Nashvillecat: I had a tedious time getting the first axle out... intend to do one first, reinstall on the car, then do the other. I also had almost no clearance between the outer splined end of the axle and the wheel bearing's grease seal.

Finally after raising the differential slightly higher I was able to get the axle end past the seal, got it to clear by going towards the parking brake's cable jacket and not towards the spring. I did produce some distortion at several places on the outer "can's" lip, where the shaft contacts it at its limit of flex. I expect to be able to reform the lip with careful use of a small adjustable wrench or small ball pein hammer.

I did not disconnect the lower shock attachment but will do so before the reinstall - it may, as other threads indicate, allow a bit more drop of the swing arm to allow the splined end to get past the seal and enter the hub a little easier.

Maybe some of the more experienced people here will soon post information on the actual disassembly of the joint. If this procedure seems too questionable, I may then flush out the old lube as mentioned above with solvent and relube the parts. It would however be great to be able to disassemble only one joint on each axle and install both new boots without the use of the expensive stretching tool. I also don't look forward to using gorilla-tactics along with a quart or so of silicone spray to stretch the Flexx boot's small end over the joint's housing/can - it seems like it's beyond the laws of physics!

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Respect, protect, and maintain complex systems - whether natural or of German design, to benefit from their full potential.

1982 300SD W126.120 with an OM617.950 from a W116.120
1984 300SD W126.120 with an OM617.951