Hey what happened here? I put the axle into in the trany and then into the knuckle but it wasnt suspended and pulled the driveshaft. Now the inner cv boot is really stretched and it wont go back into the casing, I can feel the rollers on the spider poking out the metal case just a bit but they are still in there because the casing turns when I turn the shaft. Why wont it go back in?? I have tried everything. Thanks in advance! I need my car for work!

 

You need to take off the clamp and turn those bearings so they line up properly. It has to be perfect, it can be a pain to get them to slide back in there. You might want to get some new grease, as you'll undoubtedly make a mess and probably lose some in the process. Just take it apart and be patient.

 

ok thanks, but is it possible to put those bearings in without taking off the boot? They havent come out of the housing, they're about half in there from what I can feel through the boot.

I'm trying to create a visual in my head, isnt it just 3 pathways for each of the 3 rollers/bearings or do they have to go back in vertical like the helms mentions, is that why its tricky?

 

Ive done that a few times. i just had to rotate the shaft around the cv joint. and keep the joint and shaft in line while you are rotating. takes some time but the rollers will line up with the groves and slide back in.

 

Yeah it happened to me once also when lowering a friend's EP3 Si hatch. We ended up having to remove the axle completely and then the rollers went right back into the cup.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by TraKtioN &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">ok thanks, but is it possible to put those bearings in without taking off the boot? </TD></TR></TABLE>It's possible, but if it doesn't slide back in easily, it would probably be less of a headache to just take off the boot and line them back up. Don't worry, it's not very difficult.

 

Be prepared to buy a new boot clip; cause re-using them is a PIA; I did it today for a 98 Camry; But We had a whole new axle boot kit; threw the axle in the parts washer; cleaned them out; and re-greased them with new boots; and its good as new.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by pgpbubble &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Be prepared to buy a new boot clip; cause re-using them is a PIA; I did it today for a 98 Camry; But We had a whole new axle boot kit; threw the axle in the parts washer; cleaned them out; and re-greased them with new boots; and its good as new. </TD></TR></TABLE>

Thanks guys, I ended up realizing an hour later fiddling with it that the vacuum inside the boot from it being extended was pushing those rollers outward making it impossible to lineup.

If anyone attempts this with the boot on dont bother, it was even tricky with the boot off. Be prepared to use a zip tie if you dont have another metal clip, good thing the existing clip was still in decent shape and I just ended up reusing it which makes nervous.