Stubborn CV Axle Help

[ace4aday]

I've been trying to free my driver's side CV axle from the knuckle for two hours now. I have tried an air hammer (worked well on passenger side), flipping the nut and striking it with a dead blow, using a 5lb mallet with a monster metal spike (bent), using the 5lb mallet with a blocks of wood (destroyed 2x), and spraying it. It hasn't moved at all. I don't think this side has ever been apart. Any other ideas I can try?

 

[Reinout]

I've been trying to free my driver's side CV axle from the knuckle for two hours now. I have tried an air hammer (worked well on passenger side), flipping the nut and striking it with a dead blow, using a 5lb mallet with a monster metal spike (bent), using the 5lb mallet with a blocks of wood (destroyed 2x), and spraying it. It hasn't moved at all. I don't think this side has ever been apart. Any other ideas I can try?

You could try a dry-ice or liq.nitrogen to chill and get some expansion and contraction going.

My first thought though was that the hub/knuckle are moving enough when you hit it that it is effectively absorbing the hits. If you can isolate the hub but maybe using a jack to hold the unit more still or blocks between the hub and the frame. Just spitballing ideas.

 

[Jakeepoo3]

I've been trying to free my driver's side CV axle from the knuckle for two hours now. I have tried an air hammer (worked well on passenger side), flipping the nut and striking it with a dead blow, using a 5lb mallet with a monster metal spike (bent), using the 5lb mallet with a blocks of wood (destroyed 2x), and spraying it. It hasn't moved at all. I don't think this side has ever been apart. Any other ideas I can try?

Yeah use bungie cord to support the axle level. Eliminating the angle so all the force is directed in the right direction. Then knock it out.

 

[ace4aday]

After another hour of banging on it, my hand was struggling to hold the mallet. It didn't budge at all and I had to abort and put it back together for another day. Hopefully my boot holds out a little longer.

Keeping the dry ice idea as a possibility. Hoping some the penetrating spray works its way in over the next few days. I didn't thing about trying the jack to provide resistance. Nothing I tried would stay put. Could help. I didn't understand the strap comment.

I'm wondering if anyone has ever had success with one of these pullers. It says it the big one fits a 5.5" ID.

 

[d33pt]

Is it really rusty? Just keep spraying it with good penetration oil (not wd40) and heat it up when you smack it with the hammer.

 

[ace4aday]

Is it really rusty? Just keep spraying it with good penetration oil (not wd40) and heat it up when you smack it with the hammer.

Strangely no. Everything under the dust cap looks beautiful. I sprayed the exposed splines with Ballistol before putting the nut back on. It was the only thing I had. I'll try again this weekend.

 

[d33pt]

Strangely no. Everything under the dust cap looks beautiful. I sprayed the exposed splines with Ballistol before putting the nut back on. It was the only thing I had. I'll try again this weekend.

That puller seems like it would work. It will probably let go with a bang. There will be some rust under there for sure. Rust glue.

A little antiseize on the splines will help for next time. A little goes a long way and don't get any on the threads.

 

[Bmxer06pa]

maybe if you take the spindle off with the cv still attached you can attack it at a different angle with the spindle secured in a vice or something like that.

 

[MikeinNH67]

I've never had one that took more than a couple taps with a soft hammer and I live in the rust belt. I think that puller setup is the best idea at this point. Maybe borrow one from your local auto parts store?

 

[Hi-desertT4R]

I completely ruined an otherwise perfect factory cv axle doing this. All I had to do was swing the entire knuckle up and away and support it with the axle on a relatively flat plane. Get a buddy, a wood block, a floor jack and a ratchet strap to support the assembly. Don’t ruin your axle and force yourself to buy a crap O’reillys cv and spend more money like I did.

 

[ace4aday]

I completely ruined an otherwise perfect factory cv axle doing this. All I had to do was swing the entire knuckle up and away and support it with the axle on a relatively flat plane. Get a buddy, a wood block, a floor jack and a ratchet strap to support the assembly. Don’t ruin your axle and force yourself to buy a crap O’reillys cv and spend more money like I did.

Yours is the second comment calling for a support strap. For clarification, are you suggesting popping the axle from the differential side first?

