[Deeyoh]

Ok, this is to help people in the future if they need to remove one of the rear axles to replace a boot or just the axle. I pin holed a boot with the pressure washer and ordered one of those ezboot repair kits and another axle. Going to repair the boot and keep it as a spare.

1. Jack rear end up.

2. Remove tire.

3. Loosen the 32mm axle nut. It is staked so you'll need a good impact wrench. Even with my 500ft/lb impact it took some persuading. Left it on the axle but very loose close to the end of the threads.

4. Remove 2- 12mm nuts that hold brake caliper on.

5. Remove the 2 bolts that attach the upper and lower A-Arms closest to hub.

6. Bolt is a 17mm and nut is a 19mm.

7. Yank axle out with rear hub attached. Much easier than grabbing the axle by itself and pulling. The hub acts like a slide hammer weight.

8. The axle should still be attached to the hub. Mine was on there pretty good. I have a big 1 inch thick rubber mat that I was dropping the axle on nut side down to pull the hub away from the rotor. Holding the inside of the axle and letting the weight of the rotor pull itself off. After about 10 drops, it separated. There's a seal that holds the axle on the rotor and hub bearings that was really tight. Remove the axle nut one things are loose.

9. Cleaned and greased all the bushings, inside the hub seal, splines on new axle. Great time to grease everything. Those zerks are hard as heck to get grease in.

10. Put new axle on the rotor and hub assembly. Put the washer/axle nut on hand tight.

11. Put new axle into the rear diff. Now the hub acts like a slide hammer again and you can just push it a few good times and it'll snap right in.

12. Install the rear A-Arm bolts, brake caliper bolts.

13. Tighten up the axle nut and re-stake it. The staking should be in the same spot.

14. Put wheel on and go have some fun. Oh, one other thing, when I pulled the axle a good bit of diff gear oil came out. Make sure you have a pan under it. mine was full and clean Yay.

 

[mimeeks3]

I actually had to use a pry bar to get my axle out of the rear diff a couple of weeks ago

 

[Axo938]

Good write up deeyoh, I've done this about a half dozen times when I had a rhino but it's been so long I've forgotten how to do it. Once I put a arm guards on I never tore a boot again. I should probably get some on the wolverine before I tear one.

 

[Hunterworks]

I actually had to use a pry bar to get my axle out of the rear diff a couple of weeks ago

Be soooooo very careful doing that, you can crack the rear diff sooooo easy

When i have a broken axle that is broke off leaving the inside joint only I weld a piece of flat bar to the axle and put a nut on it then use a slide hammer. Lots of trouble but never hurt a diff this way


Todd

 

[Deeyoh]

Yeah, I started to use a pry bar and that seal on the diff is big and kind of forms to the inner part of the axle hub. Didn't want to tear that too. Saw where I was kind of pressing on it. Just leave the hub hanged but still attached to the axle. Use it's weight to yank the axle out.

 

[Atcdan13]

Deeyoh’s write up from a few years back was extremely helpful to me today. Once again, the forum provides. I had to replace the oil seal on the drivers rear. Here are a few pics. The gash out of the old one is from my pliers but you can see how crappy it was besides that.

 

[david.tackman]

Good job Dan. Mine is still leaking, I was hoping it would’ve healed itself by now lol. It’s not bad yet, I think when I have my next service they can do it under the warranty.


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[Atcdan13]

Good job Dan. Mine is still leaking, I was hoping it would’ve healed itself by now lol. It’s not bad yet, I think when I have my next service they can do it under the warranty.


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I was surprised at how relitively easy it was. The hardest part was just trying tonget the axle to pop out. It was just an awkward angle. It took about 8-10 yanks.

 

[Jraoffroad]

That 32mm axle nut gets torqued to 253 ft lbs. Seems pretty important for bearing preload.

 

[Atcdan13]

Thanks. I’ll double check it. I just put it back to the same spot it had been in. For the purposes of just changing the oil seal, I didn’t actually need to loosen it. I learned that after I did it.

 

[jimclemjr]

A couple of minor details to add for the mass: 1. The milky look of the diff grease is water. 2. the ring on the end of the axle bites on the collar and is a replaceable piece that is noted in manual to be new when pulling the axle. So if you plan on pulling your axle then you may want to order these earlier so you have them. A lot of folks never replace them but if they don't keep axle seated they will accelerate the seal wear. In a pinch you can flip them over. I usually check them and at least put a little spring back in them to make sure they expand when axle inserted.

 

[Atcdan13]

I saw that piece too and wondered about it but it looked in good condition. I did end up doing a fluid change too. It had some water in it for sure. I ordered a couple seals just to have but I’ll order a few of those rings too just in case.