Axle replacement, bearing diagnostics

Hi all,

yesterday I took off my Girlfriends front passenger wheel to diagnose a problem which is on this thread.



http://www.toyotanation.com/forum/sh....php?p=2048732



I have to replace the axle is it was broken and I was wondering what I have to do to replace the axle. I am told that the axle just pulls out of the trani but do I have loosen any suspension parts in order to do that? what do I need to do to replace the axle.



also as the axle nut was loose do you think the bearing needs to be replaced, how would you test for that? would the piece that the wheels bolt to be worn too? it looked all right and it seemed to spin without too much of a problem. I will clean the bearing with diesel fuel? and re grease.



any ideas and info you can give on axle replacement would be great.



nate

Reply 1 : Axle replacement, bearing diagnostics

You can change the half-axle without taking off any suspension parts, but you must detatch the wheel assembly so it swings enough to get the end of the axle through it. As I recall, taking it off the ball joint gives enough play for it to swing.



You also need to drain and then refill the differential. The half axle must usually be pounded or pryed out of the differential. If you pull on the end near the wheel, the axle often comes apart at the flexible joint near the differential. This leaves the cup shaped "tulip" of the axle still stuck in the differential. Insted of pulling on the axle, pounding or prying on this cup is the standard way to get the axle in or out.



If you are going to replace a broken stud and also do a bearing inspection, it may be best to take the entire wheel assemly off. When you take off the two big bolts that hold it to the strut, take off the nuts first. The bolt heads are usually too hard to turn.



The hub (the plate that holds the studs) should turn freely and there should be no play in it. You will have a hard time cleaning the bearings. There are two races of ball bearings. After you take the half-axle out of the wheel assembly, you can see one of race. The other one will be hard to see. Check that the plastic spacer that separates the balls is intact. It should be a ring shaped piece of gray plastic with cutouts that hold the ball bearings.



I find that an air chisel takes out broken studs in a few seconds, but put something around the stud to keep the bit from marring whatever it hits when it jumps off the stud, as it will.

Reply 2 : Axle replacement, bearing diagnostics

Quote:

Originally Posted by tashirosgt If you are going to replace a broken stud and also do a bearing inspection, it may be best to take the entire wheel assemly off. When you take off the two big bolts that hold it to the strut, take off the nuts first. The bolt heads are usually too hard to turn. .

so after I disconnect the ball joint from the wheel assembly I should disconnect the wheel assembly from the bottom of the strut by removing the two nuts as opposed to the two bolts. after removing all these parts will I need an alignment?

• Just to verify I can remove/replace the axle with the ball joint detached, starting with the outter end of the axle then banging out the inner side of the axle from the trani.

• to check the hub and the bearings I HAVE to remove the wheel assembly to check for play and noise in the bearings and hub. this test would be to place the wheel assembly flat and but the hub on top and spin it I suppose.

thanks for the info, I'll try and get photo's soon.



-nate

Reply 3 : Axle replacement, bearing diagnostics

You don't have to remove the wheel assembly to do the work you've described. If you want to remove it and put it on a bench, you have remove the two big bolts, the ball joint, the tie rod and some other bolt. You would also have to pull the brake off and hang it up temporarily with some bailing wire or disconnect the brake line. Disconnecting it gets into refilling the brake fluid and bleeding the brakes when you reinstall.

I myself would prefer to remove the wheel assembly since I've lost my fear of taking things apart on Corollas and I'm not thinking about some tight deadline to fix the problems.



See: http://www.autozone.com/az/cds/en_us...rInfoPages.htm



The things along the bottom of the diagram (all the ring shaped parts) don't come apart unless you apply a puller and a press.





Yes, the half axle is pryed or hammered out of the differential. Drain only the differential if it has a separate drain plug than the transmission. The driver's side half axle is harder to remove than the passenger's side since its hard to find a place to pry and hard to get a good angle to hammer. You can find several old threads about how to get it out on this forum or at the corolland site.



If you don't change the length of the tie rod (by allowing its head to change the amount that it is screwed on the rod) then you don't need an alignment. But it never hurts to check your alignment the shade tree mechanic way. (The Corolla service manual has directions for doing this.) The only documented adjustment you can make is for toe-in, which is controlled by the position of the tie rod head. ( If you needed other alignment adjustment, you would have to resort to shims or bending things. I've never see directions for such emergency measures.)

Reply 4 : Axle replacement, bearing diagnostics

..and if you aren't familiar with refilling the differential, you might want to look up some old threads on that. The one that I am familiar with is on the AT of the 89-92 Corollas. On that one, the fill hole is plugged by a big bolt on the side that faces the back of the car. You need an offset box wrench to reach it and remove it. That differential takes AT fluid instead of "gear oil". You need the simple kind of pump found at auto supply stores that screws on the bottle of AT fluid and lets you pump it up into the fill hole.

