Thread: HELP! Really put myself into a pickle (cv axle replacement)

pop the lower ball joint loose and dont mess with the strut and then shove the knuckle to one side and slide the axle out.

Originally Posted by Teancum

Won't I have to pull the tie rod in that instance? Also, how do you best recommend going for the ball joint nut? Open ended wrench obviously, but am I gonna need a lot of torque on it?

18mm open end, shorter one if you have it. I stuck my lug wrench through the other side of the wrench and used it as some serious leverage and it came off with little effort. You'll probably have more of an issue getting the damn cotter pin out than getting the nut loose. One thing to note is it will hit the hub before coming fully loose, so you need to shock the joint loose, then finish unscrewing the nut all the way.

ball joint nut should just come off, not any tighter than any other bolt. unbolt it, and smack the side, anywhere flat next to it, to pop the ball joint out of the knuckle. if you use a fork it will tear up the boot on it.

if you still want to try to get the tie rod off, see if you can pound something in between the bolt and the knuckle, (fat screw driver) to tighten the shaft back up, try to un bolt it with what ever you jammed in there still there. ( PRYING DOWN OR UP WITH IT WHILE YOU UNBOLT IT)

i just did a axle last weekend, i want to say the struts were 18 mm deep socket, i think i used a 3/4 that fit lose a while back as well. I also removed the whole strut, its just 3 more bolts up top. i popped the tie rod end, had plenty of room. then you have to pop the axle shaft out of the trans, it has a clip inside, a pry bar worked well, with a quick snap of the bar it came out on the 3 rd try.

the nut on the axle is a 34 or 36 mm as well, remove that with the tire still on the car and on the ground, as the wheel will turn if its in the air, and it will never come off with out air tools in that case. get a 1/2 breaker bar, and a pipe that will fit over it for more leverage.

saws all works for cutting off bad bolts to,i cut many bolts off this way, cut it on both side smack the crap out of it, it should come off. then replace the tie rod.

Originally Posted by Teancum

Sounds good. I think I'll get a nut splitter for the tie rod end and just replace it. Anyone know what size nut it uses? Me being the redneck I am I used a 3/4" (that's all I had), but it's metric.

Put the car back together to go buy tools. There's a Menards less than a mile from my home.

I want to say thats an 18mm as well, but you will need deep socket or open end