Expert: Ted Ritter - 8/2/2004

Question
G'DAY,
1)WHEN PRYING THAT AXLE HOW HARD IS IT TO REMOVE?
2) DO I NEED ANY PIN PUNCH TO PUSH THE DRIVE SHAFTS CONNECTING THE WHEEL? IF IT IS NEEDED HOW FAR DOES IT HAVE TO GO?

THANK YOU FOR YOUR ADVISE?

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Followup To
Question -
i have a 1994 toyota camry and later found out that i have a torn cv boots on the passenger side. i am planning to do it myself and would like to know how to disconnect the drive shafts from the transmission side and to the wheel side.
Answer -
One of the first things you need to do is to remove the axle shaft nut on the outside of the hub, this is a 30mm size nut and is held on with about 300ft/lbs. of torque, it is extremely tight and difficult to remove unless there is an air impact wrench available to you, this is one of the reasons I don't recommend someone doing this at home.
You may be able to get the nut loose with the car on the ground and having someone lock the brakes while removing the nut with a very long bar and socket, after that remove the wheel ,pull the rotor and caliper assembly away from the shaft and secure it so it's out of the way, the left axle can be removed by prying between the transmission case and the end of the axle joint.
On the right side remove the large clamp from the inner axle boot and remove outside part of the shaft, leave the inner part in the transmission, if this is a V-6 the procedure is a little different so let me know.

Answer
The axles can be extremely difficult to remove from the transmission, by turning the axle and persistently prying between the housing and the cv joint it will eventually come out, but first you need to get the hub clear of the axle, you may have to tap it out of the hub, the hub has to be completely seperated and out of the way before the axle will come out.