CV Joint Axle Spline Fun
 

Well thanks to Early S Man and the legendary Carrera CV Boot thread I've come this far in replacing my CV boot. Before I go on here's a tip. For those of you that live in the US and have a split CV boot, buy the $58 axles from Pelican and save yourself a bunch of work doing this. Unfortunately for me it'd run me about $300 to get a pair to me in the UK so I gotta do the hard work.

So I was hoping I could just replace the inner boot with the axle on the car, I got pretty close with everything dismantled leaving just the spline and the ball cage. For others this just slides off, in the manual it says 'use a press'. Anyway it wasn't moving so I had to take the whole axle off.

http://img4.imageshack.us/img4/6901/dscf0402k.jpg

http://img365.imageshack.us/img365/6783/dscf0404.jpg

So now I have the whole thing in my vice. Anyone got any ideas on how to get this off the shaft? I have tried the BFH route and that didn't budge it. I have a vice and possibly access to a big-ass Sykes Pickavant bearing puller kit. Any ideas?

"in the manual it says 'use a press'"

If I had the same problem, this is how I would do it... I've been lucky with my CVs. They just slid off after I took the circlips off.

You might want to check that the grooves for the circlips are clean.

Yours look grubby in your photos. Use an old tooth brush and some WD40 to get them clean.
Also the metal next to the grooves can be become gnarled and raised. (I can't tell from your photo)

If the cleaning doesn't work you probably have some gnarling that's stopping the CV sliding off.
You could file down this gnarling if you tap the CV back on a bit to give you clearance for a file.
Be careful not to damage the face of the CV with the file if you go this way.

As an alternative to a press you could try a three jaw bearing puller. Once you get the face of the CV over the circlip area is should just slide off.

I put the shaft in a vice tight used a piece of hard oak 1'' round X 12'' long and rapped it with a hammer around the base of the of the connection, went around it couple times until it started to move then it came off with less force. Use something soft I would not make contact with any thing hard. A lead faced hammer might work. Make sure the cir-clip is off.

$58 axles?

Ah i was being dumb - these are for early cars only.

http://www.pelicanparts.com/cgi-bin/smart/more_info.cgi?pn=901-332-026-10-M84&catalog_description=Complete%20Lobro%20Axle%20 With%20CV%20Joints%20And%20Boots%2C%202%20Per%20Ca r%2C%20911%2F912%20(1965-68)%2C%20Each

I didn't have a vice when I installed new CV joints in my car. I kept the little balls in the CV cages, and I just pulled on one end while I had someone else pull on the other. They eventually came apart. We went flying in different directions, but no one got hurt. ;)

Or, you could try having one person hold the CV joint (with the axle pointing down to the ground) and have the other person tap/smack a socket against the end of the axle.

Thanks for the tips guys.

Sorry about the pics, I couldn't get the camera to focus right. I guess I'll clean the spline up with a toothbrush and try again. I have the circlip off btw, that bit was easy.

I think borrowing my Uncle's bearing puller might be the way to go.

I used a drift of some sort and just slowly tapped around the base of the innner part and it broke free after a few taps. It gets dirty over time and can really get stuck.

I had the same problem on one side. submerge the cv joint in diesel. Put it outside (unless you are unmarried). Come back in 2 days. It should slide off at that moment perhaps with slight taps around the inner race. It worked for me.

Michel

Its off! I love this bearing puller, what a tool.

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1240657531.jpg

Came loose with quite a bang, clearly it was not keen on moving.

That bearing puller looks impressive... Well done on the good result.

Round two, puller breaks out mega extension poles and presses rebuilt CV joint complete with new boot:

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1241034985.jpg


http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1241035016.jpg

It's such a b@stard of a job isn't it :)

I have to ask.... Is that really necessary?

When I disassembled and serviced my axles I did need anything like that to get them back together. All done by hand in my case...

My Car is a "78" so it may be easier than yours but I was surprised to see the set-up in your photos.

Peter, the earlier 4 bolt axle shafts are different to the 6 bolt SC CV/shafts - they are a press fit + circlip.