Axle Woes

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dkasakitis

Junior Member
Folks, I purchased aftermarket axles for my 89 CRX/ Vtec swap. Unfortunately, I failed to remove the knuckle ring before installing the axles. Some folks called these "spacers" but it sure didn't seem like a spacer to me. I seemed like more of a dust shield. So bottom line, I didn't remove it. (I did remove the seals though).

So I installed the axles, tightened the hubs up, etc. and was calling it quits for the day (still have a tad more wiring to do). Anyway, the car wouldn't roll, even with the tranny in neutral or clutch in. I couldn't believe it. So I went to pull the axles and see what the heck was up. I pulled the driver's side with some difficulty and sure enough there was the darn knuckle ring stuck on the outboard portion of the alxe. That was probably why it was binding, so yes I removed it. (the tranny was fine otherwise and the axle could spin it.

Here's the problem, I can't remove the passenger side axle. I wedged a large screwdriver, no go. I used a chisel as a wedge like I did on the driver's side. I tapped it to wedge the axle from the tranny case. It's out about 1/4" by that is absolutely as far as it will go. Now I can't get the passenger side axle either back into the tranny or out. Any ideas what's holding the axle up? I called the axle vendor up and he suggested the following:

Remove the boot band from the inner hub, carefully extract the axle guts (spider, rollers). Then tap/hammer the inner hub back into the tranny. I tried this, it didn't work. I pounded using a hammer (against a block of wood) and even a sledge hammer (against a block of wood). No go.

If anyone's run into this problem and solved it, let me know how you accomplished it! (I'm stuck, literally and figuretively).

Thanks, Dave K.


Thanks again.
 
i fucked up the same way except i couldnt get the drivers side off. i ended up pulling the boot off, and getting a big ass cresent wrench to pry the axle off. you have to apply even pressure to both sides so you need something with a forked design and wide. when you take the boot off, dont let rollers hit the ground or youll have to repack it. and when your putting the axles back in, remove the damper fork and the lower ball joint on the spindle. that way the assembly wont hang so low that it pulls it out off socket.
 
1. Get pipe wrench
2. Place jaws of pipe wrench around axle between axle joint and transmission housing
3. Loosely tighten wrench
4. Stand back
5. Kick wrench handle

Worked for me when nothing else would get a stubborn axle out! :lol:
 
had the same prob. with the rolling when i swapped a b18 in my 91 hatch. im not shure what type of vtec or what model crx u have but on the hf dx models using b series swaps the knuckle has to be swaped also. because like u seen the inner grease seal wedges itself because the axle is to big. i swaped my knuckles out of a 90 teg. just remember if u have stock rims u cant use them 14" or bigger because of caliper clearence
u also benefit bigger brakes.
 
when times like these occur i just stop what i'm doing and go get the

:angry: persuader :angry:

its a rectangular box thats red and pretty heavy.

when you open it up it has three different sized crowbars

why three you ask?the saying goes like this in the yard(shipyard)

Three different sizes for Three different attitudes. :D
 
Pry bars didn't work for me... not thick enough, and I couldn't get to them easily while the car was only up on jack stands. If it's up on a lift, that's a totally different story...
 
Thanks for the replies folks. I was able to get the inner CV joint BACK into the tranny. (My problem was that initially when I put the new axles in (fit perfectly) I failed to remove the "knuckle ring" on the wheel hub. HASport called it a spacer and it sure didn't look like a spacer to me. SOOOOO when I bolted everthing up, the wheels wouldn't turn at all. I didn't know what the issue was so I though, 'take the axles out and investigate. That's why I had to remove the axles. The drivers side came out just fine. But for some reason the passenger side would not. I tried my big screwdriver, then switched to a chisel that was gently ramped. I stuck the chisel between the tranny face and end of the inner CV joint/hug and wedged it out about 1/4" It sure got stuck. The axle guy thought the C clip was getting hung up at the face of the diff's spider gear. AND since I got ripped off over the Internet buying a LSD S1, but received an open diff, I couldn't remove the intermediate shaft and PUNCH the passenger side axle OUT. (the open diff doesn't give you a clear shot at the passenger side when looking from the driver's side).

Anyway, I tried crow bars, big and bigger. It was stuck. Finding that the real problem as the "knuckle ring" on the OUTTER axle hub, I opted to push the inner hub back home. I disassembled the inner hub / axle and tried hammering it home using a piece of wood to protect its face. No good. So here's what I did.

I went to Home Depot and got a 3/4" bolt 8" long and two nuts to fit. I also bought a 4 lb. mini-sledge. The nuts were placed at the end of the bolt and locked there. I put the bolt (nut end first) in to the CV hub and pounded. It went into the tranny alright.

Dave K.
 
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