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i own a 1997 subaru impreza wagon 1.6 litre front wheel drive, the question i need answered is, are the cv joints the same for the all wheel drive & the front wheel drive, or are they different?

thanks

Probably worth asking a pro as fwd axles are thicker than awd.

Which enjine are you putting in?

I've just done a 1.6 FWD to 2.0 4WD swap, and the 1.6 FWD shafts are the same as the n/a 2.0 4WD shafts. I am not sure if the turbo ones are bigger though, if you are going EJ20T?

Check out this Catalogue, Should be able to help you check what you want to know.

azzafreddy wrote:i own a 1997 subaru impreza wagon 1.6 litre front wheel drive, the question i need answered is, are the cv joints the same for the all wheel drive & the front wheel drive, or are they different?

thanks

Yes, the joints are different.
The shafts are interchangeable as complete shafts though.
Daza.

the engine i have is the ej16 non turbo, automatic transmission. i need to replace the right cv joint, just want to make sure i buy the right ones for the model, if the shaft as a whole is interchangable i might as well get the AWD cv joints. i am not doing an engine swap or an upgrade just replacing a faulty cv joint, might call a subaru dealer, thanks for the help

you want an SB024B from a and f driveshafts
I can sell you one for 140.00 landed in Wodonga at your front door
if you so desire

You should be able to pick up a complete axle from any importer/wrecker/forum member for $100, you'll find they are just about all interchangeable

2WD ones have a larger shaft and spline size to cope with the extra torque put through 2 wheels instead of 4. They can be used but IMO Subaru wouldn't have made 2 different shafts if they didn't have to.

yeah i agree with that for sure, will be getting hold of the propper parts for my car, if the awd shafts are weaker it could cause problems in my opinion.

azzafreddy wrote:yeah i agree with that for sure, will be getting hold of the propper parts for my car, if the awd shafts are weaker it could cause problems in my opinion.

I dunno that they would be weaker - it could be just for looks to keep the punters happy. My L series is PT4wd with thick front drive shafts. My sister's L is FT front wheel drive ONLY and has shafts that were considerably smaller in diametre. When you remove the CV boot they end up being the same diametre at some point in there so they'd be the same strength.

I realise that the EA's are powered less than the EJ series subi's but I'm sure the above would be the same for the imprezas/libertys etc if they used two different shaft diametres.

Cheers

Bennie

Paul, I'm pretty sure my 280hp Liberty and your 22B are punching out more power to the skinny front shafts than his 1.6 n/a is so I doubt they are really that important in the scheme of things, maybe in a 2.2 fwd but............

Tom.. My 22B and many STi shafts I've seen are even larger again than the 2WD shafts.

Bennie.. shaft, spline and bearing race are all larger.

i went to a subaru specialist today & explained the situation, the guy told me there is no difference at all & the only reason some are bigger then others is because they were made different but have the same strength, then i said it seems as though the front wheel drive impreza's have bigger cv joints, he told me he has come across many AWD & FWD models with thick & thin cv joints in both, he seems to think instead of certain models having thicker/thinner cv joints it's possible that subaru started making them a different size after a certain year, but he was only guessing & said it wouldnt matter which ones i use anyway.

now.. does anyone know where i can get hold of impreza cv joints cheap online?

cheers.

FROG wrote:you want an SB024B from a and f driveshafts
I can sell you one for 140.00 landed in Wodonga at your front door
if you so desire

Thats a good price delivered be careful with those $100 cv's on ebay they don't last there from China

Jan

RSR 555 wrote:Tom.. My 22B and many STi shafts I've seen are even larger again than the 2WD shafts.

Bennie.. shaft, spline and bearing race are all larger.

PFFFFTTTTT Everything you've got is bigger