Stuck axle removal tip?

[ricko1966]

I have read on here several times about people having an axle they cannot get out. I have not had one that would not pop out with a prybar [lucky me]. I've seen people suggest a slide hammer, I personally have yanked the axles hard enough with my bare hands to pull the inner joint off the axle, so I don't see a slide hammer being a help.Think about this and give some input,I was at one of the shops I worked at,and we had to replace some rear bearings in some old truck rearend and I do not remember the in's and out's of why we ended up doing it this way.but we used a piece of conduit as a punch, we could stick it through the axle hole on oneside rest it against the bearing races on the other side and work them out by hitting the conduit with a hammer.Similar to doing rear wheel brg races with a punch and hammer using the conduit as a really long punch. In my opinion a person could use a piece of conduit and hammer to drive out a stuck axle,provide you can get the opposite side out. You may have to r and r a mount to get your angle right. But seems to me you could knock out a stuck axle,leave the conduit in the hole to secure the spider gears, knock the new axle in which would force the conduit back out,then replace the opposite side axle.

[WmWatt]

Nice tip.

[denguy]

I went to driving a steel wedge between the axle and the trans. How do they do this at a dealership??

[bravekozak]

The shop manual shows a large screwdriver.
I have removed four axles with a small prybar using minimal pressure and tapping gently around the bell to center the circlip until it easily pops out.

[sc72]

Brave, that's how we usually get them out, but I have had some that absolutely refuse to come out, so I have an air hammer at work that works every time and not a small one, ok so I'm under the car at the trans, with a round flat nose tool in the hammer, now I have it on the bell pointing out wards, pull the trigger and she pops out. good luck.

[ryanprins13]

I have heard of a bunch of people getting the second axle out that way. But i think generally the problem is getting the first one out. If it happens their usually both stuck it seems. I had one i spent 3hrs trying to remove the axles on and couldnt. Local guy here took it from me and tied the trans to a post iirc. Then wrapped one end ofa chain around the cv shaft and the other around a sledgehammer. Started swinging the sledgehammer as hard as he could. Said it took half an hour of that per axle. I tried everything short of that... my air hammer wasnt big enough and the slide hammer i rented didnt work. Neither did both of us with prybars. And yes, i did try it gently at first.
My only other stuck one took me 3hrs for the one side. Ended up being me using a slide hammer as hard as i could at the same time as another guy was hammering on it with a snap-on air chisel. Took about 10min of that. I doubt a cheaper air hammer would have done it.
Every other time mine have come out nice by the way. 3 i had trouble with and i think 8 have been fine.

Sent from my SM-G920W8 using Tapatalk

[denguy]

Brutal.

[cyclonecj]

Sometimes, they really don't come out. I just went through trying to change my passenger side CV shaft. After 2 weeks of trying everything I found here & other sites, I finally had to pull the trans and take it to a trans shop. Still would not come out. Luckily, I had a spare trans in the garage & had to install it.

trans.jpg

[WmWatt]

Has anyone tried penetrating and lubricating oils to help the circular clip pop out? If there is dirt or hardened grease keeping it from rotating penetrating oil might free it up. Once freed lubricating oil might help it move into position as the axle is rotated.

[cyclonecj]

It is already sitting in trans fluid. It should be well lubed. (Mine was)

After I got back from trans shop, I figured the trans was already a lost cause, so I went so far as to pull the cover off & take apart the differential. I could actually see the clip moving around as I slid the cup in and out, but it was too far down inside the spline to get something in there.

Someday I plan to cut the cup off of the spline so I can remove the differential from the case, just so I can see what the F was going on in there.

[mikemounlio]

Small thing i have found that has always let me get them out is to lift the inner cv
As you pull. If you just start pulling you bind the c clip all to the top making it crazy hard to remove. If you lift uo on tye inner part of the cv and then pull out it has a much better chance at popping out.

Think of it as lining up the two axis. When u put in a seal you have to go slow and easy tap it in even. If it get it off at an angle it will not go in. Same thing with the axles. Gotta line them up or they dont go in or out.

[Eaglefreek]

I used a slide hammer after disassembling the joint. I had to weld a plate to the cup and screwedthe slide hammer to that.

[cyclonecj]

If you look at my pic above, you will see that I had a clamped puller around it. It was very solid, but ineffective. So was a clamped chain tied to a 10lbs sledge hammer. I felt like I was about to pull the car off the jack stands doing that. (not really, just felt like it)

The trans shop tried a few different tools as well. They quit when they felt the case was about to break.

That's when I figured I had nothing to loose... I just wanted to see what was up. So with the case apart, I had a bar through the differential trying to beat it out from the inside. Nothing.

Gave up, Had lunch, & installed my spare trans.

[mikemounlio]

Damn! Thats crazy!

[WmWatt]

Stick it in the freezer, or spray with liquid nitrogen.