You hit the nail on the head Scott. I undid the boot claps and pulled
back the CV boot and able to put the shaft back in the hub so I could
finish putting on the strut/spring. I am flip flopping on buying new
one from Gowesty and having the old one as back up.

I guess it is not a good idea to drive it while the clip isn't on?

I still have the left side to do(strut/spring) so I can practice less
horsing more delicate handling like my German ancestries.

Thanks all:)

On Aug 8, 2009, at 2:22 PM, Scott Daniel - Turbovans wrote:

> That sounds like the outer CV joint came apart inside the boot.
> Especially if the large nut is still on the outer end of the stub
> axle that goes through the hub.
> not a good thing of course.
> Syncro front suspension is 'different' or challenging the first
> time you ever work on one.
> Be gentle with the CV joint boots, the outers mainly, I've had them
> go from fine to having a split in one, from horsing around getting
> the cv joint angle more severe than the boots like,  just changing
> springs and shocks.
>
>
> ----- Original Message ----- From: "David Klein" <david@ASHTEC.CA>
> To: <vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM>
> Sent: Saturday, August 08, 2009 10:38 AM
> Subject: Re: axle connected to hub bone?
>
>
>> I didn't remove anything that is part of the cv and/or axle. I am
>> just changing the strut/spring and to get better access I removed the
>> two top bolts of the upper ball joint. Now the end of the axle moves
>> around inside the cv boot and I can tell it is no longer inside the
>> hub because I can move the rotor and it doesn't turn the axle.
>>
>> Thanks, David
>>
>> On Aug 8, 2009, at 10:20 AM, David Milo wrote:
>>
>>> The stub axle should not have come out of the hub unless you
>>> already removed the retaining nut. Did you do that / mean that? Or
>>> did you mean that the axle came apart from the outer CV joint hub?
>>>
>>> Dave
>>>
>>> On Sat, Aug 8, 2009 at 11:30 AM, David Klein <david@ashtec.ca>
>>> wrote:
>>> HI, I hope I am posting this right.
>>>
>>> I am replacing the strut/spring on my 91 Westy Syncro. When I
>>> removed
>>> the top ball joint (two bolts) and moved rotor/brake assemble off to
>>> the side I noticed that the axle came out of the hub. Is this
>>> suppose
>>> to happen or it suppose to held to the hub the a snap ring?
>>>
>>> Thanks in advance, David
>