Need help with front axle replacement

[Adventurer]

Originally Posted by cheakster

ADVENTURER, if you mean that you pulled the inner cv joint out of its "cup" in order to remove the outer shaft and outer cv joint, leaving the inner cv "cup" (octadon shaped) attached to the differential...NO PROBLEM!
There are notches on the cup that you can use to TAP the inner shaft out of the differential- comes out easy! It is held in place by a snap ring that needs a little persuasion. I had to remove the large inspection plate from under the vehicle to get to the LF axle, so access was easy for both sides (don't know if it would be necessary for right side alone, but easy to remove if needed). If this doesn't make sense,PM me and I'll walk you through it via phone.
Good Luck!
Dan

Dan, THAT DID THE TRICK! THANK YOU!!! Once I removed the inspection/stiffening plate, it was much easier to get to the rear of the cup that holds the inner CV on theoutput (inner) shaft. The notches in that cup are weird in that they are "smooted out" on the outward side of the cup and therefore, I couldn't get my chisel to hold while I pounded. I had to pound my chisel at the rear of the cup itself to free the retaining clip. Only took a couple of shots with a normal hammer to pop it loose. I did have a bit of a poblem sliding the output shaft past the strut but a little persuasion to hold the strut to the right, helped there as well.

Thanks GREATLY for the tip! Now I'm on to installing the new shafts/CV's. Also thanks for the offer for phone support. I'll PM you if necessary.

Rick