Rear axle, cv boot replacement
 

I’m replacing the starter in my ‘92 C4, & noticed a torn CV boot. I have the inner side of axle removed but am getting conflicting info on whether or not I need to remove the outside axle nut, or is there a c-clip somewhere in the grease of the outer joint. I’ve looked for c-clip but have not found. I would like to know before buying new nut & torque wrench that is needed for 339ft/lbs .

The big castelated nut has to come off in order to pull the axle out. Heat helps, plus a long steel tube over your breaker bar. Or an air impact if you have access. I usually remove the lower shock bolt (also a lot of torque) too. This allows the control arm to drop lower and gives more room to maneuver the axle out. Disassembling the axle to replace the boots is a whole other pain. Not a fun job!

Ps- No reason to buy a giant torque wrench. Just use a pipe of length 339/your weight and stand on it.

The Hillbilly torque wrench mentioned, requires a known dimensional position mark on the pipe from the head of the wrench.

Renting a torque wrench would be preferable when retorquing the nut :rolleyes:

Bumping a month old thread to call simple physics a hillbilly method? Interesting. If you can’t measure the distance from your hand on the pipe to the center of the socket, then I concede ;) I’ve never had an axle nut loosen. How accurate do you think that your rented torque wrench is going to be?

If it's been calibrated properly and in accordance manufacturer specifications, +/- 2% of the range of the wrench. The stated accuracy of the wrench diminishes if measuring in the upper or lower 20% of the range.

I don't have a problem with the physics, but you half answered the question by not mentioning the dimentional aspect of your statement. :rolleyes:

Apologies, I severely underestimated how complicated torque=feet*pounds could be to explain in a technical forum. I come from a long line of hillbillies and often forget my audience. Does additional punctuation help?

Use a pipe, of length = (339)/(your weight), and stand on it.

Even simpler to figure out if you happen to weigh 339 lbs.

You’re lucky to have a rental shop that has their torque wrench calibrated after every rental. Or we’re assuming that the initial calibration stays accurate no matter how many times the wrench is dropped or abused by random renters? (Some could even be hillbillies!)

FYI, Calibration accuracy happens to comprise much of my day job as a physicist.