Axle reinstall

Tim wrote in news:cc41ec85-1b9e-4cbc-875e-dd4bb9124158 @u4g2000prn.googlegroups.com:

No grease needed. It's probably just the set-ring that makes it feel tight. You need to use a hammer and drift (or big screwdriver) to whack the thing into place. Place the drift on an edge on the inner joint's housing and hammer away.

But make sure the set-ring is CENTERED! Might need to put a bit of grease on the set-ring to hold it centered in its groove. Some set-rings are oval, and stay centered on their own. Others are round and can drop down off-center relative to the driveshaft splines.

Thanks for the reply. The inner joint housing is covered (on the wheel side) with a rubber boot. I think I would damage this when hammering. Do you have another approach?

Tm

I finally got it in by grabbing the shaft and the outer boot and thrusting it in.

Then I spent another hour trying to get the hub and the outer spindle to align. I finally got it. There must be some trick to getting those to line up easier.

You shouldn't hit the axle with anything to install it. You can do damage to the axle.

m6onz5a wrote in news: snipped-for-privacy@m1g2000yqo.googlegroups.com:

Some inner joints have a flat face on their sides that you can hammer on. Looks like the OP simply gave it a running start, which also works.

Tim wrote in news: snipped-for-privacy@f6g2000pro.googlegroups.com:

I should have suggested that too.

The tightness depends on the set-ring. Some are just too tight to simply ram home.

It's like the clutch splines: you need to have them dead-nuts straight before they'll engage.

Thanks, Tegger.

Tim

just how the pros do it.

practice m'boy, practice.

I don't know about front wheel drive cars, I have never owned one before, but if you want to get an axle out of a 1950's 1 ton Ford truck, after you have removed the nuts, wop the end of the axel with a big hammer and it will bounce out a few inches. cuhulin

I spent a week trying to get mine apart on an Integra, never did. It was jammed into the intermediate shaft so I had to take it off as a unit. I guess the last mechanic pounded in in there w/o aligning the clip lol. Oh, and I had to do all this to change the alternator - what a design!!!!!!!!!!!!!

LOL! That's usually what I do...everything lined up? HEAVE!!!!!!!!!!

huh huh...he said "WOP"...

Works on FIATs?

OTOH, son in California had to replace an axle set on Honda, and afterward it popped out on him on the LA Freeway. He had installed it okay , but apparently there was more than one axle set for this particular car, and the parts counter gave him the wrong one. Lucky it didnt kill him.

Big Hammer, it worked on that Trabant car in that James Bond movie.When the engine started running, the fan blade wasen't turning. cuhulin

I think you should buy a Trabby, Cuhulin. You need nothing but pliars, a BFH, and crescent wrench to do anything that needs to be done.

They are pulling them out of junkyards in Germany to rebuild them, so fond are the east Germans for their signature automobile.

I wouldn't mind owning a Trabant car.And a warbling Wartburg car too.The sporty looking one. cuhulin

In message , hls writes

True, they're a collectors item, now that the Berlin wall is down and they're history.

In message , snipped-for-privacy@webtv.net writes

We used to have Wartburg Knights here in the UK until they were banned because being two strokes they couldn't even meet the loose emissions regulations at the time.

Dang, man some of these are pretty cool!