Is it possible to take apart the axles? if what is involved in doing so? thanks

 

yes, remove the metal clamp, take off the boot, remove bearings. that's really all there is to it

 

PITA to put back together though. well kinda

 

get ready to be extremely greasy ... and ya bro its a PITA to put back together

you have to line up the bearing a certain way (they're rectangular, put them horizontal) iirc

 

so there is no pins to remove

 

Just go to like orileys or somewhere pay 40 bucks for some with life time warranty. Itll be easier.

 

Inner joint is rebuildable/serviceable. Outer joint is not serviceable.

 

No picutre necessary, really simple. What are your intentions ?

 

to reapply the grease when i add a new boot this weekend

 

I don't think you need to take apart the whole axle do you?

 

You do unless you use those POS split-boot replacements.

To take apart the axle, you cut the band clamps, remove the inner joint cup, remove the inner tripod w/ bearings (don't lose them), remove the inner boot, and then slide the outer boot down along the shaft to remove it.

Then you slide a new outer boot up the shaft, pack with grease, then cover the outer joint and install new boot clamps. Slide on a new inner boot, install the tripod w/ bearings, pack the inner boot with grease, and then slide on the outer joint cup, and clamp the inner boot in place.

You have to make sure to adjust the axle length before clamping the inner boot over the axle shaft. That small clamp on the inner boot is what determines the at-rest length of the axle. If you clamp it too far down the shaft, it will be too short and the inner boot will be over-extended when installed and could possibly rip apart.

 

what should the length be set at? one last question. how can you tell which axle is bad?

 

Not sure on the length. The Helms manual lists the correct length. A bad axle will usually have a slight amount of freeplay in one or both joints.

 

in which direction will there be play

 

The outer joint should be able to bend only, and not move axially at all. The inner joint mainly moves axially, and can bend slightly (but not much). Neither joint should have ANY rotational freeplay whatsoever. That means if you grab one of the joints and try to turn it (as if you were spinning one of the wheels) there should be no movement apart from the wheel itself moving.

 

ok that clears up alot. tomorrow ill check to see which axle is bad on my car

 

With the axle installed on the car, you should be able to move any part of the axle at all, aside from the movement when turning the wheel. The normal axle joint movement I mentioned above refers to when the axle is removed the car.