Hi all,
I couple of questions for those that have replaced their axles - all of my boots are split open.

1. my factory service manual says to jack up the entire front end as well as to disconnect the tie rods and lower control arm. The MotorVate write-up linked in the sticky doesn't mention having to jack up the entire front end nor disconnecting the tie rod and lower control arm although a write up by DennisMik does mention perhaps needing to disconnect lower control arm. I have seen others here mention sometimes removing the strut helps though.
2. If tie rods and lower control arm do need to be disconnected, is a pickle fork adequate or one of those separator tools preferred? I read somewhere pickle forks can damage the boots tie rods and lower control arm fittings.
3. Should the tie rod or lower control arm need to be disconnected, is an alignment recommended afterwards?
4. For separation of the axle from the transaxle (I have a 5 speed MT), what is the safest tool to use to avoid marring either the transaxle or axle surface (I'm having the axle rebuilt)?
5. To avoid damaging the pinch weld, if I only need to jack up one side, can I simply use the OEM jack meant for tire changes as I know this exactly fits in an area of the pinch weld that has extra support. I would use a supplemental jack stand on either side in case of failure. I have looked at various pinch weld "cushions" on Amazon and all seem to be quite cheap with dubious benefits to just use that alone.

TIA for any support here.

 

I would jack the whole front end up seeing as how your doing both axles. You also want the inner portions to be fairly straight when you pull them out of the trans so you don’t damage the seals so this will help.

I normally leave the control arm/ ball joint connected and just remove the strut and the tie rod end from the spindle. If you remove the cotter pin and the castle nut from the tie rod you can give the beefy part of the spindle a couple good wacks with a beater and the tie rod will pop loose. I have never had luck with pickle forks and such.

I have an auto so the remainder of the procedure may be different but I normally carefully pry out the driver side with a big flat head just where the fat part goes into the trans. It will pop and you can pull it by hand. Pass side has the long shaft you have to remove the carrier bearing then you can separate it slightly just inside the bearing and it should pull out smooth.

Again for the MT the prep work should be same but removing the axles may be a bit different. I don’t know if the limited slip would play a part in removal or just reinstallation. I also think you may need to drain the trans fluid. Hope this helps.

And yes you should definitely get an alignment.

Yea, get yourself a floor jack and some jack stands if you plan on doing work.

 

Thanks 98maxBK. Does anyone know then if you can just jack up one side or does the whole front end really need to be raised?

Can anyone comment on item (5) above?

 

I usually jack up both sides of the car when I work on it. I do this in case I need to get under the car, even though I may not think I have to. It's amazing how many times I do end up under the car when I am trying to get at something from a different angle. You will need to be under the car if you are changing the right side (passenger) axle. But if you are doing the left (drive's) side axle, you can do it without jacking up both sides.

I live in the south where we don't have the corrosion caused by road salt and things come apart easier. Because of this, I don't own/have a pickle fork. I believe that a good pickle fork has a hollow to accommodate the boot and not destroy it. Cheap ones are just a wedge without any consideration for the boot.

If all you are doing is taking the tie rod end out of the control arm - no. However, the way I did the axle, I unbolt the steering knuckle from the strut. perfectionists say you should get an alignment done if you do this. I never have and have gotten away with it. If you do what I do - you're on your own.

This sounds like the driver's side. I have popped out new axles with my trusty crowbar because I did something wrong and I could not detect any damage to the axle.

I have made a block for my floor jack from a piece of 2x4 and tire tread. But as long as you are supporting the car on jack stands, which you absolutely should, the kind of jack you use doesn't matter.

Please note that the axle nut on the 5th gen is a smaller size that the 4th gen.

 

Very COOL Dennis!

Easily beats every option on the market we can buy!



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@DennisMik [QUOTE=
If all you are doing is taking the tie rod end out of the control arm - no. However, the way I did the axle, I unbolt the steering knuckle from the strut. perfectionists say you should get an alignment done if you do this. I never have and have gotten away with it. If you do what I do - you're on your own.
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Hello Dennis, Finally getting around to tackling this job. I was able to squeak some extra time out of the OEM boot but now it definitely is torn.

