Thank you! Field Service Manual says to pull everything off - about 3x as much work. One note from a shade tree mechanic without a lift... Make sure the front tire on the opposite side is off the ground. Otherwise the sway bar is under pressure and makes it near impossible to get the spindle back onto the strut. Maybe that is obvious - but I had to learn the hard way.

Car Doctor, I owe you one! I am a confident home mechanic but had never done a cv axle before. I watched your clear and concise instructions and then did the job myself on my 18’ in an hour and a half start to beer. Seriously I owe you a beer, thanks.

Great video. Very detailed, this guy knows what he is doing. I been working on my own cars for 50 years, taught by my father but with this video I think anyone could perform this task. Thank you for making this so simple.

That method you showed is so much easier than taking the ball joint off. Thanks, you saved me hours....

Thank you so much for this great video. You made it simple for me to swap out both CV Axles on my 2010 Subaru Forester. I've paid to have this done on previous Subaru's, but now I have the confidence to to handle this and other advanced repairs. You did a great job with this video. Keep doing this. It's beneficial to a lot of us.

Thanks for the vid. Just finished my wife's 2012 Forester, was way easier than I had expected. Piece of cake

Great job and easy to understand. One thing for do it at home-rs....jack up both sides of tbe car...if you dont the strut wont align with the bracket! I learned the hard way and a phone call to my mechanic!! Thanks for your super videos...

Best video on this task. A lot of videos rush thru the work without showing clearly what they are doing on some steps. For all of us nonprofessional mechanics, we need to see exactly what is going on. Thank you for the excellent video.

Great Walk through. Replaced front passenger axle on a 2015 Forester. Had to pound the spindle out of the hub with a couple of hard hits with a punch, and it took more force than I thought to pop it out of the differential,/transmission. Saved ~600 bucks. Thanks!

You rule! I just did my wife’s 2011 Outback and it was really straight forward. I look like a hero.

Super helpful! Watched the video, then flawlessly replaced the same side axle on my 2006 Forester. The torque specifications are especially appreciated.

Doing my 2013 forester now. So far, spot on! Thanks!😁

Very instructive and beneficial video for those who repair their cars at home! Congratulations on the work of recording this great video! Thanks!

Great video Good tips I had a bit of trouble getting the old one out as the outer was seized and would not bend well But all back together and rolling Thanks

Glad to see ya torquing those axle nuts. Had an axle put in my lesabre and few months later, the wheel bearing assembly went out. I changed it out myself, after using a 6ft cheater pipe to break loose that axle nut with someone holding the socket on the nut for me. Nice video!

Thank you so much for posting this video. Just replaced my left front CV Axle and this video made things extremely manageable. Thanks again!

Thank you very much for this video, informative, to the point, no stupid editing or fanfare. For what it's worth to anyone reading, I borrowed a slide hammer kit as well as a 2-3 claw gear puller kit from the parts store. It took a combination of these in my case. The CV shaft was badly stuck in the spindle/hub and no amount of pounding with the BFH helped. The gear puller made short work of it. I also had a hard time getting it out of the transmission, though that was partially because my shaft had come apart.

Your videos are fantastic straight to the pint easy to understand you not only save me a lot of money but I fell ore seure when I am driven my car your video as teach me so much I been able to prevent major incidents thank you so much for wat you teach. I aprésate every tip.

VERY helpful as I need to do this tomorrow on my Forester. Thanks!

Timster the Guru God of Automotives... Hey man it's always a pleasure to be apart of your class when you are teaching us kids to do things the right way in a timely fashion.. Thanks Tim you are one bad ass dude...

great video. Feel pretty confident in doing this on my buddy's car now, thanks!

Great instructions with plenty of good tips, thanks Tim.

Good Job, helps me see and understand the inner workings of my Subaru. You are a classic man, thanks.

It was very educational with precise explanations to the point. thanks very much

Outstanding video. Great camera work, light, and narration. Thanks!

Worked like a charm, you saved me hundreds! Thanks Doc!

Thanks for a very detailed and easy to follow video. This video helped give me the confidence to replace mine myself.

As always a great video my friend. Thanks for sharing your video. It's good to see you back on KZfaq. I hope you have a blessed safe week.

Thanks mate the way of removing the 2 knuckles at top much quicker than the bottom one I've done previous,

Great job Tim as always and have yourself a good day!!

Your video was clear and easy to follow specifically because you did it all in one cut. I didn't miss a single aspect of how it is done, and was able to approach the job with great confidence never having done it before. My cv axle is replaced, it took less than an hour, and my wife can get to and from work safely again. Thank you sir.

