chnkymnky

Does anyone have any suggestions for how to do this? I've pulled the hubs and the snap rings. I can't get the friggin' CVs to stay still so that I can take 'em off...or the drive shaft, for that matter, so that I can pull the u-joint connecting it to the front differential...

The factory manual says to have somebody press on the brake...but...that didn't work...

Any other suggestions?? I'd really like to pull these off tomorrow so I can scrap the truck on Monday...

And now I feel like an idiot...to get the driveshaft not to move, all probably needed to do was to put the truck in 4wd, yes?

Thanks!!

MudHippy

Right.

But getting the nuts removed from the CVs is just the easy part. It's what comes next that you should be worried about.

As far as those particular driveshaft bolts, it's easiest if you can get a wrench on the bolt and another one on the nut(a socket on the nut actually works better though...extension required). Then it doesn't matter if the shaft's able to spin or not.

EDIT: I guess it's not so hard to remove the CVs if you're pulling the front diff too. I've pulled the diff with the CVs still attached(nuts removed) on mine before, so I know it can be done. I'll let you figure that out. The 2 wrench technique can be applied to the CVs too BTW.

bmcghie

The front brakes will only stop your CVs from turning if you have ADD and the fixed (always locked) drive flanges on your front wheels. Locked manual hubs would also let your CVs be held by the brakes (but then you can't get the gold 12mm nut and C-clip out).

If you haven't got it yet, stick with MudHippy's advice: two wrench those suckers. If you want the CVs out before the Diff, jack up up the lower control arm so it's roughly where it sits when the truck is at rest. You should be able to wiggle the CV past the studs at that angle.

Good luck with your parts collection.

DixieThunder

I just pulled my CV axle to replace it two weekends ago and used the wrench method on diff side cheater bar on the wheel side. The other thing I did for one bolt was had my buddy use a big pry bar while he stood at the front of the truck while I was under/side of the truck with the wrench. The pry bar when wedged against the star cut bolt holes worked good. For me though the easiest way was the double wrench. One little thing to add to what bmcghie said, depending on if you have a lift and aftermarket shocks or whatnot it can make getting the CV out of the Hub Housing a little more of a challenge. I had to unbolt the sway bar and the most critical part..... turn the wheel. After that is slid right out piece of cake. Took it out the very next day for some decently rough offroading up in the mountains. Happy wrench turning brother.

chnkymnky

Yeah, the two wrench method is going to be the only way to do it.

I tried it yesterday w/ pry bars and jamming a wrench to hold the cv in place, but couldn't get it to budge - couldn't get enough leverage.

I'm going to see if putting it into 4wd and then disconnecting the front driveshaft will allow me to pull the differential and cv's in one piece...gotta hope...

Thanks!

socal_style

You can remove your front differential like this:
http://www.gearinstalls.com/ifs.htm

It took me about an hour. After this the axles should be easy to remove....

chnkymnky

Got everything out. What a pain in the ass...but...success...!!!

highonpottery

iTrader: (1)

good job. i suggest you pull those CV studs out and grind off the splines to turn them into regular bolts. will make things much easier in the future should you need to take something out.

i think the 1st time i took mine out i had to put a tire on the ground in order to get the CV to stop spinning - wouldn't have worked in your situation since you already removed your hubs. Now I just wedge a box wrench in there up against the frame and it seems to hold the CV still just fine. CV studs converted to bolts makes a huge difference.

noble

REVIVAL!

Removing front diff and CV's this week... Does anyone know what size bolts the diff studs are? Home Depot didn't have any that were comparable, and as I dont have a grinder for the studs to knock them down to size for easy in/out... Any idea's? I'd like to be able to swap in some grade 8 hardware so the next time I work under there it's not such a PITA to remove the CV's

Duffdog

yeah, so I'm kind of surprised nobody mentioned this: Notice that the bolts are too long to get the cv off when the wheels are straight? Well, toyota already had a solution for that when they designed the truck. To remove the driver side CV, turn the wheel all the way passenger, then to remove the passenger cv, turn the wheel all the way driver. Its that easy, the CV axles just fall out when you pull on them. I never understood why people felt the need to change the hardware/press out the studs/ etc when you should be able to change an entire CV axle in 20 minutes just by turning the wheel.

scope103

Uh, Not quite.

If turning the wheel does the trick for Duffdog, well, thanks for the tip! But I'm going to bet that nobel's problem is that he has the front wheels dangling, with the frame held up on jack stands. It just won't work.

You need to lift the rotors so that the front suspension is compressed just like it is when it is sitting on the ground. (I put another jack under the rotor and lift gently.) Then, the half-shafts will come out easy as pie. (I will mention that some have found it even easier if they lift they opposite corner, to get a little more compression on the front suspension, but I've never found the need for that.)

But I certainly agree with Duffdog on one thing; there seem to be a lot of folks on this forum who are quick to solve their problems with a grinder and a sledge hammer. If you want to do that to your truck, well, I don't have to ride in it. But you don't need to do it; the CV shafts are DESIGNED to come out easily!

Duffdog

Scope,

well sure, if the suspension is at full droop, it won't work. Jackstands also aren't necessary as you can remove the manual hub with the wheel still on the truck and remove the c clip and bolt just by reaching in with a pair of pliers. I've broken 10 CV's last year with a locked front with 529s. Heck, my truck even has an extra CV axle in it for the next time I break one-- so you could say I have lots of CV practice.

Also, it helps if you remove the sway bar altogether and drive the truck without it. Much less junk in the way and the truck drives just about the same.

scope103

I've wanted to try that (for fun), mostly because I wonder why so many people on this forum keep running into the same problem. I don't have manual hubs, and I worry about getting the cones out with the wheel in place.

Of course, there's only one way to find out ....

Ocell

I just took my axles out, but I dropped the differential first, so I never figured out how to effectively get them out.

Putting everything back together, I did the diff first and then had to get the axles in. I removed the sway bar (rides smoother now too). I had the wheels on with no jack stands so the suspension was in a neutral position. I cut the wheels hard passenger to put the driver's side in, and it still BARELY went in, even with all the studs removed (I replaced them with bolts, I went with M12x1.25x30mm metric equivalent to Grade 8).

I think what made it so difficult for me was that I've got BJ spacers, so that's changing the geometry (?), AND I put in a 1" diff drop. So the clearances were all messed up.

But from my experience I certainly agree, putting the truck on wheels (as stated, you don't need the hubs installed for this) and cutting the steering to full lock helps a lot.

Ocell

I was able to remove my cone washers without taking off my wheel spacers. My Tacoma steel wheels didn't leave me close to enough clearance to get the nuts holding the hub body on, though.

You can always take the wheel off, remove the hub, then put the wheel back on.

rickettyone

gotta say... there is sure a lot of bad advice out there... to remove the cv axles you just have to level up the axle and turn toward the opposite side of the rig and it should come right out ( with maybe just a little muscle) but it does come out without cutting or modification of any sort... just sayin'.... don't listen to others that say you need a hammer or torch or grinding the heads of the diff. bolts.... bunch of crap....honestly....ricketty

Munkymag

it was a pain n the you know what, but i got mines out with out cutting nothing. just did it this weekend (saturday) took it wheeling sunday morning. Sore from working on that but its doable