'91 4WD Spindle off; why wont axle slideout ?

[Tony H]

'91 4WD
I'm doing upper and lower ball joints on Passenger side. Got everything off up to pulling the axle out. What's the deal? Do I have to separate the axle at the rubber boot ? I thought the whole assembly should pull out of the Pumpkin. Please help, I'm sitting here dead in the water.
Thanks

 

[DeRocha]

I got you covered tony... the axle (passenger side) is NOT held in by anything... Most likely you cannot get the U-joint parts through the steering knuckle because of the way they are positioned. They need to be correctly lined up with the hole in the steering knuckle to come out...You just need to put a jack under the TTB and raise or lower it and it will come out when it is aligned...

EDIT: You do need to remove the metal band on the rubber boot as only the outboard shaft is removed. the inboard shaft remains and can only be removed by removing a "C" clip within the diff... The Driver's side will slide right out of the diff, so be ready to catch any diff fluid that will run out...

 

[Tony H]

EXCELLENT, I know about getting it through the knuckle ....So it does separate at that boot. Beauty, I will mark the shfats in case they are not Keyed and separate it there.

I'm so glad you are on-line early.

Thanks a million.


Do you just put a Hose clamp in place of that Strap? It doesn't look like it's reusable.

I'll check later. I gotta get this done before it gets any hotter outside.

 

[Tony H]

All done!!!!!! Thanks a million for the quick response. The Chevys slide out on both sides like the drivers side on this funny looking X axle.

Something I tried that I never did before.. Freeze the Ball Joints overnight, They go in with a lot less Pounding or Pressing. I guess a few thousands of clearance makes a big difference.
Thanks again

 

[DeRocha]

Glad to be of some help.. As for the metal band, they are generally not re-usable, but I was carefull getting mine off and was able to reuse it. I do believe others have used std hose clamps, but i I didn't want to throw off the balance.

I'll have to try the Freezer next time, sounds like it should work fine.