links with all six bolts for a very reasonable price.  Also a rear subframe.  And a front subframe.  And a fuel tank heat shield/strap set.

I'm not really using all that much from the donor WRX, in hindsight...

 

Now.  It is possible to get the diff out without pulling halfshafts.  Too late now, I know... but you have to lower the subframe so the links are horizontal, unbolt the diff, unbolt it from the T frame, shove it all the way to one side to get one axle out, then slide the other out.  This is how I removed the diff from the parts WRX because there was no way I was going to try to disassemble the FU bolts.

Bless you for this inspiration to think outside the box.
 

I got the diff in place and assembled in time for the event but the diff was bad so I couldnt use the car. (Beyond disappointing)
Last night I went to pull it out to return it. Since it was freshly bolted together on the driver's side with enough anti-seize to paint a tugboat, I did the recommended disassembly on that side. Then since I knew the pass side was a nightmare, I dropped the diff and THEN slid the diff off of the pass half shaft. Problem solved!

it's amazing what it must be like to work on cars outside of the rust belt. I'd anti-siezed everything last weekend and was able to remove the bad diff from the car in my driveway in the dark in about 45 minutes. 

When shopping for a replacement (used) driveshaft should I make sure there is ZERO noise or should I expect to hear a little bit of the rolling sound?

I eventually took the Saabaru to get a second opinion after installing two used diffs that spun smoothly and quietly by hand. New shop tells me it's a carrier bearing for the two piece driveshaft. I pulled it and only by holding my ear up to the shaft can I hear any sort of noise. Yet this is apparently what's screaming at 40mph

Does that make sense?

I have no words for this. 

Here is the ongoing saga of the Saab:

I picked up the driveshaft and, true to that place's form (Height's Auto) it didn't fit (I gave them three tries on the Jag steering knuckle and all three had bad hubs, the third knuckle was for the wrong side). However, playing around with the driveshaft before returning it, the carrier bearing for the driveshaft sounded exactly the same as mine. Mind you, I had no firm evidence at that point that the driveshaft was actually bad, other than the word of a second shop. There is no slop, no knocking, everything is tight. 

So I returned it and talked to a mechanic friend of mine from Kansas City. He recommended something called a "chassis ear". It's a small audio switch that you plug a bunch of different microphones into and you hook each one of the microphones up to a different part of your car and as you drive it you switch between each input and see if you can figure out where the noise is coming from.

So I did that yesterday after putting the old driveshaft back in and putting fluid into the differential that I had reinstalled.

The particular chassis ear I got off of Amazon is a steaming pile of crap with three of the six microphones not really working at all, but with switching around the other three on a couple different test drives I was able to determine a couple things:
- The new diff is not making noise
- The driveshaft is also NOT MAKING ANY NOISE
- The noise is coming from up front in the combined trans/engine/center/front diff chunk of metal, and louder up near the front half shaft output

I checked the fluid levels up front and they're fine. I'll test some more today to see if it could possibly be a hub (unlikely), but otherwise the trans/diffs are bad. 

Update: if you hear a noise like that seemingly coming from the center/rear, it could quite possibly be your trans instead. I drove an hour and a half to a RallyCross, drove it hard enough to start hunting for gears a little, then drove it home. No change in the whining sound. 
 

I'm going to keep running it until whatever it is in there fails completely. Then we'll see. 

P3PPY said:

I'm going to keep running it until whatever it is in there fails completely. Then we'll see. 

sometimes this is the only way.