i'm in the middle of replacing a torn cv boot on my front left suspension and i have the inner cv joint unbolted but because of the angle with the outer cv i can't get enough separation to open it up and get the torn boot off. i may not be describing it well enough but if any of yall have done this before or know what i need to do to get more separation between the two cv joints please help. thanks, nate

 

as you can see in the above picture, there's just not quite enough room to completely pull the vc joint down to where we can take it apart. the picture below also helps visualize it.

 

i haven't done it before, but it seems if you jack up the front and let the control arms drop, that would give you more room to pull it out. i could be wrong, just an idea. hope you get it figured out.

 

we have it jacked up but we can't get the entire shaft out. we've unbolted the hubs on the outside of the wheel but none of it will budge. we don't want to have to take the cv joint apart itself, but just pull the whole shaft out together.

 

seperate the upper and lower a-arm. Loosen the ball joint....4 screws. remove the brake caliper and watch the brake line.

 

Sounds like you're talking about removing the entire knuckle. From what the stupid Haynes manual says, it sounds like you should be able to just slide the entire shaft out...but 1)getting past the studs on the diff side is very difficult, and 2)I'm not sure if the shaft will just slide out of the hub once the six outer bolts are removed - it doesn't seem to want to slide out at all.

So is there any way of doing this short of the directions you gave?...it seems like an awful lot for one torn boot.

 

Yep - it's a lot of work - that is why you should just replace the entire axle with a rebuilt one - they are 80.00 a piece at O'Reily's exchange. (New boots and all).

 

check out this article.

http://www.off-road.com/toyota/cheaptricks/quickcv/

 

alright we've got the lower a-arm out of the way....the only thing i need to know is how the outer cv joint disconnects from the hub. it seems pretty solidly connected but we've got the bolts on the outside of the hub off but it still won't budge...is there something else we need to do?

 

Took my CV axle out a month ago, I have a differential drop which makes it even harder to get out. Ended up unbolting the lower ball joint, with someone else pulling on the knuckle/brake pull the CV axle out.

 

If you have manual hubs, unbolt the dial plate. If you have Auto hubs(hub plate) remove the plate. Once this tep is done you will see a gold bolt with a large gold washer on it, it is a 12mm bolt. it keeps the half shaft from sliding out.
Hope this helps.

EDIT: there might also be a C-clip on the end of the half shaft?

 

Oh, and taking your shock off might give u some more room.

 

I don't think you need to take out the hub. Just loosen the bolt in the middle of the hub after you take off the cover. you should be able to see the end of the shaft. tap it with a steel shaft and a hammer or something.

 

ok i know what you're saying with that...but our only problem is we can't get the hub cover off. we've taken off the 6 bolts, but the cover won't move. so do we just need to work it off? or is there something else we're not doing?

 

try prying it off...it's just a cover. there might be a gasket involve...not sure.

 

as you can see from the picture, we've tried prying it, but absolutely nothing moves...

 

I just did this a couple weeks ago and I think I've got it down to a science.

1. Remove the hub/ADD flange, the bolt in the end of the axle, and the C-clip
2. Remove upper bumpstop and disconnect the sway bar and shock.
3. Loosen the 6 nuts holding the CV axle to the diff side of the axle.
4. POUND OUT AT LEAST 2 OF THE STUDS. --The single most important step.
5. Jack up the truck so that the suspension extends all the way.
6. CV axle should slide right out.

I took off the tire, but next time, I don't think I'll even have to do that.

 

first of all i really appreciate all of yall's help, we've just sorta done this as we go. second, we've got the hub cover loosened now, like its sliding away from the rest of the wheel, but theres something inside its catching on and it doesn't seem like force is the answer this time. theres something else that needs to be disconnected, but like i said the cover finally did loosen with force

 

You're talking about the ADD flange, right? Did you get all the cone washers out?

Here's a good writeup that shows how to remove the flange. https://www.yotatech.com/~corey/tech.../matt_hubs.htm

Once you take off the flange, there is only a bolt and a C-clip holding the axle one.

 

By the look of your last pic, it still shows the axle endcap , you must remove the end cap, then remove the axle bolt, remove the six bolt and cone washers, then you can get the cover off and you will see a C-clip and washer. remove and slide it out.