Two things ... regarding your response above, I'm still confused if I have to mess with the tie rod or lower control arm. Your instructions you posted a while back in a separate thread said that if the axle doesn't release out of the wheel hub, to "separate the lower control arm from steering knuckle by disconnecting ball joint". So is this separate from tie rods which I don't have to touch then? Do you find in general the axle does release without messing with either control arm or tie rods?

Secondly, you mention using "long drifts" to install new transaxle seals on the MT. I have new seals from Nissan and trying to figure out what I could use to press then into the transaxle housing. You mention PVC pipe so I suppose I could look at ACE or Home Depot for a suitable size but can you reference a set of these "drifts" you mention. If there is a set on Amazon, this might be the way to go. I'm having problems looking at the new seals figuring out which is the outside of the seal and therefore what diameter PVC pipe or drift to look for. I think I understand how the driver side is to be oriented, but the passenger side baffles me.

 

Jack up the whole front otherwise you'll fight the sway bar. I don't like removing the ball joint, I always remove the strut for room to work.

I use PVC or iron pipe for the seals. I can check on the sizes in a bit.

 

Thanks. From what I understand, front strut comes out pretty easy by just removing the top three nuts in the engine bay. What about the lower control arm? I never done a job this intense before but am up for the challenge armed with information from my friends on this forum and plenty of youtube videos!

 

The pipe I use is 2"x5" black iron pipe with cap.



I don't touch the lower control arm or tie rod. Taking out the strut to knuckle bolts gives you the room needed. While not necessary, removing the strut from the car just gives more room to work. Don't touch the center nut in the upper mount.

What are you using to remove the axle nut?

 

Thanks. So that is a 2" outer diameter pipe? I notice the driver and passenger side seals are different diameters. Looks like the passenger side is about 2 1/8" outer diameter. and driver is 1 1/2" I assume the pipe is for setting the passenger side seal then?

I have a 1/2" drive 36mm socket with breaker bar I'm borrowing from a neighbor. My hope is if I spray the nut before hand with PB blaster, I can break the nut loose while on the ground. If not, my neighbor has an air compressor and impact I can use but hoping the breaker bar does it.

Thanks for the warning on center nut on the strut. I've watched many youtube videos and figured that one is a "no no".

 

H Will. When it comes to removing the axle from the steering knuckle, the knuckle has to be moved in order to get the end of the axle out of it. Whether you remove the strut or the ball joint is a little bit of personal preference based on corrosion from salt. As I stated earlier, I live in the south and we don't have a corrosion that would make ball joint removal a pita. I can pop the ball joint out faster than I can remove the strut. If I lived in the snowbelt, I'd probably remove the strut.

As far as installing an oil seal, you want to drive it into its "hole" as evenly as possible, hence using something like a piece of pipe that is ideally the same diameter as the seal. You don't want the seal driver to be smaller than the seal as this could possibly bend the seal into a concave shape. You want the force pressing on the outside edge of the seal, not the flat center portion. The seal goes into the differential housing with the flat surface facing out and you only drive it into housing until the oil seal is flush with the differential housing.

It has been a while since I did this and some of the fine details are lost. But installing the passenger side oil seal was the hardest part of the job. The long drifts I used were pieces of 2x2 lumber I had lying around so I could swing a hammer. Without the long "drift", there isn't enough room to drive the oil seal in.

When you remove the axle from a manual transmission, oil will come out of the opening, have a pan underneath. Auto trans don't do that.

 

The OD is the same for both seals. 2" iron pipe is what you need.

Limited slip have one bigger seal, it's 90mm or about 3.5".

 

Thank you. The driver side seal I got from Nissan has an OD just over 1 5/8". I looked up the part on nissanpartsdeal and it does appear to be the right seal. Won't the 2" OD pipe be too large?