anytime someone asks "how hard is _____?" it is always relative... changing out CV axles to me is one of the most straightforward things I do on my rig (Primarily because I have them in and out so many damn times at this point..)

Condition of your rig also plays a major roll... some things that are a breeze on mine (no rust, original florida car) end up being a 3 hour bolt removal process on some norther rigs.


All in all, great advice in here... I definitely second replacing the seals.. I was lazy and left mine alone last time, quickly discovered a leak soon after, and guess what? Literally had to the job all over again 2 weeks later

Worst thing for me seems to be popping the axles/c-clips back in.. you need to make sure they are sitting on the top and not swung down and drooping, but even with that I have an axle that just doesn't want to pop in and since I'm lazy and do the work myself it becomes a crappy process of struggling to seat it properly without tearing the boots or the seals.


I'm not running the front sway bar so that for me is out of the way already, but literally the only bolts I remove when swapping axles are the 2 lower balljoint bracket bolts and the axle nut (obviously). I leave everything else in place and just manhandle (or use a floorjack) to raise the knuckle where it needs to be to get the axle out, and viola!

I came across a video during my research that suggested using a bit of grease on the c-clips to keep them centered on the axles (not hanging) when inserting them into the diff. They swore it made them easier to seat. I'm planning to try it when the weather warms up a little and I can reboot.

I did the grease, little grease, lots of grease, turned one way, then another, something about the one particular c clip would not seat. I mean after multiple attempts of trying I literally ended up having to file it down a bit to seat. Enough not to pop out, but yea.. no two repairs are the same lol .

Grease isn't needed. It might help, but just hold the axle and orient the clip with the opening down. Yes, it's still a little oblong, but that protrusion is minimized (clip opening up causes gravity to pull the clip down and presents a greater obstacle for allowing it to seat in the correct location). I feel like the key to installing is controlled inward pressure. It's really easy if you tap it in with the axle itself. Yes, you're tapping it with the tripod bearings, but it's really not much impact. Very little, actually.

Holding the inward pressure allows you to maintain your progress. Striking with a hammer and drift causes to much shock and there's a rebound action that causes you to loose your progress. If you are striking and not supporting the outer joint, that weight, due to gravity, is working against you and wanting to pull the axle back out.

if anyone has troubling taking them out, i can confirm that 2" axle forks from amazon worked great. spent about an hr trying to get them out various pry bars and hammering a chisel and my hand. so found the axle forks got here in a day and a couple hammer taps later, boom she popped out.

Can you share a link of what you are talking about? I would like to try a different method when I remove mine next time.

I use these, makes quick work of the swap.

Amazon.com: ABN Axle Popper Kit - 2 Piece Inner CV Axle Removal Tool Set CV Popper Wedge and Shim Ball Joint Separator Tools : Automotive

-Rob

i used exactly these, cap taps and bam popped right out.