Just replaced both driveshafts on my 97 auto after the outer CV boots went bad about a year ago at 60k here in dry southern Arizona. Had a clunking in 2 mph turns and a shimmy at 80 mph. Got theaxles from raxles.com, and I ordered both sides -- the passenger was $149 because I went ahead and got a new support bearing, the driver's was $119. The Chilton manual describes it bit differently than I ended up doing it. It was not necessary to remove the passenger side first, as some suggested. I paid the big bux for non-autozone/checker/pebboys cuz I'm lazy and want them to last more than a couple years.

1. Crack loose the axle nuts with a 36mm socket and breaker bar (stand on it, and maybe use some penetrating oil). Some folks recommend having a buddy step on the brake to lock the rotors and avoid stressing the tranny.
2. Jack and secure w/ stands, remove the wheels and place the loose wheels laying down under the frame just in case. Remove the axle nuts and washer.
3. Detach the brakeline from the strut by removing the clip with a hammer and screwdriver.
4. Remove the cotter pin in the steering ball joint and the castle nut. Thread the nut back on castle-side first so it's flush with the bolt section of the joint, and hammer it out up and out. Use the penetrating oil. Or splurge and use the proper tool made just for this job.
5. Using 17 and 19 mm wrenches or sockets, remove the two nuts and bolts holding the strut to the hub. I had to use a cheater bar. I marked them first to possible preserve the alignment but YMMV. This will allow you to just get the splines on the outer joint loose from the hub. (Mine just slid right out, you snow-climate guys may have to soak it in p-oil and tap with a hammer.) I did this on both sides.
6. Get under the car and remove the three 12 mm bolts holding the support bearing for the passenger axle. I used both a 12 mm Craftsman wrench on one at first then I got smart and used about a foot of extensions on a 3/8 drive socket for the others. No problems at all. I tapped the outer portion of the bearing it with a hammer while my brother tugged gently from the side and it came right out.
7. Go ahead and install the passenger axle at this point and tighen down those three 12 mm bolts. I put some anti-seize on the support bracket where it contacts the bearing.
8. I removed the driver's side axle by prying with a big screwdriver against the tranny and the seal and with about 80% effort it came loose.
9. While I was still under the car, I positioned the new axle held by my bro, who had to put the axle nut back on flush and used a few fairly hard whacks with a regular hammer to get the circlip on the end seated in the tranny while I watched from under the car.
10. I then put everything back together in no particular order, using common sense and a torque wrench on the hub-to-strut nuts (110 lbs for my year, a little less for 93-94 years). The steering knuckle was torqued to 25 lbs. For the axle nut, I torqued it to 150 (my wrench's max) and then added some more torque by feel with the breaker bar and cheater.
11. We hopped in the car and I took a minute to mentally review what we had done. Of course, I forgot to replace the cotter pins on the axles, so I popped the hubcaps off (yeah, I ride steelies) and put the old ones back on.
12. Test drive showed silence on 2 mph tight turms and shimmy at 80 mph is gone. This was maintenance, not a mod, so the difference was subtle. So I immediately installed my cheap cone filter to provide that whiz-bang satisfaction. Wheee...

Hope this helps the DIY crowd.

 

For this first step I dont fight anymore by standing on it, I have three different size Fence pipes to use as leverage. I dont think I ll be using them anytime soon, that snap on impact has enough torque to spin them off 550 ft Lbs of torque.


36MM socket is correct size for that center NUT.