How to install new CV Axles

Just wanted to say thanks to the OP for posting this thread. My inner boot on the left side blew up, so I replaced the whole CV assembly with a reman from NAPA yesterday. I've had good luck with those on my '94 so decided to go that way. My theory is that the remans are most likely based on Toyota OEM cores, so at least have good material in the shafts.

The replacement process was pretty straightforward. I had to remove the tie-rod end, but not the sway bar link. Only thing that was stubborn was getting the CV to part company with the differential. That does take a lot of persuasion, as the OP indicated.

Anyway, the tips were good and between that and the FSM, it went pretty well. Thanks for the writeup!
 
I wound up pulling my CV axle again because the diff seal was leaking (I didn't replace it the first time). After looking at the Kevlar winch-line tool in one of the other threads for pulling the axle, I substituted a 5 foot length of 7/32 chain I had left over from a grandson swing project. I looped it around the fat part of the axle by the diff, fastened it with a carabiner and created a loop for my 3lb sledge in the other end. 4 swings of the sledge and it popped right out. Made the job pretty easy.

To drive in the new seal, I was a bit stymied at first. The seal has a protruding lip as a dust seal that precludes using a flat-face seal driver of the kind that are available at the auto parts stores. The guy at Autozone suggested a short length of tailpipe union. That turned out to be a great idea. Those unions are available in lots of sizes, made of decent steel that will take some hammering, and only cost $3. Worked like a champ. Just had to grind the burrs off first so it wouldn't damage the seal.
 
I found using the old seal on top of the new seal and a 4lb engineers hammer worked great. Light taps all around until seated.

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Finally got around to doing this after the parts sat on my garage shelf for 13 months. Used the Cardone with the heavy duty boots and OEM inner seals. Thanks for the various pointers from everyone in this thread. Had no problem tapping the shafts out of the differential with a long large flat head screwdriver and a 4# drilling hammer and applying taps to the three different lips around the circumference of the shaft. Went ahead and changed the diff oil while I was out it for the second time (first was at 3X,XXX miles and now at 85,000), greased the other shafts (I do this annually) and flushed the brake lines with 2 quarts of fresh fluid. Gear oil didn't stink anything like the OEM fill did.

There was some shipping damage to the new shafts where the largest metal debris shield by the hub end was dented but rather than figure out replacements I was able to gently bend them back to where I think they will be fine. Hopefully no leaks ahead of our annual trip to the Sierras full of towing and 4-wheelin' up to 11,000'!
 
I was just looking at the new seals and there is a lip that gets in the way. I have heard you could install it by just pushing with your hand. What is the best tool or device. I might try to use the old seal and hammer if I didn't mangle it while taking it out.
 
I was just looking at the new seals and there is a lip that gets in the way. I have heard you could install it by just pushing with your hand. What is the best tool or device. I might try to use the old seal and hammer if I didn't mangle it while taking it out.

Any PVC joint meant to join two sections of 2" PVC works perfectly.
 
Good info here. Probably should have read through all posts before I attempted. Needless to say, I was able to replace both Axles. The first one (driver side) took two attempts to get right and not leak. The second one (passenger side) appears to be good after initial replacement.

So I purchased both replacements from Amazon, which were fairly good. One came with the dust boot severely damaged and was replaced. The other 2 both had minor damage to the dust boot flange but I was able to bend back to the original shape. I have the OEM axles set aside in my garage and would like to find them a new home if any one is interested.

A few hints for those about to do this job:
- The hub dost cover is the perfect size to help set the outer boot seal ( on the engine side of the wheel hub assembly)
- I also used the old diff oil seal to set the new diff oil seals. Since its the same size if you overlay the old one on the new one you can then pound the new one in.
- TAKE PICS when performing the removal process. They will help when trying to set new oil seals to the proper depth
- To unseat and seat the axle into its grove a 12" chisel and a 5lb hammer work great. A few swift blows in either direction will get the C-spring set/unset
- The wheel hub assemblies available on ebay are well worth it.

Thanks Again for all the good info in this thread.

Jack
 
So I'm trying to get parts together for this, and instead of winging it and hoping for the best with the seals, I want to get them in before.

Can anyone give me the part numbers from Rockauto for the knuckle seal and the one that goes in the diff for the driver's side CV? I'm having trouble getting these sorted on the site. I appreciate any and all help.
 
Help!!!

Fellas,

I'm running into a bit of an issue with my new Napa CV axle installation that someone can shed some light for me.

I removed an aftermarket CV axle that previous owner had a shop installed, replaced the diff seal, rebooted with OEM boots and reinstalled the same CV shaft. Unfortunately, the OEM inner boot didn't do a good job of sealing the grease inside the boot so I removed it again and bought a brand new NAPA CV shaft.

So, I tried to pop in the NAPA axle into the diff but it simply won't go in. I didn't go and use a heavy hammer to pop it in w/o reading up on the process first. So, I pulled the NAPA unit out and laid it next to the previous aftermarket unit. Pulled out the caliper and measured both axles, splines, seal surfaces, etc and they're identical.

So, this leads me to believe that the issue of the C clip pointing up or down could be a possible issue. If anyone has any insights, please let me know.
 

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