CV joint replacement

[Brettguy]

hey everybody im replacing both cv joints within the next month and am learning all i can so that i dont have to take the car to the shop. Would 99-12 corolla cv replacement (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kELGJKmnTAs&t=7s) be similar enough for me to follow?

has anyone here made mistakes that were avoidable?
any special tools besides a pry bar, gear oil pump and a 30 mm socket?

thanks in advance

[zoidberg444]

I've had to fetch my CV axles out to do the clutch on my 06 Yaris. If you have one i'd imagine its very similar. There are some different methods to do it. Given you live in Florida I would imagine it should be fairly easy to do as your car isn't rusted to shit like mine is.

Problems I ran into:
It takes some serious beans to get those axle nuts off. I just about managed it with my impact gun. If I didn't have an impact i'd break the nut loose with the car on the ground.You will need a serious breaker bar for that.

In order to get the axle out you have to separate the steering knuckle which means either popping it off the lower ball joint or zipping the two bolts in the upper strut out. My lower ball joint was seized and I didn't have one of those special ball joint separators but I was able to take the two bolts out that pinch it to the strut. Problem was I needed the tracking done after that. Its better to get the lower ball joint out to avoid that.

The axle is a bit stubborn to free from the gearbox. Make sure you drain the oil out first to save on mess. I almost forgot to do that. I managed to get mine out with a combination of yanking hard on them while shocking them with a pry bar prying on the metal lip. Just straight force won't do it you need to shock it to get them to pop out.

[Brettguy]

thanks for the insight! i also noticed that the 30mm nut on the axle has an indented portion (instead of a cotter pin or something), do you use a chisel to bend it out of the way before loosening everything?

[tmontague]

Potential mistak that is common is damaging the transmission axle seal removing or installing the axle. Be careful and mindful of the seal and you'll be fine.

The indented portion of the nite can be pushed out with a pinch and hammer, it's easy to do. It is torqued to 165 ft/lbs iirc so air tools make it easy work, or a long breaker bar while the wheel is still on the ground will also work. I personally don't re dent the but but it's probably best to do so.

Use the indents on the cv joint body to put a long pry bar to pry the axle out of the trans. Don't pry too hard as you don't want to crack the trans casing. I've had better luck using a hammer and hitting the pry bar to push the axle out while the pry bar is in the groove on the cv joint body.

If it doesnt come out then rotate the axle slightly and re try. When re installing place the axle in and then give it a hard and form push into the trans to get the circlip set in place.