Hey all,

I'm about to put in a factory 4.88 front diff, and I've read about popping out the cv studs and grinding them into bolts to make the install and future maintenance much easier.

My question is about getting them out... is it okay to just put the housing up on it's end, put on nut on the stud and pound away? Am I gonna mess anything up like the axle or seals?

Searched but couldn't really find info on this...


Thanks!

 

I think the easiest way and the one least likely to cause damage is an air hammer, just be careful. Don't let it slip, and if you see the stud starting to distort, stop.

 

Anyone do this with just a hammer? I don't have access to air tools and need to get this done by tomorrow afternoon.

 

yes, I have done it with just a hammer.

place all the nuts on to protect the threads and take you time to hammer them out strait. Once you get one out, you will understand what it takes. It if fairly easy, dont fear it.

 

well i've pounded out studs before but i sort of fear damaging the axles somehow. did you just set the thing up on end and have at it?

 

I just set mine up on end and beat them out. No issues that I can tell so far. I did however buy some nuts/bolts/lock washers to replace the studs.

 

I carefully lined up a pulley puller, bit of grace was needed to finesse things. Went nice and slow. I may be nandy pandy but I don't like pounding on bearings if it can be helped. Just my .02.

 

Where'd this guy come from?!?!


yeah pretty much what I did...I mean...Kiyobrown did it...I was busying mixing up shims...

 

Just to bring this mod back to the top!
After researching the cost of bolts to replace the studs (OUCH!!! like 2$ per bolt), I opted for pounding them out, then grinding them down so they slip in and out. Worked like a charm. Held them by hand and spun them against the bench grinder.

Install was 5000000% easier!

Thanks YT for all the good ideas.

 

$2/bolt? Where are you buying bolts?
IIRC 1/2" SAE bolts fit the holes perfectly, grade 8 or stainless can be purchased pretty cheap since you need a bulk (12).

I pressed mine out using a C-clamp, put a socket over the head, then one end of the clamp on teh socket, other on the stud threaded end, crank away. When you get enough forced they will sort of "break' loose and come out quickly.
the key is that the pressing force has to be perfectly aligned with teh bolt.

I did this years ago and the time spent then has saved me gobs of effort since then.

 

didn't want to mix bolt types. Keepin' it metric! That was for M12 8.8 or 10.9's IIRC.

 

I totally understand - I always try and stay w/ metric for anything on these trucks as well. The hard part is finding j-spec metric bolts so the heads are the right size.

However in this case there is good fortune - 1/2" bolt has a 3/4" head, which is identical to a 19mm socket. So in the future it wouldn't matter at all, still use a wrench that's in the Toyota tool bag, nobody but you would ever know it wasn't metric ;-)

As an aside, be sure to get locking nuts for the other side of them, you don't want those suckers backing off.