Suby axle ?

[saltydawg]

Does anybody know the inside measurements for a rear suby axle. I saw some pics on the VW IRS thread and love the idea.

Scott

[Shadow Catcher]

All current Subaru's are all wheel drive and the rear axles are independent but have a a fixed often limited slip rear differential. I think you would have to go back to the 1970's to early 80's to get the rear axle with out that. They worked well, I had a couple of them and could you find one would make a good trailer axle.

[KCStudly]

I believe Randy (WolfFarmer) has experience with Subaru axles. I think his first used one, and IIRC he may be planning the same for his second, now in the materials gathering/planning stage. Look him up, or maybe he will pipe in here.

[saltydawg]

I got some info from another member who has not been on here in a while. He might pop in here too.

I know about the 4 wd vrs 2 wd, but it seems even the 4wd can be made to work too.

Keep the info coming guys.

[Shadow Catcher]

The advantage of the 2WD rear is that it is a trailing arm torsion arm suspension very compact vs the current much more complex strut system.

[deepmud]

The 80's Suby had nearly the same suspension for either 4wd or 2wd . It unbolts from the unibody with 4 big bolts, easy-peasy.

Looks like this:


The 4wd will have a differential and half-shaft come with it - you unbolt that, and either take apart the outer cv by popping the snap-ring and removing the "guts" or hack off the cup with a $30 angle-grinder - either way the outer cv needs to keep the shaft in place as it holds the hub assembly on.

I had the hubs off my 2wd-axle to re-drill from 4 on 5.5 to 5 on 5.5 last weekend, actually. I was a bit surprised to find the bearings clean and looking the same as when I packed them over 10 years ago - considering:



and even before that I was REALLY thrashing it - this was about 15 years ago...(geeze I'm getting old )



Here it is as 5 on 5.5




I have a complete 4wd rear assembly sitting at my friend's house, waiting for some project to come along - maybe I can get you guys a pic .

It's a great all-round trailer - everyone should have one like it

[deepmud]

4wd axle

[deepmud]

new 5 bolt conversion



I ended up welding the studs on the back side ........several weeks later ............. after a near-disaster.

The left side lugs got loose (left side is what some older (early 70's) trucks would get reverse threads on the lugs to make them "auto-tighten" instead of loosen - I had taken it camping, hauling my heavy 4-wheeler (seen in above pic) along, then used the 'wheeler to haul the trailer down the steep side-slope beach a few miles to pick up a nice 400-500 pound driftwood log - then hauled the double load out from Homer, Ak back towards Anchorage - without rechecking the lug nuts.

It got pretty scary, but I didn't hear a thing till I slowed down in Kenai (actually, Soldotna, but more people have heard of Kenai, of the famous Alaska Kenai River King Salmon )



I very, VERY fortunate this stayed on the trailer - the loading of the wheel must be EXACTLY centered, or it would have fallen off for sure. In the picture it is still carrying the log and wheeler -a pretty heavy combination. I called a friend in the area who luckily had not quite gotten to his plane for a fishing trip (own's his plane) - he came over with his flat bed trailer, and I had it sitting in his yard in 45 minutes, and I went on my way to Wasilla (4 more hours north) while he went back to flying his plane to his favorite fishing hole ( the lucky dog ). I came back 2 weeks later, after having ordered a drum/hub from Rockauto.com, and welded up the new lug studs, and brought it assembled down to Kenai. All I had to do there was swap over the bearings and races and I was on the road again. I think I got out for less than $300 bucks including gas and parts - damn sight cheaper than it could have been ...

New one:



view of welding:



All this just because I wanted to run a 15" rim, and heavier load-rated tire. I do like the tire, and the larger size makes it float on soft sand and gravel nicely - but it would be easier just to buy the largest 13" tires I can find and run it another 15 years lol.

[KCStudly]

Hope those welds on cast iron don't crack on you... but they will, especially when loaded cyclicly. I do not like the way that you have drilled through the unreinforced areas of the hub to convert from four to five. That's probably why the first attempt failed, and I don't see how welding to cast iron is going to change that.

Good luck to you sir, I have your best interest in mind when I advise you to do something different than what you have done. (My opinion from what I can see in the pic's, others may vary.)

[deepmud]

Hope those welds on cast iron don't crack on you... but they will, especially when loaded cyclicly. I do not like the way that you have drilled through the unreinforced areas of the hub to convert from four to five. That's probably why the first attempt failed, and I don't see how welding to cast iron is going to change that.

Good luck to you sir, I have your best interest in mind when I advise you to do something different than what you have done. (My opinion from what I can see in the pic's, others may vary.)

I hear ya - but keep in mind they will not be loaded cyclicly - they will hold a constant tension, and a relatively constant temp (no brakes on the trailer) - FWIW I naively welded a steel door to a cast iron stove and made that work too - cast iron is difficult but not impossible.

I'm comfortable with the the non-reinforced areas being used - but I agree it's good to point out as a weak point. The other side wasn't welded, nor has it failed - I am really sure it was a simple matter of working the lugs loose - this happens, and not just to modified homebuilt trailers - but almost always due to incorrect torque of the lug nuts in the first place.

Again - you are being totally polite, and you are completely correct to point out things you see - what if someone copies me? They should hear the possible concerns But that's why I posted up the failure - no point in pretending it was all rainbows and puppies when it was most definitely NOT.

It's all good

[KCStudly]

Well thank you Deepmud. That was a refreshingly unexpected response, both in the spirit of my original reply and of this forum.

It is good that you understand the risks of your actions.

It is, in fact, all good!

[deepmud]

oh - I have BEEN that guy who over-reacts to reasonable, constructive criticism

Not sure why but it's sooooo easy to get wound up when someone disagrees with you on the Internet.

I'm trying to get smarter while I get older.

It's good to have goals


I should state that I had always planned to do a different re-drill, to 6 hole chevy/toyota/etc but I had a couple sets of 5 hole on hand, and tires to match ...... - I'd not recommend 5 hole - just leave it alone or go 6. You could even easily drill a 6-hole rim to 4-hole suby and get a 15" rim mounted, el-cheapo grande', and not mess with the factory stud location. At some point going cheap just costs you money! In this case rushing the job and being careless only cost a few hundred Your mileage may vary. It could be much worse. The old crappy tires (they were used tires when I got them in ....1997? or so?) worked for years and years and years- just buying some that weren't weather-checked to the point of dis-integrating would have been smart money