Just about had enough... Tried changing the axles on my car - driver side no problem... passenger side is fucked....

1. New axle clicking like crazy - possibly popping out of diff??? Is the diff fucked??? It is ITR tranny...

2. Try to take off wheel to remove axle again... Bam - wheel stud starts spinning with the lug still on it... Can't take wheel off...

3. Gonna try to cut the stud but while trying to remove hub+wheel off car turns out the tie rod balljoint is impossible to break loose... I must have wacked it like a 100 times with a big *** hammer...

My option is

a) burn car
b) sell car for pennies
c) get a good nights rest and try to snap the stud tomorrow while on car
d) work on getting tie rod joint loose (rent tie rod seperator maybe?) and then sawzall the ******* stud

If option c or d - what is the best way to snap the stud?? also why is the stupid axle coming out of the tranny??? I know I have the right axle...

 

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2. Try to take off wheel to remove axle again... Bam - wheel stud starts spinning with the lug still on it... Can't take wheel off...
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Rent/borrow/steal an air compressor and impact gun, good possibility that the impact will be able to zip the nut off.

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by whatcivic &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">
3. Gonna try to cut the stud but while trying to remove hub+wheel off car turns out the tie rod balljoint is impossible to break loose... I must have wacked it like a 100 times with a big *** hammer...
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Rent a puller from Autozone. Small pitman arm puller seems to work quite well. I have a chinese knockoff of the Honda specific tool and it works quite well.

 

or rest the middle of a large metal bar on top of the lower control arm, to the far outside (right beside the ball joint boot) and put the end of the rod under your car. then push down with your foot and it will pop loose. might take a couple tryss.. once u get the right angle it just POPs off.

you can also jam 1 square 1/2 inch wrench handle between the nuckle and the lca with the knee jacked up, then let the jack out and stomp the knee down. the wrench handle gets wedged between the lca and nuckle and forces the bj to release.
dan

 

Ok - so I install the new axle, flush the transmission and when I take the first left turn - the STUPID AXLE IS CLICKING/POPPING LIKE CRAZY, steering wheel shakes etc... So I jack it up again and see that the axle pulls out of tranny about 1/4" to 1/2" so either the c clip is not holding it in or I need a different axle.... I am so frustrated as this is the 2nd new axle thats doing this.... Why is it not staying in? Is my LSD broken/differential problem?

 

What else could it be? I noticed my front LCA bushings have some cracks in them... Could a worn LCA be the culprit?

Also I did a search and there was a number of people experiencing the same issue but no one had an update on how it got resolved...


Modified by whatcivic at 7:33 PM 9/11/2007

 

Sounds like a pain in the ***.. I just have 1 question. When you put the axle in, did you try to jerk on it (hard, but not so hard you pull the car off the jack stands..lol) and pull it back out? I know it sounds stupid, but maybe you just didn't have it in 100% of the way.

I guess you already figured the other **** out, but as far as the tie rod end, the way I do it is unscrew the nut until the bottom of the nut is slightly past the threads, (protecting the end of the threads), and then I smack the nut upward a couple times with a heavy hammer. Easy, but you might want to use a spare nut in case you damage it a little. As far as the wheel stud, I've just tack welded the back of the stud so it doesn't spin, and then knocked it out after I got the wheel off..

 

Looks like the problem is fixed - it was the LSD... changed out the fluid to GM syncromesh with friction mnodifier and the noise/shaking is gone... ******* 2 weeks later...