Cv half shaft replacement quetions????

never done one before but im going for it today. taking one off the diff in my basement. any tips getting it off or back on would really help. any special tools required or just make it easier? and will my diff that the new shaft will come off of need any thing done to store it without the shaft? thanks in advance. i need any input you guys have within the next few hours about the removal and install.

should be just like replacing a front wheel drive cv shaft. so pop the ball joint off, and move the knuckle to allow enough room to get the spindle out, and off the diff is loosing 6-8 bolts. best to leave in gear to break the bolts loose and tighten them

come to think about it, you might be able to remove the shaft without popping the ball joint. just disconnect the shaft from the diff and move it down and pull. but remember, theres a nut that holds it on.

i didnt do this yet, im still trying to diagnose that its the problem. when i go hard left it seems like my passenger rear tire feels loose. and on the interstate it always feels like the wind is blowing my car side to side. when starting out it clunks a little and seems to waddle side to side when driving about 5-15mph. it also clunks some on and off the gas and when shifting down into first(automatic). please help me!!!

get the rear end off the ground, both tires, and you want to hold the shaft in the middle and rotate the tire. there shouldnt be much movement, like maybe a 1/8inch of movement in the tire. after you test the movement there, them you want to hold the diff flange and try to rotate the shaft. there shouldnt be any movement there, all mine was on the outer joint.

but the moving side to side thing, to me, is pointing to the wheel bearing.

Originally Posted by JohnMadd

i didnt do this yet, im still trying to diagnose that its the problem. when i go hard left it seems like my passenger rear tire feels loose. and on the interstate it always feels like the wind is blowing my car side to side. when starting out it clunks a little and seems to waddle side to side when driving about 5-15mph. it also clunks some on and off the gas and when shifting down into first(automatic). please help me!!!

You my friend need to replace those pesky rear sub frame bushings. Not for the faint of heart.

To the OP.

This is a bitch.
you will need a 30mm "I think" impact socket ( I borrowed one from Bimmer ese)and grind the front part dowm to get inside the spindle to the nut on the wheel hub. Then I took a 13mm socket and hammered the old shaft out. To get the new shaft in you will need to make a punch that will fit in the shaft bolt hole but not go through. I HIGHLY recommend you take a bottle brush type wire brush and run it through the splines in the hub a few times. Then lube it up and hit the new shaft spilens with a wire brush and lube that too. Now slowly tap it in working your way in a circle around the shaft until you can put the nut on and pull it through the rest of the way. And of course but all your bolts back in.

thats the answer i didnt want to hear. can you tell me what your issues with subframe bushings make your car do.

Originally Posted by JohnMadd

thats the answer i didnt want to hear. can you tell me what your issues with subframe bushings make your car do.

Shake rattle and body roll. General poor handling and in mine my exhaust would rub the rear shock. and make popping noise backing up .

The shop said that repairing my left rear half shaft is going to cost me $700 :-(
I know my ride is getting old, but aren't these cars built for tough roads? My streets are to blame, I mean there are potholes everywhere these days, it's like driving through Sarajevo, except this is my BMW we're talking about.
I don't need anyone pity, tis bad luck and maintenance on a vehicle. Maybe that last drift was pretty hard on the car too. I did a near 360 on this street with long open blocks and it held up. Well, somewhere between potholes and drifting corners, my car needs repair.

holy thread revival... start a new one friend

Originally Posted by noexceptions325

holy thread revival... start a new one friend

hes not asking the OP, we can probably let it slide haha

$700??? Maybe I replaced mine with a way too cheap shaft but I got a right side axle for ~$100 from Napa and paid my mechanic $130 to install it. Probably could have done it myself but I had to take it in anyway for an inspection.

Why dont you swap the left driveshaft with the right driveshaft? This is an old trick with the E30 BMW as the shafts are the same lenght.
Unbolt the shafts from the diff and swop them over complete as is with their inner and outer CV joints.
This is a trick to get extra mileage out of worn CV joints as the shafts will now rotate in the other direction and the worn mating surfaces on the CV joints no longer mate together (except when reversing!) but new surfaces are being used. Take the opertunity though to clean out old CV grease and repack the joints with new grease.
I have used this trick on both E30s I have owned!

If your car feels like it's being steered from the rear(it is)the bushings are bad allowing the entire rear suspension to move around.
No fun to fix

Originally Posted by Billwill

Why dont you swap the left driveshaft with the right driveshaft? This is an old trick with the E30 BMW as the shafts are the same length.
Unbolt the shafts from the diff and swop them over complete as is with their inner and outer CV joints.
This is a trick to get extra mileage out of worn CV joints as the shafts will now rotate in the other direction and the worn mating surfaces on the CV joints no longer mate together (except when reversing!) but new surfaces are being used. Take the opertunity though to clean out old CV grease and repack the joints with new grease.
I have used this trick on both E30s I have owned!

Dang, I like it. However, I'm a little torn on how to proceed with my bearing replacement we spoke about on my thread. If I take the driveshafts out so as to take them down to get the new bearings installed, and then reverse them on reassembly, and the problem is gone, I'll never know what the real problem was.

But, if the problem is indeed gone, things could sure be worse and both procedures are going to provide greater life for my ride.

Originally Posted by Billwill

Why dont you swap the left driveshaft with the right driveshaft? This is an old trick with the E30 BMW as the shafts are the same lenght.
Unbolt the shafts from the diff and swop them over complete as is with their inner and outer CV joints.
This is a trick to get extra mileage out of worn CV joints as the shafts will now rotate in the other direction and the worn mating surfaces on the CV joints no longer mate together (except when reversing!) but new surfaces are being used. Take the opertunity though to clean out old CV grease and repack the joints with new grease.
I have used this trick on both E30s I have owned!

I think that this is an interesting idea. I was wondering if you need some kind of a puller to get the axels out of their hubs? I have a 1984 318i. I have never done any work on the rear axels of the car, but I liked your other idea of removing the control arms and having a shop press out the old bearings and press in the new ones. I think that I need to replace one of the wheel bearings (the left one) because I have a thrumming noise when I am driving, that goes away when I turn right.

Thanks,

You do not need any puller to get the axles out of the hubs, they simply pull out once you have removed the large nut at the end. It is about a half-days work to jack up the rear, remove both rear wheels, get to the large nut (depends on wether you have disks or drums at the rear), unbolt the allan key bolts holding the drive shafts to the diff, remove everything.
First mark your driveshafts Left and Right so you dont end up putting them back in the same place!. Open up and peel back the rubber covers over the CV joints...replace if torn...clean out old grease and repack with new CV grease and put it all back together!

Originally Posted by Billwill

You do not need any puller to get the axles out of the hubs, they simply pull out once you have removed the large nut at the end. It is about a half-days work to jack up the rear, remove both rear wheels, get to the large nut (depends on wether you have disks or drums at the rear), unbolt the allan key bolts holding the drive shafts to the diff, remove everything.
First mark your driveshafts Left and Right so you dont end up putting them back in the same place!. Open up and peel back the rubber covers over the CV joints...replace if torn...clean out old grease and repack with new CV grease and put it all back together!

Thanks,

Alan