nick

iTrader: (10)

I have ordered new axles from Raxles.com and I am looking for lats minute tips from anybody that have replaced theirs ( btw I am Auto)

motorvate.ca has great write up , but first hand experience would be great

so in cliff notes here is the brake down of knowledge i have so far:

I know about 14mm axle carier bolts which secure the bearing to the block
those have to be removed first and than the axle should simply pull out from the tranny - there is no C-clip on passenger side.

once i have the axle out -do i simply transfer the bearing onto the new one?

or will the new Cv axle will come with bearing already mounted and ready for install?

Now - for the Driver side - Hayens and Chiltons Manuals say that driver side axle must be driven out of the tranny by sticking screwdriver through the tranny and lightly tapping the axle out - have anyone done it this way?

My local Autozone has CV Axle puller , i will rent it out and give it a try

please share your inputs If you have replaced cv axles on your Auto Maxima

Thanks

Nick.

JSutter

iTrader: (46)

I have done both trannys and each side. The drivers side pops out easy if you pry the inner CV joint form the transmission. The passangers side can be troublesome. The bearing retainer to support bracket can be tricky. Sometimes they come apart easy, and some times you need to pry at them for some time. But once they come apart they are pretty easy to reinstall. The new axle is ready to go back into the support bracket, dont need to swap anything. Just make sure the metal oil seal cover (for lack of better word) is either off the inner CV or still covering the seal. You need to reuse that part.

I never had to hit the drivers side out from the passangers side, but if youre doing both you can do it that way. Mine just popped out.

It helps to break the axle nuts free when the car is on the ground. If your 36mm socket wont fit threw the center of your rim it will threw the spare tire.

I never drained the fluid when I did the auto and none leaked out either.

Its a good idea to use some anti-seize on the axle nuts upon reinstall. They get pretty stuck over the years.

nick

iTrader: (10)

thanks a lot !!!!

I will tackle this next weekend, hopefully everything goes smooth. (knock on wood)

Nick.

PAREDLINE

If you're a first timer I guarantee you'll probably have a problem with the passenger side center bearing.

A good trick is to have a nice long cold chisel. Loosen the 3 bolts and chisel a side of the bracket. Then try to pry. Then chisel more. Pry more. Until it's loose.

And if you have aftermarket rims but want to take the axle nut off with the wheels on the ground you can use your spare tire.

Amarao

when i replaced mine the driver's side was easy as hell, but the passenger side had rusted into the support, so hit it with some WD40 or something else to loosen it first, then do the driver's side. Had to use a prybar and a hammer to slowly pull the axle out of the support and even after cleaning the support reinstallation was a tight fit. I'd personally say it was an easy job except for the passenger side being stuck. Certainly plan for this to take a lot of time, just in case you run into trouble, took me around 6 hours because i got frustrated with the support and took a 30min break. Good luck to you and I hope things go easier for you then they did for me.

nick

iTrader: (10)

ok , do i need to pry the support bearing away from the engine
or you are refering to removing the bearing from the axle shaft?

Iam having hard time to visual this......


thanks in advance

Nick.

Amarao

the support bearing goes through a ring, that is mounted to the engine, sometimes it will seize and have to be pryed out like he said.

PAREDLINE

You cant visualize it... and I can't explain it better- unless you look at it and just do it.

Its not brain surgery. You can get it out. Just dont get frustrated and pull the crap out of it. You'll probably be fine. Take a stab at it and if you get stuck slap a post on here and someone will help you.

69CHARGER_RT

Mine was seized.....had to beat the crap out of it

nick

iTrader: (10)

here is pic: courtesy of: Maxima VLad



in his write up he says the there are 3 12mm axle carier bolts that have to be removed ......

I thought that there are 3 14mm axle carier bracket bolts that have to be removed in order to free the axle from tranny.

so which ones have to be removed for sure?


Nick.

Amarao

Those are the 3 bolts you have to remove, they are the only bolts along the entire driveaxle. Can't really recall is they're 12 or 14mm, also it's a pretty tight fit in there for a wrench, so I'd suggest letting the engine cool a bit before getting to work.

Wetballoon

I'v pulled mine three times already, and I must say, if you can't get it with basic hand tools, you have no business spinning wrenches. You may do a bit of swearing, but, that is half the fun of not paying a mechanic. Need I address the other half?

nick

iTrader: (10)

cool , thanks !!! I always do my research before tackling any new jobs , once i do it
it becomes second nature.

