spiralsmurf

should i unbolt it from the tranny and just pull it out? or should i free the ball joint and remove the joint from the axle?

skolnick, you usually have good methods...

4Driver4

Whatever you do, be careful not to damage the ABS sensor, and be sure to re-seat it when you are done.

tpierce

pull the axle out of the hub. I think last time i did it, i re-inserted the bolt that holds the axle in, and srewed it down all the way, the cv will pop off. Make sure you replace the clip that holds the cv on.

Also, you will need a really long bar to get the ball joint off w/o tearing the boot. The one i use is ~5feet long.

|skolnick

No need to pop the ball joint to get it out. If this is the driver's side, I can hook you up with a good axle so you don't have to mess with CV joint grease.

EricAl

Remove the entire axle and change the CV joint on the bench. The additional work of unbolting the axle from the transaxle is minor compared to the extra effort of changing the CV joint with it still attached to the car.
I know some do change it with it still attached but I suspect these are people who are very experienced and for whom even minor additional time is a factor.

Be sure you have a triple-square driver and a long bolt for pressing the old cv joint off the axle.

Eric

jjm's quattro

why screw with the ball joint when it's so easy to just pull the half shaft and work on a bench.

spiralsmurf

i was asking what i should do, not defending removing the ball joint

spiralsmurf

it is drivers side. how much for the axle? the boot kit is like $20

4Driver4

It is for me anyway, and I bet I've done a couple hundred of these things over the years.

bar1

2. that. Did this 2 months ago.