Cheers bud, very helpful and good instruction. Worth the watch.

I didn't know rick from pawn stars fixed his own cars! Great video thanks for the help!!

Thanks mate, extremely helpful video

Hey The Car Doctor thanks for your video. It was very informative and helped me today get the job done. Thanks dude. :)

You rock dude, thanks for the video.

Thanks for this, super helpful!

It's nice when they pop out easily (from the diff)!

Thank you for this video, made my life easier by a long shot.

Awesome tutorial first time and went smoothly thanks to this.

Iv'e watched several of these cv replacement vids and I'me confident I can do this myself. Thank you Car Doctor! One thing though- one vid I watched recommended 140 ft/lbs on the spindle nut while you recommend 162 ft/lbs.

Nice work, easy to follow.

Nice works and a very nice video. Thanks for posting

I like the db cooper sticker on your torque wrench

great job on this video, nicely done. I will be able to take care of my 04 Forester now. 🍻

Very good video. Well said. Thank you sir. Wish more videos were like this. Did it myself no problem

Excellent video. Thank you!

Looks like a great time to do your rotors and pads too.

Thank you Thank you Thank you!!! This video helped me so much!!

Excellent video. Thank you. 👍

Great job as always enjoy your channel a bunch

"This is my special tool for Subaru's and it works good on Subaru's". That was awesome. I always enjoy your videos Tim. Keep up the great videos which provides plenty of information and sometimes a little humor.

This was awesome. Thank you very much!

Nice job Tim!!

Just a now know fact is that new CV axles from my Subaru dealer do NOT come with a Shaft spindle nut when buying the axle. So like you say, we got the shaft. Lucky for me the old one worked as the dealer isn't close. The young man doing the job for me was very praised the Subaru for its ease of this job compared to other axles he has done. Maybe made him a believer. LOL

hello i am a new subscriber you have great video content my wife and i are thinking of buying a used subaru would like to see more subaru videos in the future keep up the great work

I'm gonna have to change mine out on my subaru. I have this video saved. Will save me from bringing back to the mechanic that claimed he fixed the issue the first time.

Thanks for this. The place I went to wanted 1300 to do this to both sides.

Thank you great video, very helpful

It helped a lot! Thank you 🙏🏼

very good video and well explained

Great video sir, I feel I owe you a beer!

Great Video Thx Tim

Fantastic vid, thanks

Thank you; very informative

Very thorough. Thanks.

Hello Doctor!!!! I am a Shade Tree Mechanic by Heart and this 2005 Subaru Forester AWD is my first experience with all will drive and CV Axles. Your video is a Star on presentation on how do change the CV Axle. One question though, I do not remember You showing lithium grease being applied to both ends of the axle. Should that be done on both ends?

Great video. Thank you.

Is this pretty much the same for a 2018 ouback2.5 ? Love the video. Hopefully this will save me some money doing it myself it looks pretty simple. I have a massive popping noise that started last may, and has progressed substantially to every single turn I make in any direction it’s making noise , brought it to someone that went to school for auto and they said almost certainly it’s CV axle , although the boots are fine. No leaks no tears . Sounds like left side but I got both axles. Jacked the car up all the way around and tried to move the wheels at 6n12 so I don’t think it’s wheel bearings there’s no movement there .

Great video thank you

Very well done video thank you

Great video, you make it look very simple. I have a question, while I make every attempt to use OEM on my 2008 Legacy, what aftermarket store do you find yourself using the most? NAPA, Advanced, Autozone...etc Thanks

The Subrau tool looks like the Ford tool! Nice video

I just got a call from the Subaru dealer & they told me a front cv shaft is bad & a front lower ball joint also; total about $1000 on my 2016 Forester 2.5; that is NUTS! I should have no problem replacing those parts myself.

Thanks for the great video!

On Subarus Its very common for the front inner boots to leak from the factory. For DIY, replacing the boot is an easy job.

I appreciate the help it worked out great.

Great video, Sir. Thank you!

You Little Rippa, by that i mean, Thank You for the how to Vid. Excellent. I have a 2012 Forester thats just started to click every now and then when turning right....

Thank you for your video

Looking to do this on a 2015 Forester, this video makes me feel much better about giving this a shot. Now I just need to decide which CV axle brand I want to go with. I feel Subaru charges way too much for OEM.

Great vid, but shouldn't you replace the final drive housing seal while you've got it all apart?

Hi, I'm about to replace a front Axle on a subaru forester 2014, did you had to replace the differential oil after this? Did you lose any differential oil during this service?

