So I'm trying to pull my cv axles and cannot get them to pop out of the axles, I have tried all of the different ways and nothing is working, when I pry it just pulls the whole engine to the side and I get no leverage. Is there something I'm missing?
Having a lot of trouble removing front cv axles, need help
- Thread starter blackout51
- Start date
tblazerdude
Member
- Dec 4, 2011
- 321
less pry more pop. 5 lb sledge and something metal and solid and long (rebar? small jack handle?) . whack away.
tblazerdude said:
I've got a very good angle with a crowbar and a 5lb sledge but have been hammering for over an hour and it's doing nothing at all
An impact is always more effective than a pry force. Get the recommended straight rebar or huge screwdriver and a BFH and mallet it at a slight angle from under the oil pan.
I had exactly the same problem .. couldn't get the CV axles out after trying for around 2 hours. This is how I got around it
1. Lying under the vehicle, position a 2ft piece of steel where the red arrow is
View attachment 26842
Then, give the drift (the steel bar) some really, really hefty whacks. Mine popped out after 3 hits. It might seem like it's really jammed in, but it's just a matter of hitting it at the right spot with enough force. There is a clip that keeps it connected, a solid enough hit and you'll pop it free.
Thanks to Roadie for the image
1. Lying under the vehicle, position a 2ft piece of steel where the red arrow is
View attachment 26842
Then, give the drift (the steel bar) some really, really hefty whacks. Mine popped out after 3 hits. It might seem like it's really jammed in, but it's just a matter of hitting it at the right spot with enough force. There is a clip that keeps it connected, a solid enough hit and you'll pop it free.
Thanks to Roadie for the image
Attachments
I take hundreds of pictures, and love it when somebody embellishes them. 
First time I did the passenger's side, it was tough. Took a second person to run the long-handled sledgehammer. Since then, it's been easier because I greased the splines and circlip. 1-2 whacks with a 3 pound hand sledge and it does come out. Persistence and a bit more oomph should do it. Rotate the assembly every 2-3 whacks in case you have a totally bound up circlip and you have to be hitting it on the tripot housing exactly where the circlip opening is. You might be whacking at a solid part of the circlip and it's harder to compress that way. Guaranteed there is no bolt - all you have is a dry joint and perhaps some corrosion. Impact should break that free.
First time I did the passenger's side, it was tough. Took a second person to run the long-handled sledgehammer. Since then, it's been easier because I greased the splines and circlip. 1-2 whacks with a 3 pound hand sledge and it does come out. Persistence and a bit more oomph should do it. Rotate the assembly every 2-3 whacks in case you have a totally bound up circlip and you have to be hitting it on the tripot housing exactly where the circlip opening is. You might be whacking at a solid part of the circlip and it's harder to compress that way. Guaranteed there is no bolt - all you have is a dry joint and perhaps some corrosion. Impact should break that free.
the roadie said:I take hundreds of pictures, and love it when somebody embellishes them.
First time I did the passenger's side, it was tough. Took a second person to run the long-handled sledgehammer. Since then, it's been easier because I greased the splines and circlip. 1-2 whacks with a 3 pound hand sledge and it does come out. Persistence and a bit more oomph should do it. Rotate the assembly every 2-3 whacks in case you have a totally bound up circlip and you have to be hitting it on the tripot housing exactly where the circlip opening is. You might be whacking at a solid part of the circlip and it's harder to compress that way. Guaranteed there is no bolt - all you have is a dry joint and perhaps some corrosion. Impact should break that free.
Well I just got done trying the slide hammer/adapter method and that got me no where, I have been working on this for 7 hours now..on one axle and it literally hasn't moved at all. I have spun the axle and hit on all of the different points, I tried from the outside with a big crow bar, from the oil pan opening with multiple different things, it just isnt moving at all and I know it's bad because when I put the hub back on and try to spin the hub by hand it rotates half a turn then I have to force it through a heavy clunk, but when the hub is off it doesn't do that, the hub is brand new.
As others have mentioned, I don't think the pry bar will help 
Yours sound like it might be corroded so you have to break the corrosion through impact first.
Have you tried a pickle fork right where the axle goes into the oil pan / disconnect housing? I imagine the tapered fork with a solid hit with a hammer will be enough to force it loose?
When i did mine, I removed the spindle so the CV shaft wasn't connected to the bearing at all. I wasn't sure if there would be enough 'play' for the CV axle to pop out of the disconnect if it was still connected to the wheel bearing. A lot of of people recommend leaving it connected and just undo the top ball joint, but I disconnected everything.
1 more suggestion .. if you're using the drift bar method, try and keep the bar as horizontal as possible. You want all the energy from the hammer/mallet to be transferred to push the CV axle outward, not upward.
Yours sound like it might be corroded so you have to break the corrosion through impact first.Have you tried a pickle fork right where the axle goes into the oil pan / disconnect housing? I imagine the tapered fork with a solid hit with a hammer will be enough to force it loose?
When i did mine, I removed the spindle so the CV shaft wasn't connected to the bearing at all. I wasn't sure if there would be enough 'play' for the CV axle to pop out of the disconnect if it was still connected to the wheel bearing. A lot of of people recommend leaving it connected and just undo the top ball joint, but I disconnected everything.
1 more suggestion .. if you're using the drift bar method, try and keep the bar as horizontal as possible. You want all the energy from the hammer/mallet to be transferred to push the CV axle outward, not upward.
tomsmith said:As others have mentioned, I don't think the pry bar will help
Have you tried a pickle fork right where the axle goes into the oil pan / disconnect housing? I imagine the tapered fork with a solid hit with a hammer will be enough to force it loose?
When i did mine, I removed the spindle so the CV shaft wasn't connected to the bearing at all. I wasn't sure if there would be enough 'play' for the CV axle to pop out of the disconnect if it was still connected to the wheel bearing. A lot of of people recommend leaving it connected and just undo the top ball joint, but I disconnected everything.
1 more suggestion .. if you're using the drift bar method, try and keep the bar as horizontal as possible. You want all the energy from the hammer/mallet to be transferred to push the CV axle outward, not upward.
What I mean by crowbar is holding it and hitting it, not prying. I have been using this slide hammer as hard as I can which is much harder than I could with the sledge and am getting no where, also I got a pickle fork and used it multiple ways and nothing either
Ok, at the risk of insinuating you are doing something wrong (which is not my intention), are you sure you are hitting the area that I marked with a red arrow? That is, you've got your crowbar against it and you are hitting in the direction of the arrow?
tomsmith said:
Well it was the most frustrating job I have done yet to that thing but I finally got the drivers side out, which was the bad one. What wound up working was the slide hammer, I just couldn't get enough of a hit with the hammer. I had to use a hammer to get the new one in even, which I found crazy. But thanks for all the help everybody!
Opeth said:
Yeah that's what I was using, I hammered as hard as I could on that thing for like 3 hours before it finally popped out. I have no idea why it was in there so tight
Well now I have a whole new problem...I just found a small hole on my brand new boot on the axle I just installed...is there a kit or do I have to remove the whole axle again
Re-booting CV shafts has been discussed recently, and it's almost never worthwhile. Sorry to hear.