Replacing Axles

[Suzuka323]

Anybody that has done this or knows exactly how, how hard or time consuming is this process to replace both axles? Does the whole spindle assembly have to be disconnected from the car, or do you remove everything down to the brake rotor, loosen that nut behind the rotor in the middle and pull the axle through the spindle? Help would be greatly appreciated as I'm probably going to tackle this job along with replacing my struts in the next couple of weeks.

Thanks,
MrH.

[almighty4wd]

yes, you do have to remove the caliper, rotor, strut bolts, ball joint, and the hub nut. takes alot of time, but isn't hard at all. I've done it many times. I'm actually doing it right now, swapping out my tranny! I'll take some pictures for ya, as soon as I find my lug wrench......

btw, if your boots aren't hard or cracked, I wouldn't go to the effort to removing the whole, just the boots, and add fresh grease (can't remember what kind though). much easier.

[Suzuka323]

yes, you do have to remove the caliper, rotor, strut bolts, ball joint, and the hub nut. takes alot of time, but isn't hard at all. I've done it many times. I'm actually doing it right now, swapping out my tranny! I'll take some pictures for ya, as soon as I find my lug wrench......

btw, if your boots aren't hard or cracked, I wouldn't go to the effort to removing the whole, just the boots, and add fresh grease (can't remember what kind though). much easier.

Thanks man, to the rescue again huh? I already have both remaned axles ready to go in, they needed to be replaced anyways. Yeah, if you can get pics that'd be great and take as many as you can!

Hey, I got your struts yesterday and I have to say, they look like new except for the dirt on the bodies, the shafts don't have any kind of marks on them at all, so thanks and I'll leave you feedback here shortly!

Thanks,
MrH.

[deadly_sleeper]

you can undo the bolt that holds the top part of the ball joint in, and your whole spindle will rotate out enough for you to pull one end of your axle out. then just pop it out from the tranny or intermediate shaft, depending on which side you are doing. i did one in about 35-45 minutes, from start to finish. it's super easy on our cars.

[Suzuka323]

you can undo the bolt that holds the top part of the ball joint in, and your whole spindle will rotate out enough for you to pull one end of your axle out. then just pop it out from the tranny or intermediate shaft, depending on which side you are doing. i did one in about 35-45 minutes, from start to finish. it's super easy on our cars.

Awesome, thanks.

I am also replacing the Output Shaft Seal on the left side cause it's leaking, from what I've read once I pull the axle out I just pry the old seal out, put some oil on the new seal, and push it into place? I know I'll lose a decent amount of oil when I pull the old one out and it was suggested that I try to tilt the left side of the car up and I have a rough idea of how I'm going to do that, but would I lose that much less oil by "leaning" the car or is it better to just do the damn thing as it sits?

Thanks for the replies gentleman.

MrH.

[almighty4wd]

Here's some pics for you. Its as far as I got before I had to come to work. crappy work...coulda had the trans all but out if not for you!


The hub assembly


there's the ball joint bolts, didn't have to take them off


just 2 bolts on the caliper


easy as cake to remove, and my disc came off nicely, not rusted on


here's the hub nut, 32mm if you don't know, used a 1/2" breaker bar with a 4ft cheater bar, and it came off.


use a bucket to support the caliper, and crank the wheel hard left, and remove the strut bolts


now crank the wheel hard right, it should push the hub off the axle, assuming its not rusted heavy on.


get the strut off the hub. now you should be able to pull on the assembly down and to the side, might have to play with steering angle, but it should come out without removing the ball joint or steering arm!

That a good start Matt? lol

[Suzuka323]

That a good start Matt? lol

Good Start?!

Hells yeah, that's perfect, I had a step by step saved on my computer that I found, but yours was much better and easier to read. The fortunate thing about doing these axles is that I just had the motor swap done, so the axles should slide out real nice since they were just out! So now I need to pick a day and start early cause I have Struts, Axles, Thermostat, and Output Shaft Seal to do and I'd like to get it all done in one day!

As usual Almighty, you've been a huge help!

MrH.

[MD323]

i dont even go that far, turn the wheel all the way to the side your working on. depending on your rim you can break the lock nut free on the ground or jack it up and do it. then undo the top bolts to the strut,tap the axle end wit a hammer, pull the hub assembly downward and side the axle out

I am also doing my trans right now

[Suzuka323]

i dont even go that far, turn the wheel all the way to the side your working on. depending on your rim you can break the lock nut free on the ground or jack it up and do it. then undo the top bolts to the strut,tap the axle end wit a hammer, pull the hub assembly downward and side the axle out

I am also doing my trans right now

I guess there are many ways to do this and I guess I'll do whichever seems the easiest at the time as I will be replacing the struts at the same time.

Thanks,
MrH.

[Hadoken]

Instead of starting a new thread I thought I'd ask my question here.

Do I need a special tool to put the new output shaft seal in? The FSM mentions using one to tap it into place, but can I use anything else for it?

[therieldeal]

you can use a socket with the right diameter, or something similar.

[Cayman #1]

thats the easy part, lol i took a set out today, after the jack shaft was unbolted the passager side came out good, drivers side, that was harder. first tryed to use a screw driver and hammer it out threw the tranny, didn;t work. mostly probly cause i couldn't get room to hammer. then tryed a pry bar, and it broke, lol. then i started to hit it with a hammer on the thick part of the CV shaft. and it slowly started to vibrate out, i didn;t hit it hard but not tapping it. and it came out.

thought it might help you out a bit

[LeeMoney]

Ive done axles on both sides of my car and i have never removed the rotor or caliper to do it. you can take the hub nut off with the rotor on there and slip the shaft out so theres no reason to pull the caliper or rotor. Other than that i just took the balljoint to control arm bolts out so i could pull the assembly out a little and slip the splines out. The hard lesson i learned for getting the shafts in and out of the tranny was short jerky motions either way to pull the splines out of the tranny or put them back in. When your going back in make sure your splines are lined up well before you start getting aggressive

[almighty4wd]

yeah, the whole jerking thing....accidentally jerked hard, well, nto really an accident, but yea, popped the end of the axle out of the splines, where it enters the hub. now I can't get the 2 pieces back together, so I guess I'll have to go get it replaced..good thing for lifetime warranties!

[Suzuka323]

yeah, the whole jerking thing....accidentally jerked hard, well, nto really an accident, but yea, popped the end of the axle out of the splines, where it enters the hub. now I can't get the 2 pieces back together, so I guess I'll have to go get it replaced..good thing for lifetime warranties!

Damn man that sucks!

Well I believe I have help in tackling my axles, struts, and tranny seal this weekend, so hopefully all goes well since the axles have recently been removed from the car they shouldn't be too much of a pain. I'll let you guys know.

MrH.