is there any way to remove the axles without (really) needing an alignment afterwards? im swapping trannies tomorrow and wont have time to get to a shop to get an alignment for like a week, and last time i removed them my alignment was horrible.

 

you only need to pop out the balljoints. that shouldnt throw off your alignment too much since youre not changing the tie rod length. not sure what you could have done wrong before, but alignments after an axle change arent that necessary.

im not saying toe doesnt change at all, just saying its relaly not supposed to and probably not enough to warrant a special need, if nothing else was changed.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Tyson &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">you only need to pop out the balljoints. that shouldnt throw off your alignment too much since youre not changing the tie rod length. not sure what you could have done wrong before, but alignments after an axle change arent that necessary.

im not saying toe doesnt change at all, just saying its relaly not supposed to and probably not enough to warrant a special need, if nothing else was changed.</TD></TR></TABLE>

If you unbolt the suspension fork, inner/lower CA bolt, and radius rod, you can pull the axle without popping any ball joints. That will at least minimize the chance of changing the toe, although popping the ball joints shouldn't change your alignment as Tyson mentioned (unless you loosen the tie rod bolt for whatever reason).

 

Best way of removing axles = The one that works for you and gets the car back on the road!

As with most things Honda, there is definitely more than one way to skin this cat.

Generally the *easiest* way to remove the axles is by popping the balljoint on the bottom of the hub/knuckle assembly. With the right tool, it's easy as pie... usually. I like a Craftsman 7/8" cold chisel, available at Sears (sometimes individually, sometimes only as part of a 3-piece set of big chisels for $19.99/set. A bargain at twice the price!). Drive that chisel into the space between the lower control arm and the hub/knuckle, being careful to keep it between the metal parts so you don't mangle the balljoint boot. If I ever see anyone coming at my car with a picklefork, there's going to be chin music... Anyway, as you drive the chisel into that space, it gets harder; the chisel is acting as a wedge, and should force the balljoint to pop loose. It can take a few minutes of driving it in. If it doesn't work in ten minutes, I'm off to the next method.

If that doesn't work for you (and it doesn't, always, for me either), you can do what Travis said. It'll get the job done, but usually takes a bit more time. Unless the balljoints are just frozen into place, in which case you can hammer on the bastards for an hour and not get anywhere. Balljoints don't seem to loosen, either - they're either on and TIGHT, or they're popped out. It's because they're tapered, and gravity (the car's weight on them) tends to make them tighter.

And if THAT doesn't work, I've done this in the past, too: Remove the castle-nut from the tie-rod balljoint, bang that balljoint out (usually WAAAAYYY easier to get out than the other one), DON'T loosen the tie-rod ends on the steering rack (there's a lock-nut holding the tie-rod end at its present position, and loosening or adjusting that lock-nut alters the alignment), then remove the shock/spring assembly and the shock fork, THEN loosen and remove the upper wishbone mount nuts in the engine bay. Now you can pull the suspension out and down while turning it, so the axle will slide right out.

The last method is probably the one MOST likely to require a trip to the alignment shop, so it's the last method I'll try. And it's not the quickest, either, because you're still screwing around with balljoints. EASIER balljoints, true, but balljoints nonetheless...

Mike