I have a quick question.
I'm only replacing the outer boot. Will I still need to drain the tranny and pull the whole shaft out?

 

if its just the boot should be not need to drain tranny

 

Will I be able to pull off the outer CV joint without pulling out the whole shaft?

 

I would pull the whole axle to rebuild, I highly doubt you can do it while its still on the car. And you'll loose about 1 qt of gear oil in the process.

 

I just replaced mine. Both sides. You have to have a special tool to knock the joint off the axle. I was able to get one of my axles off and took it to work where the tool was to take the joint apart. I didn't lose any fluid out of the transmission. I couldn't get the other side off so I took the car to work and still couldn't get the axle off so I got my boss and we tried to take the joint apart with it still on the car. We got it off and on again without taking the axle apart. But without the tool and a big hammer your not going to be able to do it on your own. If you were just replacing the axle then you could do it by yourself in the drive way.

Good luck.

 

I like how you mention that a special tool is needed, but it's not even the special tool that you actually need.

Aftermarket manual + the instructions that come with the napa kit + a cv band crimp tool =