cant get the CV joint off the Axle!!

[EMBPilot]

im going to search the boards, but in the mean time im knee deep in moly grease in the garage and i cant get the *&^*ING CV JOINT off the AXLE?!!!!

the circlip is off, the haynes manual and "clarks" just casually says push the CV off the top of the axle... no such luck... anyone run into this before?

i dont have a gear puller, i tried laying a socket on the axle and holding the joint while hitting the socket with a hammer to move it out but nothing... it moved down just a little, right now the axle is flush with the top of the CV.

found a gear puller at a friends, gonna run over and grab it but if anyone has any tips here, im all ears... i suppose im going to run into this on the reinstall as well!

Kevin

[Eldorado]

installation is the reverse of removal.

[DeanCorleone]

^^^

LOL!!

[EMBPilot]

LMAO! well, i tried the gear puller and many many hits with a big hammer, and the thing wont budge past flush... im gonna cave and just get a new axle assembly. sux cause this is all over a torn boot... and the CV looked like its in really nice shape too!

you guys still got me to laugh after several hours of cursing!
Kevin

[DeanCorleone]

Did you have afew cold ones before starting on the project? Always have to have afew, it helps me atleast...

[Eldorado]

have you tried using a torch?

[EMBPilot]

Torch didnt work... and im kinda glad heres why.. if i got this freakin thing out...whos to say id get the new one on without screwing it up? then i'll have messed up splines or CV joint that i cannot return?

i guess by cutting my loses now, i can return the new kit, and just choke it up for an axle.

not sure what im gonna do with this old axle now?!

what would cause this thing to get stuck on there so bad???! all well. The guy at Pelican was very helpful.

[Slam]

Hmmm. Penetrating oil and heat? Maybe disassemble the joint, leaving the inner race on the shaft and heat that. Sometimes if you can drive it down the axle, then back towards the end it'll free up. You would be able to get the new one on 'cause cleaning up the splines will fix that. Are your hunting expletives monosyllabic or is your swearing becoming creative? Sometimes chanting curses in time with the hammer blows helps.

[Zero10]

Sometimes they get stuck like that. Usually this is because the groove that the snap ring sits in gets distorted slightly, or the splines past that part towards the end of the axle get damaged.
Use a hammer and a socket to drive the joint back onto the axle a little bit and examine it closely.
I've had a couple get hung up and I usually find the problem or else it comes off easier on the second try.

[EMBPilot]

I took the CV apart, and used all sorts of techniques. tried sitting the inner race on a vice, and hitting the socket on the top with a hammer, tried, hitting it with a heavy mallet, then came out the big guns...the gear puller, i was sure id have it now.. hooked the gear puller up (it wasnt a hydraulic one) and it didnt even budge. then i sat just the main shaft of the gear puller on the top, heated the CV and tried hitting that with a hammer. nothing. I supposed someone with a lot of patience, a bigger torch, or a hydraulic gear puller could probably get this thing off. But the new axle should be here next week. its really a shame, like i said, the CV looked really clean, no scoring, it was done only about 5K ago and about 4 years.

i did not try moving it back DOWN and then back up again. and completly forgot about trying breakfree on it... i wonder if that would have done it, cause the shaft seemed to stop JUST past where the circlip goes...

let me just tell you guys, ive been reading about doing this for sometime, i had the right tools, and when that circlip came right off, i though i was home free... borderline cocky!

touche' 944....touche`.....

[Razorback1980]

I'm thinking Monster truck and log chain.

You could take it to any car repair facility and they would have the tools to remove it. I guess the new axle wouldn't be much more though would it? Then you have all new parts. Sounds like you are making the right choice.

[EMBPilot]

good point Tom, i thought about it like this.. i have a brand new CV that i havent yet monkeyed with. and once i get this CV off this axle the new CV will be unreturnable, and my abilites or its physicial abilites to be put back on the axle and work properly are questionable at this point... get the 100 beans back now, put it towards the new assembly so im out only another 150 bones. ouch. instead of 350 when i screw the old axle and new CV up...

