Pulled my rear axles
 

I pulled my rear axles tonight. Total time was about 2 hours. Pretty straight forward. You really have to bang the crap out of them to get them to compress.

My car actually had two different axles!:eek: One side had the sealed can axle while the other side had the allen head bolt axle.

For those contemplating this job, I recommend getting the Haynes manual. Its pretty straight forward. Remove the differential cover - support the differential with a jack beforehand. Remove the 13mm bolt holding your rotor on. I used a metal horseshoe stake to bang the heck out of the axle to compress it. Compress it to the point you can detach it from the hub. Locate the retaining ring in the differential and remove it. Slide out the axle. You'll have to lower the differential when banging on the axles and raise it when its time to slide it out of the hub. I also removed my calipers to make it easier to slide it out but you might not have to.

Time to take them to a mechanic and get them rebooted.

Scott

Thats strange. I have had the axles out twice and I was able to simply compress them, jack up on the differential while allowing the trailing arms to lower and they eased out just barely. I had to disconnect the swaybar ends to get them to clear so they could be removed. Never had to beat on them. RT

One of mine had a little rust on the splines "welding" it into place. I remember a friend of mine had an old Porsche 914 and the axles wouldn't budge no matter what. He used PB Blaster, a torch, and a sledge hammer - nothing budged. He let the car sit overnight and they came out the next day with no problem. I think its just luck of the draw on how tight they're in there.

Scott

Always remember to raise the dffiy and subframe back into position before attempting to remove (or install) the axles. Putting the the differential and subframe back into its normal position provides you with the extra room between differential and the wheel hub that's needed to get the axles out without having to compress them too much.

I agree with Scott98. I've done this job several times now; some just pop out, others wont budge until you've beaten them repeatedly till your hands bleed with whatever handy heavy objects you can find. I think of it as a lucky dip...
Giles

Did one of mine this weekend and posted a HELP ME! when it wouldn't pop out. I beat on it through the center of the hub for 2 hours or so. Eventually I took a socket extension over the hub angled against the cuff and wailed on it - it came out pretty easily (maybe 30-min) from that angle. Mine war rusted to the splines as previously mentioned. I hit it with PB blaster which may have helped after it sat (with me beating on it) for a few hours.

I took my old axles to get them rebooted today. The mechanic could only reboot the one with the allen heads - not the sealed can axle. The mechanics that could rebuild both wanted $800 and $500, respectively. I ended up buying brand new aftermarket axles for $300. I figured I couldn't go wrong at that price. They went in without a problem.

Scott

Yesssss