I have removed the passenger side drive axle with ease but the short axle on the driver side seems to be a problem. How can I disconnect this side from the transmission?

Thanks,

 

A good swift yank, straight out should pull it out. You don't want to pry or apply angular pressure, just straight out.

 

I have the transmission in neutral and one side almost fell out that easy while the other one seems to be locked. When we moved the van from the trailer, even in neutral we had issues with the front wheels not wanting to move. I loug clanking noise was the result.

I wonder if the cvcould have caused the transmission to go out???

 

I don't know about the CV causing the tranny to go bad, but if the tranny has a major internal failure, it could be jamming the axel in place, or could have gotten bent if the tranny locked up putting a ton of force on it. I recently just used a wood block against the tranny housing and a long pry bar to pop it loose with a sharp pull. If you're removing the tranny, I would think you could do it with the CV attached if you had to.

 

It's not unusual for the LH shaft to be difficult to remove. Usually a good sharp pull or a "pickle fork" will coax it out. It's very unlikely that a CV joint can cause an internal trans failure. I think you have serious internal damage (the trans that is). Have you recently spun the wheels on ice or water?

 

Question: I have bought two new CV axles for my '96 Dodge Caravanand both axles do not come with damper weights. The old ones did but there does not seem to be a way to replace them on the new complete axles.

Are thye still needed? Thanks,