Thankyou I got both of my Front ones done. Is there a video for the rear?

Aftermarket CV axles usually vibrate. OEM only if you plan to keep vehicle longer. Or just replace a joint and the boot.

Thanks for the video

I have 2019 wrx I need to replace my driver side as I punctured it when putting on coilovers, I think process might he same 🤔🤷🏾‍♂️

That's wise advice to not use antiseize on lug nuts. I did that for a while, until I found one that had spun itself off. A little corrosion is not a bad thing.

Great video

I have a '96 Subaru, which should be quite like this one. However, I have to take off some of the exhaust because they are under the inside of the CV joint. Why wasn't that an issue with this car or did he skip taking off the exhaust?

I just replaced both of the front axles on my 05 Forester XS with Cardone axles (due to them having good reviews as far as aftermarket goes). I used the ball joint entry so I could replace those as well. But now there is clicking at lower speeds and wobble when the engine is under load. Can someone point me in the right direction?

Smashing repair Tim :-D, back to new again. I bet the adjustment wasn't too far off, close enough not to make much difference :-D. I wonder if the quality of the boots is worse than it used to be, some people have no end of trouble with them splitting.

Very good Instruction, but when re assembling Strut bolts clean them and treat with anti seize first!

Great video, it seems it only took 16 minutes or so based on this video, to do that repair. That’s with moderation along the way. I got a quote from a Subaru dealer for the left front axle for $572.00. I know everyone has to make a living, but it seems like highway robbery. The labor for this should be $150 tops based on you video, not $400 labor. I wish I wasn’t so physically beat up, I’d fix it myself. Thanks for the educational video, at least I know what’s involved and know what should be a fair price, thanks

Thanks for the video. My husband replaced our front CV axles on a 2013 Subaru Forester using this method and now there is a clicking noise when it shifts from park to drive or reverse. What do you think he did wrong?

I hope it's no bother asking. However I just changed mine, same side, reassembled and took a test drive. Immediately I could tell something was wrong as it didn't accelerate smoothly. Almost as is it was slipping into neutral. At oil temp light and check engine light appeared. No grinding or clanking. Ac Delco part. 2012 forester. Thank you for any input.

My CV axle would NOT go in! I figured it out, so I thought I would post this here to help someone else out down the road. 2012 Subaru Outback 2.5…The retainer ring had to be put in the differential (not onto the CV axle), then the CV could be installed. The depth of the retainer ring channel and the height of the CV spline was such that even when the retainer ring was fully compressed it was as tall as the CV spline. So the matching spline housing in the differential was not going to be able to pass by the ring. Everything on the internets said “just jerk it in, it’s tough but you gotta yank it, etc.” I was beat on it with a 8 pound sledge, I dremeled the retainer ring smaller, I ordered a factory retainer ring, I greased it, I squeezed it, I bent it, all over the course of 4 different nights working on it…nothing worked. I put the ring in the differential (which was nerve racking cuz I didn’t want it going into the diff), but then it jerked in appropriately on my third tug. Also, the wheel bearing had been difficult to get out too. I popped the lug nut studs out. Got a 1/2inch by 5 inch full thread hardened bolt (O’reilly’s). Put the bolt through the stud hole with a nut on it. I had to remove the parking brake hardware so the bolt could rest/push against the parking brake dust cover (which had cast iron behind it). You have to leave the CV in with the nut on it, because otherwise the wheel bearing will separate. Use 3 or four bolts/nuts with an impact driver and some penetrating oil. The nut pushes the bearing out while the long bolt is pressing against the bearing housing. You’ll leave a mark on the dust cover, but so what.

You refer to your "Subaru Tool" hammer. I as a DIYer still have a little confusion as to what hammer to use when. There are so many types of hammer however I feel there are only a few must have hammers. It would be nice to have a top 5 hammers video from someone practical like yourself.

I've never done this but re-watching this video, would it be extremely easy to change the struts/springs at this time as well?

Nice job Tim. Im currently rebuilding a transmission on 07 impala and I could not get those axle shafts out. I have always used a pry bar but this car has a sub frame directly under where my pry bar needs to go. I ordered a "axle pooper" basically a wider pickle fork and it didn't work either, Too long. I used a bearing separator on the right side but that wouldn't fit on the left side. I order a tool that goes on the end of a side hammer. Worked great!! Had to real smack it hard though. Mine is a OEM 27058 from Amazon, although there was a lot of other brands. Might be the only time I need it but glade I have it.