Reply 5 : Axle replacement, bearing diagnostics

what kind of bry bar is likely to work or is it really hit and miss.



also what is an offset box wrench? a deep socked doesn't work?

Reply 6 : Axle replacement, bearing diagnostics

An offset box wrench is box wrench whose handle has noticeable bend in it at the end. So the box part of the wrench is offset from the handle. On the 89-92, I could not get a socket to work since there was no room to get the socket wrench over the nut. The way is blocked by part of the suspension so a thin wrench is needed. You'll just have to look on your car to see what the arrangement is.



A pry bar for the half axle is described in:

http://www.corolland.com/forums/inde...opic=19128&hl=

Reply 7 : Axle replacement, bearing diagnostics

if you do replace these parts:



just take the wheel hub to a auto parts store/machine shop, and have them press out the old bearings, and the new in.... it's cheap... put the new axle in, also get a new axle flange seal (seal removal tools can be gotten as loaners)... for the tranny axle hole.... put new tranny oil in,,, and you will be all set... oh yeah, new Rotor is better/cheaper than cutting an old done.. and a new ,, put new ceramic OEM brake pads in.

Reply 8 : Axle replacement, bearing diagnostics

Getting the fill plug off of a 3 speed automatic is a major PITA. You may want to make sure you can remove the fill plug before you drain the fluid out of the drain plug. The other way to get at that fill plug is from the top. To do this, you need to remove the top of the air cleaner box and the associated plumbing which attaches to the throttle body. Then you can reach down from the top to remove it. If you don't have a suction gun to fill the differential, you can then drop a piece of tubing down from the top and let gravity pull the fluid (Dexron II or III ATF) down the tube and into the differential. Fill until it spills out of the hole.

Reply 9 : Axle replacement, bearing diagnostics

I just got finished with the work:

1. I pulled off the lower ball joint from the control arm

2. never needed to get the tierod off

3. WD40'ed the axle at the trani, the axle came out on the first real hit.

4. put new axle and hammered it rather hard a couple of times to get it to pop back in.

5. put hubs from both sides of the bearings on after cleaning them with a cloth and regreasing them and the bearings.

5. reattached clipers, hubs, put back disk, and replaced and torqued the ball joint, the ball joint bracket to the control arm (3 bolts), and the sway bar





I noticed that on the out side of the hub there was something like a spring that was there when I pulled it off. is this some sort of seal and how important is it?



I didn't put the dust boots from the old axle on the new axle.



finally I don't have a torque wrench is it crucial to get the nut at 200 lb.ft or is dam tight good enough, (my full body weight ~140 thrown down on a 16" torque bar?



thanks for all the help I am really happy to have got this finished



do I need an alignment after removing lower ball joint bracket?

Reply 10 : Axle replacement, bearing diagnostics

I'm glad you got the axle replaced.



Some of your terminology isn't clear to me. ( I think of the "hub" as the circular plate that holds the studs for the wheel lugs and the other parts that let that rotate within the wheel assembly. Without using a press, I don't know how you could pull the hub off, if you mean pulling it out of the wheel assembly. ) On the side of the wheel assembly that faces toward the underside of the are there are some dust seals that have springs embedded around their perimeters. Those are the only springs that I recall on the front wheel assemblies. If they came off or out of the dust seals, you would find springs with a very small coil diameter, say 1/16 inch and they would form a circular loop.



I think of the dust boots as the accordian type of covering that goes over the CV joints. A new or remanufactured half-axle should already have those on it.

Reply 11 : Axle replacement, bearing diagnostics

I can't find a filler whole for the trani or differential does anyone know if the at from 1994 is filled just throught the transmittion or if there is another filler hole somewhere hard to find or something?



how do you check at level? warm the car up then put in gear a few times and then park and check levels?



thanks

Reply 12 : Axle replacement, bearing diagnostics

I did this job today on the driver side axle using this thread as a guide (94 Corolla with 1.8 engine). I could not get one of the ball joint bolts to come loose, they were torqued like a m---f---er. I broke one ratchet wrench before stripping the bolt. So instead I just removed the strut, super easy and left the access to the axle removal and replacement clear as could be. I did not have to pound hard to get the axle back in, just one solid tap with a rubber mallet. Also, very little tranny fluid leaked out of the differential hole and I am not exactly sure where this might be filled. Unless one can really get the car up off the ground, be prepared for some contortionist maneuvers to get a good whack at the axle for removal. Once I got my prybar just right, pop, out it came, but it took several tries.