Axle Problems.......

You might be able to get the CV joint to slip back together, but I would want to remove the boot just to make sure that there is no internal damage. Of course, once you do that, you might as well rebuild it!

The nut on the axle is 36mm. It's a 24mm shaft, but the nut is 36mm. How did you remove the nut without knowing what size it was!?!?!?

How old are the axels? You might want to rebuild them just as a preventative measure.



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Billy
North Texas Prelude Owners Group
www.ntpog.org

You need a really big breaker bar. Those nuts are torqued to 180 lb*ft. I had to use a 4 foot breaker bar to get them off.

Do you have a Helm's manual? It will show you how to rebuild them. If I were to buy axles, I would buy brand new ones, not rebuilt.

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Billy
North Texas Prelude Owners Group
www.ntpog.org

I am sure some rebuilds are good, I just don't trust people sometimes.

New drive axles run a bit over $200 each. I think rebuild kits go for about $100 for both sides, so it's cheaper to rebuild, but if the axles are quite worn, I would just buy new ones (money conerns also need to be taken into account!).

Where are you getting the tools from? Sears sells a 36mm 1/2" drive socket, but 1/2 drive is a little small to break torque on that nut. I used a 3/4" drive breaker bar, 3/4" drive extension, and a 3/4" to 1/2" adapter to get the nut off. You will have to drop the car back onto the ground to keep the wheel from turning when you try to break torque on the nut.

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Billy
North Texas Prelude Owners Group
www.ntpog.org