How Difficult to Replace 1986 Carrera axles
 

I'm debating changing out my inner CV's only or the entire axle with a fresh set, I'm confident I can do the the job but would like to hear from others that have done it how long it takes. Also, any advice would be appreciated to removing the entire axles. Thanks everyone. :eek:

Ps. At the moment only my inners have broken boots and sound starting to come from them.

I did this on my 86 911. I couldn't get the inner CV's off the axles with the axles in the car, even with the engine out, so I removed the axles. The hardest part was getting the axle nuts off. You need a 32mm socket and enormous 3/4" breaker bar and even then you need a piece of pipe to extend it even further to crack the nuts. When the nuts finally let go it sounded like the earth was cracking open. Putting them back on is interesting too because they are torqued to 339 ft/lbs. Good luck finding a torque wrench that goes that high. I tightened mine as tight as I could and then took my car to a tractor trailor repair shop and they brought out their huge torque wrench. They were quite amused using it on a Porsche and had to be convinced by showing them in the Bentley manual the high amount of torque required. The actual CV's I punched off the shafts with a hammer and a piece of hard wood. To seat them back on I cut a hole in a piece of wood and put that over the axle and CV and tapped them back into place far enough to get the retainer clip back on. It is a very messy job dealing with that grease so you need alot of rubber gloves. A guy posted a good how to thread on this that really helped me out.

Well, I have not replaced them but I have dropped my engine many times and it appeared to be pretty straight forward.

Per side:

6 Hex/Allen Bolts, Axle Nut, drop, install in reverse order, A 1/2 Drive Torque Wrench to get the proper torque on that Axle nut would help allot.

As far as boot replacement:

If you just noticed the torn boot, clean repack and replace the boot and clamps, I have done this :D

remove lower shock bolt so the shock can be moved out of the way.

I don't know how you're determining that the sound is coming from the inner vs. the outer, but the job itself it pretty straight forward, other than the BIG axle nut as already described. Getting the entire axle replaced will save you much time and much mess, at the expense of a decent buck.

I just recently did mine boots and it was comforting to know that I was able to disassemble and inspect the conditions of the joints and repack them and put everything back together. But if you're going to replace joints, then looking at replacing the entire axle is an attractive option.

OH... do yourself a favor and buy all new M10 bolts, they're cheap enough.

Read the following thread all the way through - I did, and I'm about to tackle the CV re-boot this weekend.
http://forums.pelicanparts.com/porsche-911-technical-forum/306184-carrera-cv-boot-replacement.html
One change - don't use the crowbar to hold the hub still while breaking the axle nut - instead, leave the tires on, pull the center caps off and loosen the axle nuts with the car on the ground, E-brake on, tires blocked.
Tough time finding a 3/4" drive socket, had to buy the set at Harbor Freight, I'm sure it will be handy. I broke a 1/2" breaker bar and then a 3/4" to 1/2" adapter trying to get that nut off with a 1/2" drive socket. Only when I used a 3/4" breaker with a 3/4" drive 32MM socket did the nut come loose. A 1-1/4" socket also works. I also found my drivers-side rear bearing is toast, so that will be RnR'd as well.
The shock bolt was a bit stubborn too, so have a 19mm socket handy for that one.

I am going to change out both axles this weekend. Have one torn boot on there now and just replacing everything.

"One change - don't use the crowbar to hold the hub still while breaking the axle nut - instead, leave the tires on, pull the center caps off and loosen the axle nuts with the car on the ground, E-brake on, tires blocked. "
This is how I did it and it worked for me. Push down on the breaker bar instead of pulling up to remove the axle nut. The extension I used for the breaker bar was the long handle from my floor jack.

I replaced both last year, not too hard a job even for a non-wrench type like me. Actually 2 1/2 hours for the pass side, 3/4 hour for the driver side once I knew what I was doing. I took the car to a local VW repair joint for re-torquing the axle nuts. JW's advice to remove the lower shock bolt to swing the shock out of the way is critical, also be very careful when replacing the bolts to not round out the hex hole, seat the wrench firmly when torquing the bolts. The link noted by Smoove1010 is very helpful as is a Bradley.

I don't know when the axle nut style was changed, but it used to be a castellated nut with a cotter pin. This nut didn't need to be torqued up to the 340 lbs-ft of the later one. I believe it was in the 250 lbs range...? Regardless, it's a lot for either of them.

Like Van86 said, break 'em loose on the ground. Leverage is your friend so use a good strong breaker bar and extension.

Thank you all very much, I decided to replace both axles and I just ordered them. I also purchased a used recently calibrated Proto torque wrench (1" up to 700 ft-lbs) to help with getting proper torque. I can't wait to start! I also plan to rebuild my axles once I remove them, they either will be spares or I'll sell them here.

Just did my driver side cv's. Just a tip, keep the tires on when removing the outer bolt. If the old grease are clean, just repack, saves you a lot of trouble.

Cool, post pics of your adventure :D Stay Safe Brother!

I jam a cheap screwdriver into the rotor cooling fins & let it bottom out against the brake caliper. Works like a charm. Due to the rash of bad GKN CV boots, I got to where axle replacement took me 90 minutes - and I'm usually pretty slow. I no longer have any GKN boots on my axles, and have actually gone 1 year (as opposed to 2 months) without needing to pull an axle or change boots on the spare - whohoo!

Also helpful but not yet mentioned is a 20" 1/2" extension for loosening the CV allen screws. Much easier sitting besides the car than lying under it.

if you get this tool from the HOST (Pelican Parts) it is a piece of cake... http://www.pelicanparts.com/cgi-bin/ksearch/PEL_search.cgi?command=see_more&please_wait=N&db_r ecord_number=3427&FILTER_9144=Y&FILTER_911E=Y&FILT ER_911M=Y

you should torque to the specks though...

oh, get this $29 wrench from HF too... 3/8" Drive Click Stop Torque Wrench

http://www.pelicanparts.com/catalog/...moval_tool.JPG

Oh yeah re-torque the CV nuts after 500 miles.

You don't need a torque wrench to tighten the axle nuts. Just do some math and use your body weight to torque them. 160lbs at 2 feet is 320 lb/ft of torque. If you need to remove the axle nut and you can't do it with the wheel on, have a helper stand on the brakes while you remove the nut.

-Andy

Just finished swapping out both axles. Took a couple of hours start to finish.