CV Boot Q - Drive Axle - 986 Forum - The Community for Porsche Boxster & Cayman Owners

seventythree · 12-20-2012, 01:05 PM

Hitting the axle end with a hammer will potentially damage the wheel bearing, and that's when the real fun begins.
Remove the brake rotor (real easy), and use a large gear puller to push the stub-axle out of the hub.

Either way, squirting some PB Blaster in between the splines with break things loose much faster.

barkinfool · 12-20-2012, 02:28 PM

OK, here's the update. Yes dghii, I had originally removed the axle nut, just wasn't 100% that I should pound the axle in. It was really stubborn, so it made me doubt my efforts. Using TRK's suggestion & yes, some PB Blaster & heat, was finally able to pound it through. THANKS TRK! Then was able to remove the axle without dropping down the exhaust system which I am hesitant to do.

Anyways, the axle seems cursed after 11 years of aging. I've removed the boots but again I'm having a devil of a time removing the inner CV from the axle. I've removed the cap & circlip, but I'm unsure how to drive the inner CV off of the axle. I've read about using a brass drift to pound out the CV joint, but my uncertainty is do I :
1. drive the axle (pound it out from "the inside of the CV joint") in direction towards the outer CV? or
2. drive the back side of the CV joint (or perhaps the back side of the metal exterior) out so it comes off the inner axle?

I realize this might sound odd, and probably I'm a bit hampered by not having a proper vise, but this isn't coming off easily even now that I have the driver's side axle out of the car.

Another simple Q, should I use any other heat or lubrication to break the CV out? I'm hesitant to use anything because, well, the damn thing is bathed in CV grease already! I've assumed I shouldn't use either, but if I'm wrong, correct me on that also.

OK one last Q, this winter project started because my outer driver CV boot was ripped. So how do I know if the outer CV is good or bad during inspection? There still is CV grease in the joint & I've removed some dried grime from the interior portion of the axle with a rag, but I was just planning to pack it full with new CV grease. I never heard any evidence of a bad bearing or anything & I'm only at 30K miles, never drive it in the rain & I think I caught this early, so that was my plan. Advice on that point would help too!

The saga continues....

shadrach74 · 12-20-2012, 02:55 PM

If the joint is still full of grease and it only has 30k on it with no symptoms of failure, then just pack it with grease and move on. If you were going to do the joint, I would have just recommended you buy the whole axel...

The Radium King · 12-20-2012, 03:14 PM

i put mine in a vise and hammered it off. didn't come easy and i decided to replace the cv just to be safe given how hard i'd hammered on it (just the cv is cheap). outers aren't serviceable and if the boot wasn't torn then I'd just repack and replace the boot (the boot is going to fail if it hasn't already, so may as well replace it while the axle is off). if the boot was torn then i'd clean and inspect it for wear. if it is worn or marked-up then go for a used oem from a wrecker as new oem is expensive and jobbers of questionable quality.

Meir · 12-20-2012, 03:32 PM

hi barkinfool.
i had the same experiences (including getting tips from TRK

).
you can read about it here:
Rear axels rebuild - Pelican Parts Technical BBS
and here:
http://986forum.com/forums/performance-technical-chat/33814-rear-axels-rebuild-o1-s.html
i also had an issue removing the CV joint from the shaft.
you will have to tap it to the direction of the transmission.
tap on the inner ring of the joint.
make sure you install it in the correct direction, and don't move it to much when it is of the shaft.
as you probably noticed by now, this is a messy job you don't want to do again anytime soon.
i decided to replace all 4 boots, replace the CV joints (even though mine was still fine) clean and grease the outer joint.
i had 76K on the car when i did it, and i intend to keep it for as long as i can, so it made sense to me.

dan.oneufer · 12-20-2012, 05:06 PM

Everything you have experienced so far matches exactly what I experienced when I did this last month. I used a drift to remove the joint. It took a surprising amount of force to get it started but once free, it came off without a lot of fuss.

Congratulations! you are approaching halfway. Wait till you see how easy the other side is to do once you get one side done.