Oh no! Not another CV joint question ... Seriously need an answer

[sacoffee]

Ok I am confused ... tomorrow is replace CV boot day on both rear axles on my 1988 M491 cabriolet. I have read every thread I can find plus the Tech articles, my iPad reading list is quite full.

Anyway, what I can't figure out is why do I need to undo the hub nut? Or even if I need to? My axles have hex head bolts at transmission and back of wheel hub also, do I just undo the shock bolt, the hex head bolts and pull the axle out?

Thanks in advance and sorry, if this is a stupid question.

[szyzygy]

I worked on mine a couple of months ago. I have a '77, not sure how different that is.

On one side, I did the hub nut. The other side I (w/ pete3799) just unscrewed the hex head bolts from the tranny and wheel. I prefer that method.

Make sure to clean out the hex nuts prior (I used PB blaster and some paper towels to really get into the hex). You don't want to strip one.
It helps if you have a really long extension for your wrench. You can string together a bunch of little ones to get to the hex on the tranny, but it gets kind of wobbly.
You'll also have to have a helper with the brake or get up repeatedly yourself and do the ebrake, unscrew, release ebrake, rotate, set ebrake again.
I'd much rather do this than stress about getting the hub nut torqued properly.


Make sure to pack enough grease in there! I learned the hard way.

[szyzygy]

I did not have to undo the shock bolt. I had enough room to work with.

I did it on one side because someone on here had a thread and they said to do that. I had enough room, so when I got to the other side I just left the shock in place

[szyzygy]

are you replacing the boots because you're getting the noise? Or the boots are cracked? There was a thread on here today about how crappy the new boots are.

Makes me wish I kept mine...my old boots looked fine and I replaced 'em with the lobro ones from on here. People are saying they don't last very long.

[sacoffee]

Originally Posted by szyzygy

are you replacing the boots because you're getting the noise? Or the boots are cracked? There was a thread on here today about how crappy the new boots are.

Makes me wish I kept mine...my old boots looked fine and I replaced 'em with the lobro ones from on here. People are saying they don't last very long.

No, my receipts from PO show replacement of boots 12 years ago. On inspection I saw one at wheel broken and the other broken at transmission.

Thanks for all the replies guys. It occurred to me that the hub nut isn't necessary but need confirmation because none of the "instructionals" mentioned the inner hex head bolts.

This certainly makes things easier

[Dodge Man]

I did the hub nut but my 73 got new trailing arm bushings & wheel bearings(same basic axles from Lobro). The Carrera axles have a grease tin on the end so you do not have to deal with open grease & gaskets like my 73. Be sure to get new bolts & washers. I used 12.9 bolts & Schorr washers from McMaster. Pelican has the grease. OEM bolts were too soft for my tastes. Good luck.

[sacoffee]

Finished in 6 hours. Replace all four on the rear axles.

Wish my son was still six year old so I could sit him in the car to work the emergency brake. That was the hardest part of the work, getting up and down to lock the wheels in position as you spin the hub to get to the bolts.

Torque to 63 lbs was a pain because I could only get to one bolt at a time on the wheel side

[szyzygy]

Originally Posted by sacoffee

Finished in 6 hours. Replace all four on the rear axles.

Wish my son was still six year old so I could sit him in the car to work the emergency brake. That was the hardest part of the work, getting up and down to lock the wheels in position as you spin the hub to get to the bolts.

nice! You beat my time by quite a bit

[sacoffee]

Originally Posted by szyzygy

nice! You beat my time by quite a bit

Installed cat bypass at the same time