'93 Sentra XE drive axles -- How tough a job to replace them?

Question

Re-introducing m'self. I'm the guy who "forgot to change the oil." The cooler weather is here now, so I changed the erl.

Now it's time to tackle the CV Joints, if I dare. I've worked on previous cars I owned, and the Haynes manual (yep) makes it look easy, but I'm worried about really screwing up.

Is changing CV axles really something you can do in your driveway? I'd hate to end up having it towed someplace 'cause I couldn't get it back together, y'know? But I watched the mechanic change both of them before; no problems for him.

And BTW, here's some history on this car:

The RF CV axle changed 6 years ago at 34, 670 miles. Cost -- $110 + $40 labor. The LF CV axle changed ~5 years ago at 38, 340 miles. Cost -- $100 + $40 labor.

This Sentra presently has 48, 8xx miles on it. I'd like to keep it, not least because it's long-since paid for. It's led an easy life, but it needs some TLC just from being 13 years old. Kind of a minor restoration job.

Thanks, JM

DemoDisk · Accepted Answer

Hi. Strange that we're not the same person, but share the same screenname, innit?

Lots of people in this newsgroup have tried -- and failed -- to change their own CV joints. The experience is... I don't know... just devastating.

I'd strongly advise against even trying, because when you botch the job everyone's gonna laugh at you: your wife and kids, the neighbors, the mechanics and towtruck driver. When you finally pick up your car, you'll end up paying three times what it would have cost if you went to a real mechanic in the first place.

Nobody is going to say anything about it here. We don't like to be reminded of it, and there's a bit of schaadenfreude involved too, I bet.

Good luck with the repair if you try it. Oh, and make sure the box has a new 32mm retaining nut. They don't always give you one, and you can't drive anyplace to buy one after you pull everything apart!

'93 Sentra XE drive axles -- How tough a job to replace them?

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