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I finished the job during the weekend. I followed Ngcreese suggestion and got the OEM tool from Autozone. Specifically the Item 27032: Flange Type Axle Puller Attachment which by itself was not sufficient to push the axle: I had to use the threaded rod and the nut of my craftsman 2 jaw gear puller to be able to push the axle.
I was able to pull the semi axle out by just removing the lower control arm or wish bone not the tie rod as I previously mentioned by mistake. I only had to remove one, the closest to the cabin =the proximal wish bone. No need to remove the hub from the strut.
Removing the semi axle from the front diff gearbox required the use of a 3 lbs sledge hammer and a cold chisel. In order to reach I had to remove the reinforcement plate. To insert the new one I just got it started on the female splines, rotated it to make sure they were grabbing and I used a 28' Harbor Freight pry bar to transmit the energy of the sledge hammer at two opposite sides. There are few points where you can use a chisel, see picture.
Installing the hub end splines was easy since I got a remanufactured semi axle so they were very clean. I had to clean the hub female splines with a brass brush and some pb blaster. After that I applied a coating of permatex anti-seize on the semi axle's splines. I pushed as far as I could and then I tapped the rear of the axle with a small ball pein hammer constantly rotating the hub.
The torque for the axle nut is 310 ft-lb per TIS, I used my 150 ft-lb torque meter then I switched to a 4 ft breaker bar and did a 1/4 turn and it felt really tight. Oh, this has to be done with the tire on and the X3 down. Then the X3 has to be raised again, tired removed and the axle nut staked.
So far it is holding great. Tomorrow I will test it at high speeds.
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