Copyright by Goodheart-Willcox Co., Inc.
294 Manual Drive Trains and Axles
Lower
control arm Lower ball joint
Pawl
A
B
Remove cotter pin
and castle nut
Free ball
joint from
control arm
Hang puller pawls
on lugs on
lower arm
Mark position
to aid
realignment
Remove strut
bolts
CV axle shaft
Pull knuckle from
axle shaft
Figure 15-10. Removal of the lower bolts on a MacPherson
strut suspension. Always mark the relative position of the parts
to aid in front end realignment. (Chrysler)
Figure 15-9. This illustration shows the removal process for a
lower ball joint. Always support the lower control arm before
removing the attaching nut. A—Removing the ball joint attaching
nut with a hand wrench. B—Using a puller to remove the ball
joint from the steering knuckle. (Subaru, Honda)
Figure 15-11. Once the other attachments are removed from
the steering knuckle, it can be pulled from the CV axle shaft.
(Ford)
11. Pull the steering knuckle assembly away from the
vehicle until it clears the CV axle shaft, Figure 15-11.
Then, remove the knuckle. If the steering knuckle
must remain attached to other suspension parts, posi-
tion it out of the way. Tie the steering knuckle to the
chassis with wire if necessary.
12. If you are removing the axle that drives the speedom-
eter drive gear, remove the gear from the transaxle.
13. You are now ready to remove the CV axle from the
transaxle. The CV axles may be secured in the trans-
axle in one of many ways. Therefore, it is important
that you consult the proper service information for the
exact removal procedure. Some CV axles are splined
to the differential side gears or to the inter mediate shaft
on the long side of equal-length drive shaft systems.
Some CV axles are held in place by a clip at the trans-
axle. Other axles are bolted to a flange that is attached
to the transaxle. During disassembly, mark all parts so
they can be reassembled in the proper order.
Some CV axles must be removed with an adapter that
is attached to a slide hammer. See Figure 15-12. The
adapter jaws are placed around the inner side of the
CV joint housing. The slide hammer is then used to
pull the axle from the transaxle output shaft.
Some axles are attached with a retaining pin, which
must be removed with a hammer and a punch, Figure
15-13. Once the pin is removed, the axle will slide
from the transaxle output shaft. It may be necessary to
pry the axle shaft loose with a pry bar placed between
the inner CV joint and transaxle.
If the axle shaft is bolted to the transaxle output stub
shaft, remove the bolts, Figure 15-14. After the bolts
have been removed, pull the axle shaft from the stub
shaft.
A few CV axles are held to the transaxle by an internal
circlip, or snap ring, that can only be accessed by
removing the differential cover, Figure 15-15. When