 

[Bluesky 07]

My one experience replacing my driver's side axle convinced me to at least consider having a shop do it next time. Like you, I just couldn't get the SOB to come out. I do a lot of work on my truck but some jobs, like this one, just aren't worth the trouble. This post, especially the video in it, may be helpful.

 

[Hi-desertT4R]

Yours is the second comment calling for a support strap. For clarification, are you suggesting popping the axle from the differential side first?

I didn’t have anyone to help me. I used a small block of 4 x 4 to lift the assembly up to flatten the axle and a strap to keep it from rolling front to back. This helped spread the cv’s apart giving it room to grow. When it was all the way down or relaxed even if turned fully with the tie rod off it wouldn’t give anywhere for the outer end of the cv to go. A block of wood on the end and a small two to four Lb sledge should be more than enough. Pop the outer through the unit bearing then pull the inner out of the clamshell. Don’t use a massive sledge and mushroom the splines and threads or destroy the inner bearing. Yeah I did that.

 

[Bluesky 07]

The seal is what makes me reluctant to do it again. Thought I had it seated, double-checked, and all I got for my trouble was gear oil drops on the garage floor the next morning. Had to pay a shop to replace it.

 

[Hi-desertT4R]

The seal is what makes me reluctant to do it again. Thought I had it seated, double-checked, and all I got for my trouble was gear oil drops on the garage floor the next morning. Had to pay a shop to replace it.

It should be noted that having new seals while in there is a good idea. When I messed my axle up I was removing it to install the ECGS solid bushing and seal. No issues with the seal leaking. The dust cap makes an excellent install tool for the seal behind the knuckle/bearing.

My passenger side inner seal is leaking after 16 years/150,000 miles and it’ll be the first time it’s ever come apart.

 

[Bluesky 07]

It should be noted that having new seals while in there is a good idea. When I messed my axle up I was removing it to install the ECGS solid bushing and seal. No issues with the seal leaking. The dust cap makes an excellent install tool for the seal behind the knuckle/bearing.

My passenger side inner seal is leaking after 16 years/150,000 miles and it’ll be the first time it’s ever come apart.

What I found difficult was knowing how deep to seat it. I saw some posts saying the depth has to be just right and I thought it was. But trying to get into position to really see into that space is hard to begin with, and I wear glasses so I also have to be able to get an angle where everything is in focus.

 

[ace4aday]

The Saga Continues

The seal is what makes me reluctant to do it again. Thought I had it seated, double-checked, and all I got for my trouble was gear oil drops on the garage floor the next morning. Had to pay a shop to replace it.

It should be noted that having new seals while in there is a good idea. When I messed my axle up I was removing it to install the ECGS solid bushing and seal. No issues with the seal leaking. The dust cap makes an excellent install tool for the seal behind the knuckle/bearing.

My passenger side inner seal is leaking after 16 years/150,000 miles and it’ll be the first time it’s ever come apart.

First off, thanks for the help. It's been really wet here, but my wife I finally had opportunity to make another attempt.

Long story shortened...I bought the hub puller off of Amazon. The larger of the two fit, not great, but it worked. I cranked it down until it started bending and then applied some heat. When I cranked some more, the axle started moving. There was a pretty good band of rust on the splines. Problem solved? Of course not.

Getting the old seal out, I managed to gouge the diff with the seal removal tool. Luckily, it was mostly near the outer edge so I deburred the gash with some emery cloth, cleaned it up, put on a dab of high temp RTV, and installed the seal, and then a re-booted axle. So far, 2 days and no leak. Fingers crossed. But....

Now a have a scrape-scrape sound when turned hard right. We didn't hear it when reassembling everything, but it's there when driving. From the cab, it sounds like the back plate touching the rotor intermittently. We did bend it while working, but we had it bent back, I thought, so I'm not convinced that is it. We plan on putting it back on stands this afternoon to try and figure out what it it.

 

[MikeinNH67]

Good to hear that you got it off. The gouge is no biggie. My guess would be the backing plate too. There's some parts of it that run pretty close to the rotor. Hopefully it's that simple an issue.

 

[Forum148]

Doesn't sound like this would have solve your problem but these are a pretty sweet tool to have in the toolbox.

GZila Designs | CV Removal Tool | Grab one today!

 

[ace4aday]

No noise at all when up on stands, so I just pulled on the backing plate a little before setting it back down and sure enough, it's quiet! And still no leaks. I love this forum. Thanks again, everyone!