I'm looking for someone who has experience pulling the passenger side driveshaft. I was outfitted with both the Haynes manual and the printout of the CV boot repair link on this webpage, but couldn't repair my outer CV boot because I couldn't get the driveshaft out. The link doesn't say how to remove the passenger side (only the driver's side), and the Haynes manual says simply to mark the relationship of the bearing retainer to the support bracket, remove the bolts, and remove the driveshaft. Well, I removed the three bolts, but the driveshaft wouldn't budge.

Can anyone tell me exactly how to get the passenger side driveshaft out? My only other thought was to buy a boot repair kit for the inner joint as well, and just pull the inner joint out, leaving the CV cup attached to the support bracket. Ugh, what a miserable job... but I don't want to pay a mechanic to do this for me!

Thanks,

Greg

 

take a long **** flathead screw driver, and a hammer, nd you good to go

 

FIG 1


FIG 2


FIG 4

 

What happen is that the two backets are stuck together. When i removed mine i took off 6 bolts. the 3 that hold that two backets together(axle wouldnt move) and the 3 that hold the backet to the engine. The only hard bolt to get at is the top one.

 

Thanks guys. Well, it must be really stuck, because I was pounding on the section refered to in the picture as "support bearing retainer." I also tried the screwdriver just like in the picture, and that didn't work either.

I do have a question though. If I did get the support bracket to break loose, does the entire driveshaft pull out (i.e., both the end with the CVs and the end that inserts into the transmission). The pictures in the Haynes manual make it look like you unbolt the bearing retainer bolts and the shaft separates at that point.

Anyhow, at this point I think I'll just buy a second (inner) boot kit and pull the shaft out of the inner joint. that way I can install a new boot on the inner CV as well, and I won't have to mess with trying to separate the bearing from the support bracket.

Can anyone think of a reason this method won't work?

Thanks again. And sorry for the profanity in the title - I was pretty irritated last night!

Greg
'95 Maxima, 136k

 

Forgive me if this insults you, but you did remove the axle nut and pulled the end of the drive shaft out of the steering knuckle first?

 

Yup, the axle nut was off and the driveshaft was pulled out of the hub when I was hammering and prying away!

 

I just removed mine last week. It took quite a bit of pounding to separate the 2 parts. I finally just keep hitting the outer part with a chisel to try and move it around a bit so the bolt holes aren't aligned anymore and the I put a bolt in the threaded side and kept cranking until they separated. That plus a lot of pounding and large screwdriver between the sections. Its just the accumulation of rust that is holding it together. When it did separate the whole axle just slid out. Took me about 1.5 hrs just to get it to separate.

 

This job is usually a pain in the A$$. I had a mechanic do both axle's this weekend for $300.00 and it took two mechanics to pull the passenger side axle out. You need to just hammer that plate and get a long enough flat head or something to pry it open. The more leverage the easier. But one thing I noticed was that you really have to have a car on a lift to pry that SOB open especially with all the rust.

 

its not a pain if u know what ur doing.... the hardest part is taking the axle nut off.. it takes 15 minutes to do one side

 

I understand your irritation. I had this problem as well. I tried prying I tried hammering it and nothing would work. So I looked at the support bracket and saw that there were three bolts holding it to the engine block. I removed the three bolts and took the cv axle out along with support bracket out as one piece. After I got it out I took a big hammer stood up the axle went at it. It took about 20 good whacks to get support bracket off. Mine was loaded with rust and looked like it was all one piece. I had hard time believeing it would come apart.

 

Great, it sounds like some of you guys can really feel my pain. To those of you that did the job - wouldn't it have just been easier to cut the inner CV boot so you could pull the shaft out? It seams a lot easier to replace the inner cv boot, even if it doesn't need to be replaced, rather than kill yourself trying to get the entire shaft out. The inner boot only costs $15 at Advanced Auto, so I'm trying to determine if there is a down side to trying to skin-the-cat this way?? According to the Haynes manual, the inner joint simply pulls out with hand pressure. Besides, if I DON"T replace the inner boot, you it will go bad the week after I fix the outer boot! And then I'll have to start all over again.

thanks,

Greg

 

Check out this pic and hit the shaft where the arrow is pointing.

PIC

Use a screwdriver and a hammer and spin the shaft, that will break it loose and then it will be much easier to try it out. It is very easy to do once you know the technique to get it out.

 

wow, i just unbolted the 3 bolts, and popped it out, took 2 seconds.

 

Oh yea - that looks familiar! My nose was about 2" from that thing for over an hour last night. Anyhow, I was wailing on that exact point with a long socket extension and a hammer. I guess I need a small sledge hammer for more force, because that thing wouldn't budge with the tools I was using. In any event, I'm going to try my alternative method and cut the boot near where that arrow is pointing and pull the inner CV out of that cup. That way I can leave the intermediate shaft in place and not bother with trying to separate that joint. I also won't have to drain the fluid out of the transmission. I'm still waiting to hear from anyone whether this alternative is a bad idea.

Thanks again.

Greg

 

Dont cut anything, just do it the right way and be done with it. You have to smack the hell out of it especially if you have a lot of miles on salt covered roads and it has never been seperated before. It is prob very tight and needs a real good wacking!

 

Thanks for the great tip! I replaced my axles this weekend. After trying to chisel out damn passenger axle, I gave up and took a supporting bracket off. It is a little tight there but doable. After I got an axle with the bracket off the car, it took me a while to separate them. It would take me much much longer to do the same under the car with the bracket attached...

 

I had to do the exact same thing...