[TheHops]

So, I finally got around to doing this today and figured I'd put up a brief how-to. It was surprisingly easy. I've never messed with anything drivetrain related before so I was pleasantly surprised. From start to finish it took me a little over two and a half hours. I'm by no means a pro and I did this with minimal knowledge and tools, just a bit of research and a couple hacks. I'll keep it brief, maybe this will help someone out. Here goes:

1. Remove hub cover and loosen wheel lugs (don't remove the lugs)

2. I chose to jack the truck from the crossmember using a 3 ton jack, with a 2 ton cross beam adapter (picture 1). It lifted beautifully. Just use common sense here getting the truck on to jack stands.

3. Once the truck is securely on stands with tires off of the ground, remove the lugs and tires. Personally, I slide the tires under the front for a bit of extra security in case the stands fail.

4. Relocate the jack under the lower control as close to the hub as possible to give it a bit of support. Don't jack too high though otherwise your truck will be tipping to one side.

5. Remove the cotter pin and nut on the hub. Sliding a screwdriver through the brake disc (picture 2) keeps the hub from rotating while you apply the torque. On my 2010 a 32mm socket with a breaker bar did the trick, though truthfully it took some convincing (picture 3).

6. Once the hub nut is off, move to the front differential flange and undo the 6 bolts. Remember, the axle spins so you can position it however you get the best torque. I only had a relatively short 14mm wrench handy so I spun the axle so my target bolt was at the bottom, placed the wrench on, and pressed it with my foot (pictures 4 and 5). All 6 bolts on both the driver, and passenger side axles came undone with a single press doing this.

7. Once all 6 bolts on the flange are loosened and/or removed, support the axle with your hand while you undo the last bolt. The axle should more or less fall right out. I was able to get the axle out without having to loosen or remove anything. No upper ball joint removal, or strut removal, however this could vary based on your suspension setup. All I did was push the differential side of the axle up and towards the rear of the vehicle until the splines of the axle cleared the hub and steering knuckle. After that, I was able to pull the whole unit out from the bottom without using even a pry bar or rubber mallet.

8. To reinstall, just reverse the steps. Slide the new axle up in to position, insert the splines in to the hub, reposition the flange and tighten down all nuts and bolts to torque specs. Installation/removal instructions are identical for both sides of the vehicle.

All in all it really was quite easy. Surprisingly so. Again your mileage with this method may vary based on your lift, however I can't see it being that much different. Worst case, you would need a 20mm (I believe, correct me if I'm wrong) wrench/socket and mallet to undo the upper ball joint, and the lower strut mount would need to be removed. The rest is cake.

Hope this helps someone. It's my first writeup so I apologize if it's left wanting. Criticism/questions are welcome. Enjoy!

 

[TheHops]

A few more pictures comparing my old and new axles. One boot was split, but the other one was pretty much blown up. Both had minimal grease remaining inside.

On a side note: Are these old axles usable in any way to someone? Or are they more or less bound for the junkyard now?

 

[Sap32]

Did u have to take out the upper ball joint to get it out. What year is ur truck

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[FishnAlaska]

read #7 .....

 

[Sap32]

read #7 .....

Yeah I missed that part. I have a normal suspension so I'm gonna attempt to do it. Some articles it said u have to remove the upper so I was a little comfused

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[LaxDfns15]

I wanted to update this with my own experience this past weekend because this post helped me a lot in making the decision of trying to tackle this. I have a 2" spacer and Bilsteins set at 1" so my CV angle is fairly high unlike TheHops' with his bracket lift.

I followed everything he did up to pulling the CV axle out at number 7. I did not have enough space between frame and LCA, but after working on it for a bit I managed to get a relatively easy fix. I could not have done this by myself, and I had 1 person helping me.

1. Remove UCA from spindle, support spindle with wire/rope. I just had a short loop of rope around the UCA that I could hook/unhook the spindle on. Unbolt the brake line bracket from the spindle to give you some more manipulating room.

2. At this point you can either be very careful with the ABS sensor wires or unplug them. After seeing how tight they were getting I chose to unhook the battery and unplug the sensors. I still ended up tearing 1 wire, but they're 10 years old so meh.

3. Loosen 3 top strut bolts on top of the coil bucket as far as you can without them coming off. Driver side I was able to do this, passenger side I had to take them all off. Not a big deal, just easier to put everything back together.

4. After those are done, one person under the truck one person manipulating the rotor/spindle. We would alternate between using the jack under the LCA and not using it depending on the amount of space we needed.

5. Doing this gave me the .5-.75" of space I needed to get the old CV axles out and the new ones in. Once you get the splines through the hub you can get the strut back in place and the UCA reattached loosely. Then put the 6 CV axle bolts back in and tighten everything back up.

Took my friend and I probably 3 hours for the driver side, then knowing what we had to do on the passenger side maybe an hour.

 

[Jshort]

Just an update if your truck is completely stock. Got up to #7 and there was no way it was coming out. I ended up having to go a setup further then LaxDfns15 and I unbolted the upper ball joint,and the lower bolt for the strut. This allowed the knuckle to swing forwards allowing the CV axle to come out. I tried everything and this was the only way she would come out. Not really much more difficult at all just saves alot of frustration doing these steps right away. Also those extra steps make it easy for it being just a 1 man job.

