Stuck replacing CV shaft

[Mr. Pickles]

Hey there, yes I've read the How-To on replacement found HERE. I'm down to the 5 12-pointed bolts at the diff flange, and those things simply will not budge. Like everything on this truck, they're a little crusty and are soaking at the moment in PB Blaster. Did anybody else have a problem with these? The write-up seems to indicate that they're relatively easy to remove, but nothing on my truck is easy to remove. I've fought everything the whole way so far, as usual. Should I break out the impact wrench? Of course, I don't think I have 1/2" extensions that will reach that far in... grrr

 

I'm close to the point of putting the whole thing back together, and shipping it off to a shop. The truck is torn down, and half in-half out of my garage cause it won't fit in, but its raining outside. Of course, that leaves me unable to move it or just leave it for the night, so hopefully somebody knows what's up.

[RedPath88]

Have you tried heat? I tend to have good luck with a propane torch when penetrant alone will not do the trick

 

Did you start spraying them down with PB a couple days before you started the project? That's usually a good idea if you can.

[Mr. Pickles]

Have you tried heat? I tend to have good luck with a propane torch when penetrant alone will not do the trick

 

Did you start spraying them down with PB a couple days before you started the project? That's usually a good idea if you can.

 

No torch heat available, although I should hook that up anyways for the future, and with the holidays, no time either. I tried various angles, impact with a mallet, etc. This repair didn't actually come up until thinking about it yesterday. I was going to just drive on the torn boot next weekend, then I figured I better try the split replacement boot I ordered from AC. Go figure, I've used one from them before and it was fine, but this one was waaaaay too small in diameter, it didn't come close. Ok then, I thought, and tracked down a replacement shaft from NAPA for $61.

 

I soaked those bolts repeatedly for a few hours, but couldn't get them to budge. Seriously, I'm talking spinning them around to get full leverage, then slipping into 4WD and using a ratchet with a 2' cheater pipe over the ratchet handle, but no-go. I tried several of the bolts too, several times, just in case. I finally gave up and said "F" it. I put it all back together, thankfully in like 20 min or so as I had been cleaning and lubing things as they came off. I've got family stuff over the holiday, then work for the rest of the week, and then we're hauling people up to play in the snow next weekend. Pep Boys says they can do it for $75 labor regardless, and at this point, I've already blown a day off which sucks, so I call uncle. Hopefully they'll stick to the book price for labor, and let them figure out the damn bolts. We'll see. Tis the season and all that...

[MarkGardiner]

i did both drivers and passenger side on mine, an 88, the drivers side was relatively easy to come off, the passenger side was b!@tch, I also had to use an extension but I ended up cuttin my hands up and doing sum cursin.

[Mr. Pickles]

Well, I'm back at it. Part of the reason for giving up was that the local Pep Boys quoted about $200 installed. I went up first thing this morning, only to find that whoever quoted me happened to be off by, oh, another $200 or so. I knew that sounded too good to be true.

 

I stopped on the way home and picked up a propane torch. Gonna move stuff around and hopefully squeeze the pig into the garage here in a few minutes to give it another shot. Got football on the tv in there and a full beer fridge, so wish me luck.

[Mr. Pickles]

Done! (with several breaks... hey, football was on! )

 

I ended up getting those flange bolts by starting there first before loosening or removing anything else. I locked in 4wd, then went at them one by one from the bottom of the truck where there's a lot more leverage to be had vs. a socket and long extension, using a 12 point wrench instead of a socket. A bit of heat from the torch (thanks Red for making me think again about heat!), then a wrench and cheater, and #1 was loose. One by one, they came free, then it was a breeze since everything else was already broken loose and cleaned from yesterday. I knocked it out quick, didn't have to remove the brake caliper, and I didn't even need to disconnect the tie rod end at the front of the knuckle like recommended elsewhere. Instead, I just removed the shock cause 1 bolt and 1 nut is so much easier. Then there was plenty of room for removal and reinstall of the new shaft by just swinging the knuckle out from the rear and being careful to watch the brake line.

 

All in all, on a clean truck (read: no rust or bs), this would be a pretty straight-forward job for others thinking about it. Heck, a chunk of the project was making enough room in my tiny garage to pull the truck in.

 

I did run into an issue with the auto-hub reinstall, but I'll post that seperately.

 

[RedPath88]

Right on Mr. P, glad it worked out and that you did not have to spend a ton of money to have someone else do it for you