Hello everyone. I have a question about removing a cv axle from the driverside of my 2007 1500 4x4. The passenger side cv axle came out with little fight. It was very snug to get back in but I was able to get it in and out without removing anything like the caliper, ball joints ect..
On the driverside it is much tighter and I do not seem to have enough clearance to remove the existing cv axle.
My question is can I pop out the upper ball joint only to get enough clearance to slide out the cv axle? Is there any hazrds to only popping out the upper and removing nothing else? I was planning on getting or renting a ball joint seperator tool tommorow morning, but want to make sure this would even work. It only need about an inch or less to remove the cv axle from the differential shaft.
Thanks in advance for any help!

 

Ok so my sypmtoms were a shaking steering wheel at around 30mph and again around 60mph. Also when I turned a corner I would hear a catching or popping sound. All these pointed to a bad cv axle. The first one came off after a small fight, but the driverside did not have the clearance to remove it. Here ar the steps i took to removing it.

1. jack up the vehicle and support it on stands. I left the jack under the lower arm to support the tension of the spring.

2. Remove tire to remove the center cap so I could access the hub nut.

3.Re-install tire.

4.I did not have an impact gun so I have to loosen the hub with the truck on the ground. It took a 35mm socket, 18" 1/2" breaker bar with a long piece of rigid tubing over the handle for leverage. This worked well!

5. Took a prybar and used it to pop the cv axle off of the differential. there is a c ring that holds it from sliding off.

6. Jacked it back up after removing the hub nut and resupported it.

7.Removed the brake caliper and tied it out of the way and removed the abs sensor cable by removing the clips holding it. You must undo the connector clip as well which is plastic riveted into the inside of the wheel well.

8. I used a pitman arm puller to pop the upper ball joint. This worked really well. It was a $15 Harbour freight puller but worked fine. This gave me the room to slide out the old cv axle.

9.Repeat steps in reverse order.

So after 2 new cv axles installed I jump in the truck and give it a test run. Clunk, cluck, bang. Same popping and catching sounds when I turn or go in reverse. I didn't check to see if the steering wheel was still shaking because I did not want to drive it down the road and risk anymore damage. So I now have new cv axles but the same problems.
Does anyone have any idea what would cause a metal rattling sound, the steering wheel to shake and some popping noises when turning or backing up? I'm stuck!

 

Did you check the splines in the hubs and also the axel tubes?
They have been known to be either worn or stripped!
You might very well gave new stub axles/CV's but have damaged hubs and or axels.
Al

 

I did check the stubs sticking out of the differential. I cleaned them with a brush and replaced a c ring. The splines looked fine. I greased them up before I put the new ones on as well so I'm trying to figure out what next.

 

Hubs have splines in them too.
Did you check those??
Al.

 

Do you mean the female end (inside end) of the cv axle? Those were brand new and looked perfect. I noticed some strange wear on the pads, Im guessing from the vibration. On the inside pad the corners were worn on each side pretty bad. The rotors looked fine, just the inside pad had the corners shaved off.

 

No. I mean the outter cv end. Closest the the wheel.
You push the CV through the hub.
The cv has a shaft with splines cut into it.
The hub has reciprocal grooves cut into the hole where the cv shaft slots through and engages into the hub.
Check these female grooves in the hub.
Al.

 

Ok I gotcha. I did peak through there as well and they looked good. Very snug fit. I appreciate you throwing these ideas out!

 

No probs bud.
Good luck and post up what resolves your fault.
Al.

 

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