I am just supprised on how some members say to remove axle carier bracket bolts which are 14mm and some say to remove 3 axle bearing bolts wich are 12mm
I've researched and some member removed 3 axle carier bearing bolts and axle wouldn't budge , than he was advised to remove the 3 bolts which secure the bracket to the engine.

did you have to disconnect the outer tie rod from knuckle?

Nick.

Amarao

nah, all you have to do is disconnect the lower part of your shock with those 2 bolts to get enough play to remove the axle. And I seriously doubt you could get anything up there to remove the bracket from the engine, i have pretty skinny hands and i couldn't get up in there let alone get any torque to turn a bolt. Keep a chisel or prybar handy so you can tap it out if necessary.

Wetballoon

Replacing them?? If they seem stuck just loosen them with a BFH. Also, while I have never done it, I have been told that you can drop the lower control arm at the ball joint if you prefer to not have to remove the two strut bolts. They can be tricky to line up during reassembly.

PAREDLINE

You have absolutely positively no idea what you are talking about.

And what's a BFH? For future reference.

flynlr

iTrader: (2)

BFH= Big Frickin Hammer. last I heard

nick

iTrader: (10)

here is one more Q, after you get the bolts from the bearing do i need to pry on the axle shaft in order to slide it out of the tranny and the bearing support?

Chiltons manual states " The support bearing will not fully slide out of his housing until the halfshaft is removed from transaxle"


thanks

Nick.

PAREDLINE

You may have to. I just give the axle a few good hard pulls after I'm sure the support bearing is separated.

As a less barbaric alternative you could pry the shaft out of the transmission with a pry bar. Dont go too crazy or you might nick the axle seal that lays against the transmission.

Here's another tip that they dont have in the books.

When you install a new axle make sure you lubricate the splines (on the axle) that go into the transmission AND you lubricate the axle seal (on the transmission) very well. I use generic high speed wheel bearing grease. I lubricate the seal as soon as I remove the old axle because I want the grease to moisten the seal just in case it has dried and leaving it on there for a good 10 mins usually does the trick.

Another tip is if you have problems seating the new axle in to the transmission but you are sure the splines are lined up, you can do the following.

1. Turn the new axle by hand to make sure the splines on the axle are inside the splines in the transmission

2. Hold the axle outer end up so that the entire axle is on the same horizontal plane. The CV joints should be in line with the axle shafts so it looks like its one straight axle

3. Take your old axle nut that you used on the spindle. If your nut has a lip on it, screw it into the axle backwards. Screw the nut on to the axle so that it is about 5mm away from where the axle shaft begins.

4. While holding the axle in this straight plane, take a hammer and strike the nut. make sure the nut is on the axle and protrudes about 5mm so you dont damage the threads on the axle. Never do this without a nut on the end of the axle or the threads will be damaged and you'll have to return the axle.

5. The axle should seat firmly into the transmission after a few solid blows. Make sure the CV joints are always straight. If it doesnt go in even after all this, then remove and re-lube the axle. If it still doesnt go in then there's something wrong with either the splines in the transmission or the splines on the axle.

I've done about 20 axle jobs on various cars. 5 thus far either had bad splines or bad threads. Thats why I prefer to buy my axles locally so they can go back fast if there's a problem.

nick

iTrader: (10)

thank you !!!, I have repalced passenger side cv axle on my wife's car ( 93 Prizm )
with axle from Raxles.com , everything went pretty smooth except the wrong outer cv joint which didn't sit flush inside the hub. Quick email with pictures to Marty at raxles solved the problem and new axle was shipped out. I do agree with buying them locally though, just in case of problems like that.

For my Maxima ,I bought the passenger side from raxles , but the driver side will be from Napa.

Raxles.com aren't that cheap ( $169 shipped for passenger side)

Nick.

nick

iTrader: (10)

Ok , the passenger side is installed and it went in like butter !!!
taking the old one wasn't so bad either , three 12mm axle carier bolts broke loose easy and than i soaked the bearing with PB blaster for few minutes. Next I've used chisel and hammer and slowly started to pry on the bearing support bracket away from CV axle bearing. It was slow , but steady progress, finally i gave the axle nice pull and it come out. Installing the new one from Raxles.com was pure breeze.

car lift, PB blaster and garage creeper were my best friends today !!!

Tomorrow I'am installing the driver side, I have rented CV axle puller ( sliding hammer) from Autozone and hopefully this tool will make the job of pulling the old axle from tranny pretty easy, If the puller won't work i will brake out the old ond trusted crowbar and gently pry on the inner joint( will use crossmember as a point of levrage)


thanks for all the input !!!!


Nick.

