***EDIT..its my passenger side, right axle****

So i need to replace this since i changed my stockies on for the winter, it took me about an hour to get all the grase off the innerside of my rims. no wonder i never saw any grease on the fender, cause it was all on my wheel!!! But not, i think i'm just going to go to like pep-boys n get a remanufactured one. But i dont know if i should, or should i just get a brand new one from raxles...anyone have bad issues with the refurbs??? and i have an auto, i dont have gear oil...at least i don't think...so does this mean i just drain my tranny fluid?? And also, how do you seat the axle back in the transmission properly?? i have a haynes and read the motorvate. but it doesn't tell you how to taket he shaft off...

Here are my questions..do you just pull it out the shaft?? and lining up with the transmission..how do you know if its lined up?? is any grease needed to put the NEW shaft in?? I'm mechanically literate, so i dont' think i'll have a problem, but just afraid that i'll do it wrong..i mean..it is my axle..n don't want it falling off when i drive

 

replacing an axle, can be easy or a pain in the Ars.......I got mine from Raxles and its basically..... BEFORE U DO ANYTHING!!!! SPRAY EVERYBOLT/NUT WITH PB blaster
take wheel off,
I believe its a 36mm axle nut, while the car is on teh ground, crack the axle nut loose
lift vehicle and remove nut, and loosen the 2 strut bolts that get a plastic/rubber malet and whack away at the axle it should loosen off the knuckle. Pull the axle out, and when u put in the new axle make sure u hear the click when u push it in. (plus it should sit flush on the trans.) There is no need to drain the trans, my friend/tech at Lexus didnt do it for me. Hope it helps.

 

Thinking like you I just bought a remanufactured axle from a local auto store (advanced auto parts) the axle first off was wrong (non-abs when I needed abs) and the axle provided bad vibrations due to it being poorly rebuilt.

I ordered a axle from raxles and it came in two days, and is smooth as butter. Go to their web site (raxles.com) and look at their testimony you'll see mine I just sent them last night.

I just did my driverside yesterday so its fresh in my mind.

*Jack the car up and secure on a jack stand.
*take wheen off
*take off strut assembly (this step made everthing easier for me)
- Unbolt the two strut bolts (17mm on the bolt side, 19mm on the nut side)
- take off the top three bolt that hold the strut under the hood.
*take out cotter pin
*take off the thing protecting the axle nut
*unbolt the axle nut with a 36mm deep socket. (Electric impact wrench got it off with ease
* swing the hub down and try to push out the axle, you may need to use a hammer and punch.
*place a drain pain beneath the axle where it goes into the tranny, fluid will come out from there.
*tug on the axle till it pops out of the tranny, it shouldnt take too much effort to get it out.I also let the hub rest on a jack stand when I got the axle out, so its not dangling by the outter tie rod.
*get new axle and lube the end that will go into the tranny with good tranny fluid.
*put it in and gently rotate till it you feel it slide in, you know its in the tranny. You'll need to give it some good pushes to get the axle all they way in. I advice looking at the axle and make sure its seated in their good, like it was before you took it out.
*put the other end of the axle in the hub side
*refill tranny with gear fluid (new or the old that came out)
*put on washer, then axle bolt (dont tighten yet)
*put back strut assembly
* torque the axle nut to factory spec (174ft/lbs to 204 (I think 204 something like that).
*Double check make sure to double check your work, see if anything is still dripping, or anything like that.
*toruqe strut bolts down to spec 103ft/lbs.
* if all is good, put back on wheel, torque lug nut down.
*take a test drive.

Autozone is a good place to rent tools if you dont have the ones you need. 36mm axle nut, and torque wrench I rented from them.

I believe that is everything, anyone jump in a correct me if I missed anything (I was watching batman as I typed).

GOod luck, and get an alignment.

 

I dont think it is necessary to take off the top three bolt that hold the strut under the hood.

 

If u remove the strut itself, u will need an alignment, but if u remove just the 2 bolts holding it on the knuckle u wont need an alignment.
<<<<<<, this guy cracks me up.

