RatioCynic Posted July 31, 2004 Share Posted July 31, 2004 I replaced my upper and lower ball joints [driver side] last weekend. Really not a problem removing them if you use a pickle fork and 2# sledge. The biggest PITA is having to remove the knuckle spindle from the drive shaft to remove the ball joints. I wasn't able to break them loose while on the truck. To my problem: The manual said to lightly rap the end of the drive shaft to free it from the spindle. When I did I noticed that the drive shaft moved about 1/8" toward the diff. I didn't give it much thought at the time. When reassembling, one of the last items to slide over the drive shaft end is a snap ring that rest inside the 2nd groove from the outer end of the drive shaft. Well,....apparently that 1/8" movement was enough to prevent the snap ring from going back on. The groove that it sits in isn't visible now. Any idea whats going on here? I pulled hard on the drive shaft -- doesn't budge. I've cleaned out the road grim from around the grease seal behind the spindle [where it mates to the joint assembly] figuring that was the obstruction -- nada. I reseat the wheel bearings. I looked inside the CV joint. But don't know what I'm looking for. The manual says the wheel side joint can't be disassembled [Type ZF100] and doesn't provide any detailed illustrations. Could I have done something to the CV joint? The drive shaft rotates freely [in neutral and out of 4WD]. I've popped the hub off the passenger side and confirmed that the drive shaft should have the second groove clearly exposed about 1/8" beyond the end of the spindle. Any suggestions or explanations would be appreciated. RC Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MatterHorn Posted July 31, 2004 Share Posted July 31, 2004 sounds like you just have some slack on the cv joints that you cant eliminate by just pulling the inner shaft in ... what I would do is remove the 8 bolts that hold the inner part of the cv shaft to the output flange on the differential ... then simply grap it by that end, and push the whole assembly back in or possibly use a pry bar to push it all back into the spindle ... that should do it for you ... it may help to have a friend push it in, while you put the snap ring back on ... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jmcardamone Posted July 31, 2004 Share Posted July 31, 2004 Ok simple. Let look From a Physics Point of Veiw. If you were to Place a jack under the Spindle, it will go up, when it goes up, it will Begin to Apply Pressure to the shaft, Causing it to shorten, And Hopefully apply enough Pressure to the Spindle to Pop it Back out. Ive done this about 100 Times on Front wheel drive Cars. ITs also easier to Push/pull when its Jacked up. Try and let me know! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RatioCynic Posted August 1, 2004 Author Share Posted August 1, 2004 Cool! Thanks for the replies. I'll give 'em a try in the morning. If it works, my wife thanks you too. She's getting a little tired of the Sanford and Sons driveway decor. Hmmm, ...maybe she'll make the case again for a Nissan Titan. RC Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RatioCynic Posted August 1, 2004 Author Share Posted August 1, 2004 OK, I'm no closer to solving this. I did the easy one first which is jacking up the spindle from under the lower control arm. Taking it up as far as it would go brought the drive shaft to just above horizontal but didn't gain much more leverage pulling the drive shaft outward. Next I removed the 6 bolts holding the inner shaft & inner joint to the diff which did give me a better grip on the shaft to pull outward while someone tried to work the snap ring into thte groove. But no luck there. Could I have done something to the outer CV joint when I rapped on the end of the drive shaft? Anyone else have a suggestion? RC Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MatterHorn Posted August 1, 2004 Share Posted August 1, 2004 are you saying that you hit the cv's with a hammer? why? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RatioCynic Posted August 1, 2004 Author Share Posted August 1, 2004 Nissan shop manual said to lightly rap the end of the drive shaft to free it from the spindle. I used a rubber mallet. My next thought [now that the inner drive shaft is free from the diff] is to open up the CV joint, clean it out and see if anything is out of the ordinary. RC Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sw Posted August 2, 2004 Share Posted August 2, 2004 i had a similar problem when rebooting my cv's i had to get my brother (a fairly beefy guy) to pull on the shaft with all his weight, to give me enough slack to get that snap ring on maybe try abit more weight to get enough slack for the snap ring Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MatterHorn Posted August 2, 2004 Share Posted August 2, 2004 I still think that with the right pry bar you can get in between the flange and the drive itself to force the shaft further in ... just gotta put some a$$ into it ... