Disclaimer: This is NO SUBSTITUTE for new FACTORY AXLES or quality aftermarket new or reburbished axles. If you have ANY type of clicking, you probably want to buy new axles rather than restore your CV boots and pack with new grease or do a full rebuild with new bearings and cups.
When you open your axles, you want to look for obvious signs of stress or distortion of the metal casings and or bearing housings or bearings themselves.
You want to look for gouges in the bearings/housings as well as discoloration which could indicate heat warpage before proceeding with a rebuild.
Tools needed:
32mm socket (for the wheel nut nut) and an impact wrench, or a long breaker bar and a few friends, but an impact wrench is the better option of the two.
10mm socket for the splash guard nuts.
17mm socket (for the two strut bolts) and the brake caliper housing.
Twist ties to hang the brake caliper/housing out of the way
14mm socket for the balljoint bolt.
Needle nose pliers for the cotter pin on the tie rod
14mm socket for the tie-rod nut.
Tie rod sepration tool.
Snap ring pliers.
Two cotter pins.
CV boot repair kits- Go with genuine OE repair kits.
Universal repair kits are also available. However, they are only a few dollars cheaper, are cheaper quality/construction and don't carry a warranty. Oh and the ties for the boots themselves suck and won't hold tension very well.
I bought mine from Kragen as OE replacements.
Mcquay Norris 661733- Outer for the MT $17.99 ea x2
Mcquay Norris 662930- Inner for the MT $13.99 ea x2
Remove hub nut, brake housing (hang with twist ties) remove the tie rod, ball joint nut, sway bar bracket.
The axle itself should come out with a few even, straight tugs. Only do one axle at a time, and when you remove each axle, use a long dowel to secure the spider gear on the inside.
The drivers side axle is the axle with a spring clip, the passenger side doesnt have a clip, rather it is held in place by the small bracket/bearing and 4 bolts.
Yuck, ugly contaminated boots