 

Thanks guys, but i just realized i'm a dumb a$$ because its the passenger side which makes that my right. But should be the same..thanks for all your guys help, now that i know i don't need to drain any fluids like the manual tranny, i'll do it next week...

 

Have a sharpened chisel handy. The pass side axle has a bearing that the axles runs through. This housing often rusts up and seizes. To get my axle loose, I needed to pound that chisel on the split in the middle of the housing to separate the axle. Simply yanking would have gone NOWHERE.

Dave

 

it maynot be necessary, but it made it much easier for me (1hr job jack up to jack down).

I have just put in AGX w/S-tech a weekend ago and hadnt gotten an alignment yet so I had no problem taking off the struts. Plus swinging the hub around is what makes you ineed of an alignment not the top 3 bolts being taken off.

 

This is perfect. I always heard axle replacement was pretty easy, but mine was a pain, and now I am noticing more people with problems in installation and shoddy products. Anyways, be prepared to pull, and push the old/new axle in/out of the tranny. It took me by surprise exactly how much force was required to take out the old axle and put in the new one.

On a side note, my ebay axle, the one from 6512cv is perfect thus far. NO vibrations, and is not rebuilt. I hope it holds up, but for 65 bones shipped, it can't be beat right now. Here is the link to my review of my axle: dammit, I guess I didn't subscribe to the thread...I'll look for it.

EDIT: CLICK HERE

 

Since this thread is dead, this is just for people using it as a reference:

Some aftermarket struts have push/pull camber adjustments, the 2 strut-knuckle bolts are slotted, so if you have these you need an alignment afterwards. Also, these two bolts can be a pain in the ****, don't be stubborn, just get the blow-torch, you'll be amazed! Also, the passanger side, as someone mentioned, is a royal pita to break free from the bearing carrier, if it's being really hard, you can always remove the y-pipe to get at the 3 bearing carrier bolts, then you can deal with it out of the car, though you should be able to get it with a chisel and a sledgehammer from underneath.

 

I was able to fit my big *** hand to get the passenger side free. I understand why some are frustrated with it but thankfully my car hasnt seen salty winters so It didnt take too much force (or WD-40) to get them free.

I was thinking about taking the y-pipe off the get to the three bolts holding the axle in place. I would much easier with the y-pipe off. . . .or take the F**king engine out of the car

After those 3 bolts are free a good tug will set the axle free.

 

Where can i find a half shaft support bearing for a 98 Maxima online? I replaced the passenger side half shaft as it had a torn CV boot,but its still making what sounds like bearing noise. I have tried finding the support bearing online, but no luck. Any help would be greatly appreciated as the car is getting terrible mileage and is noisy.

 

our cars dont have half shafts, half shafts are for two piece axles. the support for the passenger axle that is on the motor (where the 3 12s go) is a solid piece, not a bearing. the bearing counterpart is on the axle itself. this is the part that the 12s go through. the noise you are hearing is either something being loose, or the axle is defective. if the axle is a reman, being defective is highly possible. the car getting terrible mileage would be unrelated to this.

 

i've ordered some axles off rockauto. haven't opened them yet though. is the passenger's side bracket that bolts to the block necessary? (since i'm not sure if the new one came with it. doesn't look like it did) thank you!

 

Yes the bracket is necessary, IIRC it supports the axle so it doesn't rip out of the transmission.

It's really not all that hard to swap it to the new axle, though.

 

I know this thread is dead but I need some info. I purchase cv shafts for both sides and both came with reluctor rings on them (for ABS I'm assuming). Will that make any difference? as my 1999 Nissan doesn't have ABS and I was told that I could use ABS shafts on a non ABS Max but not vice-versa. I want to do this job ASAP so I would appreciate any info regarding the aforementioned issue. I actually pulled the left axle out only to reinstall it when I saw the difference in the rings

 

I have one axle that has an ABS ring and one without (non-ABS), it'll be fine.

 

The information you acquired is correct. You can use an ABS axle in a Non-ABS car but not vice versa.

 

Great! I have my weekend project, Motrin 800's and plenty of band-aids on hand