Contour Enthusiasts Group Archives Forums Modifications Suspension Right Side Halfshaft... can't get it out

After discovering that my outboard CV Joint had sprayed grease all over my suspension, i figured it was time to replace the boot.

Got the spindle off of the shaft, and I cut the boot off only to see it full of nice clean grease (yeah, that was dumb to do)

Now I need to get the shaft out and I just can't get it to move. The Ford service manual says to use a "Halfshaft Removal" tool, it just looks like a big wrench with a pipe on it. Is the tool really that necessary?

I don't think I can rebuild the joint while it's on the car, and I think I've probably gotten in a little farther over my head than I expected.

Any advice? please?

-Chris

Both shafts basically "pop" off the car. The driver side is a little harder actually because you're pulling the snap ring too. The passenger side just slides off the center shaft. I used a compthane (hard plastic) hammer on the back side of the metal housing on the axle to pop the passenger one off and a big prybar and someone pulling on the shaft to get the driver side off. Not sure if this is the recommended method, but it worked fine for me.

Rick

I think that "Halfshaft Removal Tool" is similar to the slidehammer I talked about. Slide hammer has a big block of weight on a slide and a hook on the end where you can "pull" out instead of hammering in. I borrowed the slidehammer when I took the passenger side halfshaft out. There IS also a ring on the passenger side halfshaft, I think they're actually the same part.

According to the Haynes manual, you can knock on the back end of the halfshaft and knock it out. But when I changed mine, I couldn't figure out how to fit a hammer in there. I tried to use a screwdriver as leverage, but I bent the screwdriver before moving the shaft. After 5 hours of trying, I went and borrowed the slidehammer. With the slidehammer, the shaft came out within 30 seconds!