Contour Enthusiasts Group Archives Forums Modifications General Mods CV dislocation while removing pass control arm

I posted this over in transaxle but thought in the general would be good too.....

Well, it has been awhile since I last posted and spent a few hours trying to replace the pass. side lower control arm. I got the old one out no problem. I noticed when the ball joint was separated, the strut assembly moved out a bit. It seems the half shaft moved out of its pocket. Is that possible? How do I get that back in place? I can't tell if it was dislocated from the inner boot or outer. Do I have to remove the boots? Any help would be great. I spent all day yesterday farting around with a simple swap. (I seem to forget simple swaps are different when I have a socket in MY hand)

should slip into splines on both ends, so twist it a little bit and try it again.

From the sound of it, the splines are in place, its the joint that has popped free.

Make sure that you havent torn the boots, straighten the shafts out if needed (you can see the twist on the boot if they need to be rotated) and push them back in.

Well, cut the clamp off the big end and pushed the boot back. When I did that, 2 ball bearings fell out. These surround the female opening where the shaft sticks into the knuckle. I spent a good hour spining the ring to try and put them back but no luck. I did get the spindle back in and car works enough to get to mechanic to replace the axle piece and the other side control arm. oh well, at least I know what's nder the boot now. Thanks for the tips

Rough. I'm currently doing both my cv shafts and my passenger side half shaft came out,but the boot and bearings,which you were screwing around with,popped right out of the knuckle. I can't get the knucke and the rest of the shaft out of the tranny,because I think the clip is seized or stuck.

Ah the joys of working on tightly packed modern front wheel drive cars yourself eh?

I replaced my shafts a few months ago, and the drivers side was definitely a pain in the butt to get out. I used a ball joint separator tool, wedged it between the shaft and transmission, and whacked it with a BF hammer.

For removing axle's easily all you need is this...


and a pneumatic chisel and the correct attachment. The best is the 2nd from the right. Sits in the dimble of the outer threaded area that goes through the hub.


After removing the axle nut just put the chisel on the dimple and pull the trigger. Will vibrate the CV right out lickity split. When done grab the slide hammer and yank her out of the tranny.

Gee Todd, I wonder who talk you that trick with the pneumatic chisel...

The pneu chisel is great for getting out the stubborn loer ball joint pinch ball too as they tend to rust up in the knuckle. Using a squirt of PB Blaster is always a good thing too. WD40 is useless.

Same place you got info on the 3L MM. The land of information due to trial and error done by others.

Must be an eastern thing. Cars from Arizona don't even need wd-40 let alone pb-blaster. Not even after 15-20 years.

Still, there is a proper tool to push the axle out of the hub. It bolts onto the lugs and then you just crank it out with a hand ratchet or air impact. Oh, and since I've been in texas and alabama, I've had to buy some wd-40, but it has been sufficient.