Axle stuck in hub.
 

I have a 85 300 SD. I am going to replace the inner boot on the axle. It car has the old type axle that requires removal from the dif. I removed the bolt from the axle and started driving it out of the hub. After moving about 3/4 of an inch it stopped and will not move any further. I can tell that the inner joint has compressed but the outer does not appear to have compressed. Any ideas?:confused:

I plan on replacing the boot with the axle on the car. I found a tool by Dorman part # 614-050 $75. that is supposed to allow installation on the car. If it works, I will post results.

Ben

You should not have to remove the diff. The old type axle shaft required removing the c clip from inside the diff...make sure you can remove the diff fill plug before you drain the diff.

I misstated, I realize that I just have to remove the back of the dif. I am trying to avoid messing with that. I am going to install the boot with the axle on the car.
My understanding is that the axle is supposed to compress enough to allow the hub end to fall free.

I can't get the axle to compress so that I can get the axle out of the hub.

is the car on jackstands/ lift with the rear suspension hanging? that should do it, but it is tite.

The back of the car is on ramps now. I took out the center of the rim so that I could get to the axle bolt. I wonder if that might be the problem. I was going to experiment to see if I could remove the axle with the car on ramps rather than jacking. I would be higher on the ramps.

you need to let the suspension hang, it will give you the room you need.

axle
 

I finally got the axle off. I let the suspension hang free which helped but not enough. I had to use a 3 foot piece of pipe and a crow bar to get the axle past the hub. I don't know why it wouldn't compress but it wouldn't. I am thinking about pulling the CV joint apart to get a look at it. The axles weren't clicking. I don't know how I can get it back together as it is.

Ben

Did you disconnect the shocks?


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1984 MB 300 SD Turbo

It should not be that difficult to take the shaft out. I had to get a bottle jack and place it directly under the diff and lift it up along with the car jacked up.
I noticed that if I took the diff up all the ay it would go with out stressing anything that the shafts had just enough room to comfortably come in and out.

Good Luck

I didn't remove the shocks. The only DIY article I could find was for the 123 model which didn't mention anything about unhooking the shocks. It may be necessary for the 126 don't know. I would expect that partially dropping the Dif might help was well. At this time I am going to investigate removing the dust cover and then seeing if I can pull apart the CV joint to remove the axle and replace the boots.