 

[schick05]

Thx for starting this thread and esp the last post Jshort. My '04 Titan is all stock. After attempting to pull out the CV axle, I was looking at it...very frustrated obviously, and very jealous of all those with lift kits, and thinking the ball joint has to come loose and maybe that lower bolt in the strut. Then I read your post and went and did it. Sometimes I just gotta hear somebody say yep, that's what ya gotta do.

To all who have changed out their CVs:
1) Did you replace with Re-man or New?
2) What brand did you choose and where did you purchase them?
3) How are they holding up so far?

I bought some Cardone HDs from RA and when they arrived they were staining the boxes with oil from the diff ends of the CVs. I looked closer and the caps on the ends look like they aren't seated properly. Neither are flush with the end. One cap is up, almost as if a screwdriver could pry it up. The other is pushed down and slightly warped. I know absolutely nothing about CVs but I imagined there is some heavy grease under those boots, not oil. But like I said there appears to be oil leaking from under the caps in the ends. Is this just oil they use to coat them with to prevent rust? Or could the caps on the ends really be leaking oil? At this point I want to send them back to RA. Any guidance would be much appreciated here.

For LaxDfns15...do you have 5100 or 4600 Bilsteins? Since you said you had a 2" spacer I was thinking you had 4600s like me and added the spacer to the top. But you said your CV angle was precarious and I went hmmm. Because I was thinking of adding a 1.5" or 2" spacer and hoping that would keep the CV angle low...aka .no UCA or LCA and links mods. Can you advise what setup you have with your Bilsteins? Thx!

 

[LaxDfns15]

Thx for starting this thread and esp the last post Jshort. My '04 Titan is all stock. After attempting to pull out the CV axle, I was looking at it...very frustrated obviously, and very jealous of all those with lift kits, and thinking the ball joint has to come loose and maybe that lower bolt in the strut. Then I read your post and went and did it. Sometimes I just gotta hear somebody say yep, that's what ya gotta do.

To all who have changed out their CVs:
1) Did you replace with Re-man or New?
2) What brand did you choose and where did you purchase them?
3) How are they holding up so far?

I bought some Cardone HDs from RA and when they arrived they were staining the boxes with oil from the diff ends of the CVs. I looked closer and the caps on the ends look like they aren't seated properly. Neither are flush with the end. One cap is up, almost as if a screwdriver could pry it up. The other is pushed down and slightly warped. I know absolutely nothing about CVs but I imagined there is some heavy grease under those boots, not oil. But like I said there appears to be oil leaking from under the caps in the ends. Is this just oil they use to coat them with to prevent rust? Or could the caps on the ends really be leaking oil? At this point I want to send them back to RA. Any guidance would be much appreciated here.

For LaxDfns15...do you have 5100 or 4600 Bilsteins? Since you said you had a 2" spacer I was thinking you had 4600s like me and added the spacer to the top. But you said your CV angle was precarious and I went hmmm. Because I was thinking of adding a 1.5" or 2" spacer and hoping that would keep the CV angle low...aka .no UCA or LCA and links mods. Can you advise what setup you have with your Bilsteins? Thx!

1. I got new ones from Advance Auto, whatever the brand is that they carry that has the lifetime warranty. These also have larger boots on them, and they have torn so far (just checked them this past weekend).
2. Carquest I think, Advance Auto Parts - Down for Maintenance
3. Almost 2 years on them, and they're still going strong.

I have 5100's. I have a 2" spacer plus the 5100's set at 1". This is considered to be the limit before you go with a bracket lift to keep CV angle low. Nowhere does it say you can't lift more, but the consensus is that if you go above 3" lift you're going to be replacing CV axles often.

 

[architactical]

hi guys! this post has become a gift from the titan gods as i prepare for my CV replacement this weekend. ive got a 2010 pro-4x stock, and if i am following all of this correctly the steps on a stock rig would be as follows:

i will be putting my truck on a lift, as one is available to me.. idk if this changes anything or not since there will be a higher ease of access to things that may not be available when the truck is on jack stands.

1. Remove wheels

2. remove hub

3. unbolted the upper ball joint and the lower strut bolt

4. Remove bolts on front diff flange.

5. remove axle

6. reverse steps on install.

correct me if im wrong, but Im unsure if removing the UCA and unbolting the upper strut bolts on the coil bucket is necessary if i am removing the ball joint and the lower strut. any and all help that can streamline this as quickly as possibles is greatly appreciated.

 

[LaxDfns15]

If you're taking the hub off you shouldn't need to undo the UCA. That was my biggest issue. I left my hubs in and tried to get the splines of the axle out of the hub. I needed less than an inch, and unbolting the top of the strut gave me that.

 

[schick05]

Hey Architactical!

I just saw your post. Was in the garage today too unbolting my CV Axles. Last time I had help holding the axle nut while I removed the 6 bolts on the flange. This time I removed a lug, jammed a screwdriver in that hole and proceeded to bend the screwdriver in half as I turned the flange bolts. LOL! I've heard of engaging the 4x4 before starting, so I hope you tried that route or had someone hold the axle nut. My motor and diff is drained and the PS is empty (changing fluids and the PS lines) so I put the floor jack under the hub and lifted it to stop it from turning. Like Laxdfns15 I left the UCA on, unbolted the upper ball joint and separated it from the knuckle. Then I removed the shock tower completely. That bottom strut bolt had been sleeping for 15 yrs when I tried to pull it out. Lots of turning the bolt w a breaker bar finally loosened it so it could be knocked out. That gave me enough room to take the CV out.

Good luck!!