MAXTOUT

If I understand your last post, you did that the hard way. You simply needed to remove the 3 bolts holding the BEARING BRACKET to the ENGINE BLOCK. I got new axles from carquest and the pass. side axle came with a bearing bracket on the axle. Maybe raxles does it different.

I thought you were going to knock the drivers side axle out from the pass. side? Anyway, that is all unneccesary. Just give that axle a good yank and it should pop right out. Putting the new axle in, stabilize the C clip on the end of the axle with some bearing grease and pop it right in there. easy as cake.

good luck

P.S.- if you every want to do a I30 vlsd 5spd swap you will need new I30 vlsd axles as well.

Amarao

You should be able to just give the driver's side axle a tug with your hands and it should pop right out, there is a ring that holds it in place along with the hub, there is nothing else that should stop you from just pulling it out.

davey6693

Agree. The driver's side was a piece of cake. The passenger side took me a long time though.

maxiquin

iTrader: (4)

OK, i got a question. how do i take off the bolt to the tie rod end? or is it the tie rod end? i think it is.lol it has a bolt upside down on the left of the rotor on the passenger side? I took out the little metal piece out of it and tried to take it off? Which direction to pull? so here are my steps let me know if i am missin anything

1.Take off metal piece on the axle nut.
2. remove ring piece
3. usin a 36mm socket take off axle nut
4. usin a 14mm socket take off bottom bolt to strut. Pull away from u??
5. usin a ?? socket take off the bolt upside down to the tie rod end?
6. What should i do now? MOve rotors to the side and start tryin to pry the cv axle out?

Hey dont make me feel bad, im new to do stuff like this!!

Amarao

skip step 5, turn the rotors to give the axle a semi-straight shot out and pull with your hands.

maxiquin

iTrader: (4)

so i dont have to undo the tie rod end? it should move out the way to put the cv joint off? remember im doin the passengers side!!

PAREDLINE

Here's a trick. You dont need to remove the tie rod end if you turn the steering wheel all the way to the opposite side from what you're working on

nick

iTrader: (10)

you have to disconnect the tie rod from steering knuckle in order to tilt the hub back and remove outher CV joint from hub.

Make sure that you have nice sturdy chisel - it will be the tool of the day, use it to seperate the CV axle bearing from support bracket, make sure that you remove those three 12 mm bolts first.


My driver side is installed, it went out and in pretty smooth, I had to remove the strut to gain more room , once the strut was out of the way , it took 2 blows with dead blow hammer and new axle was seated.

Nick.

maxiquin

iTrader: (4)

how do u take the tie rod end bolt off? i know about the little metal piece in the bolt??? which direction to pull? Heeeeeeeeeeelp! oh yea and them 3 bolts around the inner boot i dont see them.

MAXTOUT

You do not need to remove the tie rod end.

1. remove the bottom strut bolts.
2. pull down on the spindle(or whatever its called)
3. tap the axle through the hub until it is free.
4. slide the axle toward the front of the car till it clears the inside bearing race.
5. yank the axle out of the trans

done

you may need to remove the brake the caliper from the spindle for more clearance.

Xmax

iTrader: (1)

Haha....i never used a chisel when I had to replace my axle. Here are my tips when replacing and axle.

If you feel the axle is seized to the wheel bearing, you a skinny punch and a hammer, NEVER HAMMER DIRECTLY ONTO THE AXLE, you may damage the threads if you plan on just rebuilding it.

You don't need to remove the tierods, as people are saying just turn the wheel in the direction so you can pull out the axle out. If the tierod is in the way, just push down on the A arm, there should be some give so you can acutally pull it out.

On the passenger side, if you feel the axle bracket is seized to the axle itself, you are better taking it out with the axle and hammering it off. Use a small piece of 2x4 to prevent the hammer from damaging the bracket. Especially hammers with those grid type heads that will make permant marks on the bracket.

When pulling the axle out from the transmission, you have to use brute force to pull it out, that i pretty much the easiest way to take it out.

maxiquin

iTrader: (4)

what? i believe if u take the tie rod end off u can swing it up and do it that way. U take the tie rod end off and udont have to mess with the brakes and caliper. HOW DO YOU TAKE THE TIE ROD END OFFF???

hacim105

iTrader: (6)

Does all this info work on a manual also?

Dexter

i'm doing the same starting wednsday, bt just the passenger side axle, wish ya luck man

-Dexter

ciscofreak

Since my passenger side is pretty much seized in the carrier bearing. Can I remove the drivers side axle and pound the passenger side out?

madmaxima420

i just removed my axles tonight, drivers side is no problem just yank it out, the passengers side involved a lot of swearing and chiseling but came out fine. i also bought a pair of axles from raxles.com and am very pleased with the quality.