[SoCal Driver]

It's been noted that after so many rotations that the CV body and axle become extremely magnetized. This will stop you from pulling the CV off of the axle. You can demagnetize the assembly by passing it through the core of a 200 hp electric motor casing with the casing connected to 5,000 volts.

Actually it is rare that the end of the axle splines may become damaged. You will have to drive the CV back onto the axle and use a triangular file to clean up the splines. Clean the area to remove all the grease so you can see what you are doing.

Having forced the CV to the end of the axle you may find that the surfaces are extremely galled and may not be repairable. I suspect that the axle you are working on is a rebuild or that once you get it apart you may find the axle cracked.

[onZedge]

No, no, no.. Hook the axle to the battery positive and the housing to the battery negative (unplug the DME first !!). You may think this would weld it together, but that's why you hook it up BACKWARDS. It wil unweld it !! Piece of cake !!

Note: This is also how you remove that pesky distributor rotor except you hook it up the OTHER way because its brass.

All kidding aside, the axle may be slightly twisted.

[EMBPilot]

Originally posted by SoCal Driver
It's been noted that after so many rotations that the CV body and axle become extremely magnetized. This will stop you from pulling the CV off of the axle.

humm....i was afraid youd say that doctor....


really thanks guys... new axles on the way. and even i can do that!

[EMBPilot]

You guys wont believe this. I got it! I was away at work for 5 days, and thought about this... even though the new axle was on the way, I wasn't quite ready to just give up and sell this core axle that ive screwed up this far. so I cleaned everything completely and went back at it. Soaked both ends of the inner race in break free, and let it sit. Heated the CV with the torch again, and this time, I changed my approach....

With the bottom of the inner race sitting on the top of the vice, using a closed end 11mm wrench that had an angled handle on it I was able to lay the closed end on of the wrench the axle, hold the wrench and really hit at the wrench head. Cursing loudly and hitting hard, it budged past the end, then it was actually pretty easy to slide off. I cleaned the burrs up the top of the inner race, and the axle splines appeared to be fine.

The new boot got here today (for this axle). And the old CV really looks to be in good shape, no scoring, grooves or cuts. I got the thing back together about 4 times, but it would be completely locked, then just kept trying different angles and rotations and it finally locked in where the whole joint would 'extend and not fall apart' and the inner race would angle. It was a shocking moment; I may have actually cheered out loud.

So I think the plan is to simply repack this thing and sell it, recoup part of the cost of the new axle. And just use the new axle that'll be here just in time for me to leave for work again for 5 more days away from home (figures right).

I thought about maybe using this axle on the other side of the car, but I don't want to fix something that's not broken.

Two questions and feel free to comment on the above of course...
1) should I use lock tight on the triple square bolts when I torque them down to 30 pounds?

2) can I repack the joint completely from its cleaned state while its all together, or do I need to pack it with grease while its apart, then assemble it together and put it on the axle?


You guys rock, thanks for keeping the faith!

Kevin

[EMBPilot]

its all done! the entire axle and CV is back together and greased up nice! what a feeling. im not sure i want to part with it yet. i sort of feel attached to it now.

[Zero10]

The races should have no grooves with so little time on them.
When you put the inner/outer races together, the slots are angles opposite ways. It only makes sense once you have seen it. It goes together quite easily the other way, but it is as good as locked up. I see you figured that out.
If the races are good and the joint was repacked with grease I would run it until it fails. No point in cutting it's life short by replacing it now, especially not after all that hard work!

As for the loctite question......
If you are re-using the bolts, then I would use blue loctite on the threads. If you are using new bolts then use nothing. Of course make sure that the mating surfaces (the face of the outer race and the stub axle/output stub of the transmission) are absolutely clean and dry, because that is where all of the power transfer takes place.
My rule is to only use the bolts once, but if I absolutely must re-use them then I do apply blue loctite. I've had the bolts back out before so I am rather paranoid about this.

[EMBPilot]

great post zero, just want i was looking for, thanks so much