Do you guys think i could replace the axle on my 92-95 civic in my driveway with just a set of jacks and a whole bunch of tools. w/out a manual? I've done one before on a 93 transam automatic and it was a pain in the ***. but I thinki I could handle it. what do you guys think? I took a glance at a chilton manual while i was at kragen and it said that you have to take apart the shift linkage and the lower control arm and a whole lot of nonsense to get to it. I thought that was a load of crap and didn't want to do it, but then again it is a chilton manual. Anyone here done it before? How hard is it to do? Thanks! oh yeah it's a manual tranny.

 

They aren't hard to do, i attempted it in my garage 2 weeks back. I had to take it to a garage cause i couldn't get the axle bolt off. If you have an air compressor and an impact gun, it shouldn't be too hard. When i took it to the garage i helped out and the only thing i woulda needed was the impact gun to take the axle nut out.

 

It will be a piece of cake......it will take you about 30 minutes if you have the right tools. I do not expect you will be able to get the axle bolt off with an impact gun but a breaker bar should work just fine. You most likely will have to take the lower control apart (the CV will not pass thru the triangle) but I cannot think of any reason to remove the shift linkage. Just make sure you have the tools before you start and that you do not separate the new CV joints when you are installing them (don't pull them apart). The toughest one I ever did was a Mazda 323....after working on it for an hour I noticed a slight variation in the new shaft and the old one.....they gave me the wrong part.....when I got the right part, it went smooth as silk!

Use your jack stands and makes sure you have it stabilized before you begin!

 

youll need a picklefork, or balljoint separator. the ball joints are pressed together, and you cant get them apart otherwise. an air chisel with the picklefork attachment works great, but a normal one with a big hammer works too.

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I forgot about that bad boy. And the air hammers with the pickle for are awesome. I love using them.

 

Looks great, but I ususally us my "cat's paw" nail puller (crow bar) if you have one handy.

 

oh, that can wreak havoc on ball joint covers though.

 

so can a pickle fork if not carefull. but mine are poly so it doesnt hurt them. but if you think about it, now would be a good time to replace the dust boot for preventative maintenace purposes anyways.

 

The ball joints actually have a nub sticking off of one side made specifically for pounding the s**t out of it with a hammer if you don't have a picklefork. If you wail on it and then just pry gently on the control arm with a pry bar, it'll seperate really easily. Just make sure you put the ball joint nut on partway so you don't destroy the threads.

 

true. ive destroyed a few old ones with a pf.