Changing Front CV Axles

[MTL_4runner]

Just did mine and I tried to take alot of photos for people so I could do a semi-decent writeup for people trying to do this too (since as these 3rd gens get older, the likelyhood of needing to do them will go up significantly too). I'll finish the writeup after dinner because it's hot out and I am starved!

Just a placeholder for now.....

[Good Times]

wiki man wiki

[neliconcept]

Im gonna need one for manual hubs soon i get them in the mail this weekend yay!!

cant wait to see this writeup

[MTL_4runner]

I know I should put it in Wiki but I'll throw it in here for now.

You can find the part number and price for the CV axles in this thread:
http://www.ultimateyota.com/index.ph...6&topic=1729.0

The 35mm impact socket I got at Pepboys in the US for about $13

I was thinking about just putting on new boots, but I am so glad I just got new axles (they're only $80 each from Advanced Auto, which is dirt cheap) because putting on new boots is a horribly messy process and most people should steer clear unless you have a parts washer handy to help manage some of the grease removal, you don't value your time much (the disassembly/reassembly can be quite time consuming as well) and your old CVs are still in great shape (ie you haven't had a cut boot or anything where water might get in and ruin a CV joint).

Overall, putting in a new CV axle is really pretty simple, but it's made quite a bit easier if you have air tools. If you're advanced enough to be reading this thread then I trust you don't need instruction on how to take your tire off so we'll start the process after that.

I used a prybar and a hammer to slightly deform the cap enough so the prybar slid under an edge and allowed me to pry the cap off. Don't worry about damaging the cap, you can always hammer the edges back out enough to get it to hold tightly when you put in back on after the entire procedure is done.

[MTL_4runner]

First thing you need to do is to remove the dust cap:

[MTL_4runner]

The next step is to remove the cotter pin and castle lock. Once you've done that you can use a 35mm socket to remove the axle nut (here's when an impact gun really helps, but it's not on there all that tight so someone on the brake pedal while you crank with a breaker bar should work fine).

[MTL_4runner]

Then remove the axle nut:

[MTL_4runner]

Now you'll need to remove a bunch of items. I removed the brake line bracket on the steering knuckle, the (2) 17mm brake caliper bolts, the brake rotor and the (4) 14mm ball joint bolts (which you can see if you look up from under the lower A-arm). Then tie the brake caliper out of the way so you won't damage anything. Finally use a hammer to knock the axle shaft free from the steering knuckle. Basically you want to pull the bottom of the steering kuckle away from the truck while using the hammer to pound the axle shaft through the wheel bearing. This should not require very much force so try not to damage the wheel bearing in the process.

[MTL_4runner]

Axle shaft free from the steering knuckle:

[MTL_4runner]

Here comes the fun part.....make sure to have a pan ready under the inner part of the axle because when it comes out the dif will lets loose quite a bit of gear oil. Using 2 prybars (one on either side of the axle), use equal force on both sides to pop out the inner CV joint from the front dif. I don't really have a pic of this because I don't have 3 hands but when you do it, you'll see what I mean (ie don't just use a prybar on one side or it won't pop out nearly as easily since it tries to come out cockeyed). Once you get the inner CV shaft to move about 1/2" out of the dif, you can put down the prybars and pull the rest out by hand.