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lgranch Posted August 3, 2004 Share Posted August 3, 2004 I need to replace the lower ball joint on my 91. For some reason the nut snapped off sometime ago. At any rate I did not consult the manual but I did look at the job. I saw no reason to remove the spindle at all. What am I missing?? There are 4 bolts hoding teh joint to the lower control arm and then the big taper through the spindle. Remove the control arm bolts lossen the taper of the ball and rock it out. RIGHT?????? -study- Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RatioCynic Posted August 3, 2004 Author Share Posted August 3, 2004 That was exactly my thought. I went into this project with a C-type ball joint remover and a pickle fork [one with 1"x3" gap between the tines]. You can "rent" these tools from AutoZone. I discovered that the typical C-type tool doesn't work on my Pathy. Its different from the Nissan C-tool shown in their shop manual. The pickle fork fits right in there and a good size sledge should be able to break it loose. I couldnt break either one loose with a 2# sledge so I had to remove the spindle from the drive shaft, mount the spindle in a bench vise and whale on the pickle fork with the sledge. If you do need to remove the spindle then there is a simpler procedure. It maybe obvious to you, but being a newbie at this I did it the hard way the first time. Since then, I've discovered that you only need to remove the hub assembly [auto hubs], the first snap ring and the next three rings [two washers and a "brake" ring] on the drive shaft. No need to remove the lock washer [held on by two screws] that rests over the spindle shaft. Once ball joints are removed from the control arms and the brake caliper and tie rod ball joint are removed, slide the spindle and brake rotor off together. This way no chance of the bearings falling out. Hope that helps. RC Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jmcardamone Posted August 4, 2004 Share Posted August 4, 2004 One thing that works REALLY REALLY REALLY well, the Adapter to Use the Pickle Fork on a air Hammer. THAT REALLY works QUICk. ZZZZZSSTTTT.. Done. Allmost Illreguardless of how Stuck it is, Stick it in, Hit the Button, and GO GO GO! for the 75 bucks for the Pickle fork kit and 55 for the IR Air Hammer, ITs WORTH IT!! hehehehe Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RatioCynic Posted August 5, 2004 Author Share Posted August 5, 2004 Jim, I have the passenger side ball joints to do yet. With what I am going through, I can easily see it being worth it. Thanks for helping me justify the purchase! I've been wanting an air gun toy. RC Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RatioCynic Posted August 7, 2004 Author Share Posted August 7, 2004 lgranch, Here's a heads-up on the lower ball joint replacement! I'm in the process of replacing the ball joints on the passenger side. It took a bigger sledge hammer than I had to break loose the upper & lower ball joints. [Haven't had the time to buy the air hammer/pickle fork!] Once loose I discovered there's no way to get the lower ball joint off the spindle [nor put a new one back in]. The outer joint housing prevents the lower ball joint from backing out of its mounting hole on the spindle. So the only solution is to remove the spindle -- same situation that I went through on the driver's side. darn! RC Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ShadowTek Posted February 9, 2014 Share Posted February 9, 2014 I just had this same issue when installing a new half shaft. I thought maybe I didn't seat the inner-most grease seal down far enough, but that wasn't it. The driveshaft just doesn't like to fully seat into the knuckle without a fight.The best method I found is to stand in front of the knuckle (while it's mounted), grasp the middle part of the drive shaft, and pull toward you steadily while rapidly tapping on the side of the outer end of the shaft from all directions with a soft mallet. It'll quickly find its seat, and the second snapring groove should out far enough.It seemed easier to do without the driveshaft to flage bolts in yet. I then put the snap ring on the shaft so it wouldn't slip back out again. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Create an account or sign in to comment
You need to be a member in order to leave a comment
Create an account
Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!
Register a new accountSign in
Already have an account? Sign in here.
Sign In Now