

| Subject: | CV Joint repacking- axle removal. |
| Date: | Wed, 22 May 1996 13:23:16 -0700 |
Bus/Bug/Ghia/etc Rear CV joints and front inners for syncros are cylinders with flat ends- no splines to worry about- the six in-hex or 12-point head bolts that pin the boot flange to the joint and the joint to the final-drive or stub axle are all you have to remove. Both the final drive and the axle stub have little lips that go up around the away-from-the-axle side of the CV, so you can pull all six bolts out and the CV will probably stay put- but for safety, leave one bolt in finger-tight while you do the other end. When removing or installing axles, some advise jacking up the wheel (rather than the vehicle) so that the axle is basicly going in a straight line between final-drive and wheel- I've never seen the sense in this and don't bother. A healthy CV has a certain amount of in-and-out-motion available, so after you unbolt BOTH ends, pull the axle away from one end and it should separate. Its heavy, don't drop it. Now manuver the free end somewhere you can pull toward and pull out the other end. Before re-installing, clean the cup the CV bolts to with WD-40 and a clean cloth or paper-towel- you want no dirt or old grease or anything else in there. Also make sure you clean the mating surface of the CV (which shouldn't have anything on it except nice clean new CV grease that just wipes away) I always put a little anti-sieze on the threads of the CV bolts. I've never had to do CVs on the same vehicle twice, so I can't say if it works or not, but it hasn't hurt. Bill
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