I've never really worked on half shaft before, never needed to. Yesterday I was underside and noticed a damaged outer boot on the passenger side. The metal retainer ring was gone but lucky no damage to brakes lines on the way out. So I installed a new "quick boot" that barely fit and figured I would see if it would last until I got a proper boot. But then I noticed when pulling on the axle it had a good amount of in/out play. Not rotational play, just that I could pull it in and out several millimeters with a decent clunk sound. I did not test the driver side.

So given that a new shaft from Cardone Select (new, not reman) is only about $60, should I skip the proper boot install and just swap the whole shaft? And should I do both sides? I figure if I do I will replace the shaft seals too if its not too hard to do and if recommend - although working room for those seals looks tight unless I drop the front diff.

 

Normally I would say yes just replace it. The front shaft on the driver side is a *&*&(*#&$ to get out. We actually had to drill the tulip, drop a large punch through the hole, hook a line to it, tension it with another truck and whack it with a hammer to get it to pop out.

Hateful.

 

Well I finally got around to installed the new passenger side axle. There is virtually no in/out play, unlike the original. I checked the driver side, play. While maybe not an issue I think I will replace the driver side ASAP. I ended up going with a genuine new Land Rover shaft - just could not go against knowing when it comes to suspension, OEM manufacturer or genuine is the way to go. While I did not not, you may be better off ordering from the UK. Prices for new genuine shafts in the US are about $550-600 USD. I could not source OEM (GKN) anywhere the US. But if you purchase form overseas, they are about $250 shipped for GKN - which is the OEM manufacture. Prices often include VAT which is removed when purchasing.

NOTE! I bought two new sockets, 1' 1/4" and 36mm sockets, six point. The new updated shafts use a larger retaining nut. This new style does not have the ability to be punched. In fact, I am not sure how it stays in place but it has some tall "ears" on it that grasp the threads. Must be magic or physics or something.

Old nut: RFD500020
New nut: LR024151

NOTE: I recommend removing BOTH nuts at the top of the sway bar links on each side. You will find that they sway bar can get in the way, but with only one disconnected you can not move the bar.

WARNING: The upper ball joint bolt snaps easily. Wish I had read this before starting the project, but I suspect mine was already damage or such.

To replace the axle first remove the main retaining nut. I had to stand on my bar to get it to budge. Then the 8mm bolt holding the brake line and ABS pick-up sensor wire to the knuckle. Next you simply have to undo the tie-rod end at knuckle, the sway bar link at top and the upper ball joint. Then carefully bring the knuckle back as to not damage the lower ball joint boot. This is tricky and you will probably want to secure it with wire or ties. Now I backed off the axle retaining nut but left it half threaded on. I put the socket over the nut and gave it a good whack. This pops the axle out the backside pretty easily. Now you can not pull the axle out unless the inner boot is torn. I simply went underside and used a breaker bar to get some leverage and pop it. Not easy (so I can indeed just image the driver side as Army noted).

Install is straight forward. Clean the housing shaft seal and apply new gear oil. I actually sucked out remaining oil with a shop vac near the housing extension end and cleaned things up as best I could. Then put a squirt of oil inside and lubricated the seal. Lubricate the shaft with new gear oil, the entire length that goes inside the housing. I put a small dab of CV grease on the retaining ring at the end of the shaft also to help insertion. You have to push pretty hard to get the shaft to snap into place. It took me a couple tries. This is where the sway bar can be in the way and at this point I could not get the driver side link disconnected. Next I lubricated the splines before inserting into the hub. I used CV grease. You do NOT want to use anti-seize. While there should be no movement on this end, that stuff is in fact abrasive and not designed for moving parts. CV grease will do just fine.

 

Did you push the axle back in by hand or did you install into hub and use that to get it back in. Youre right its tough as hell

 

By hand. I have done a couple shaft now. Install is easy, just push fast and hard. The critical thing is to be very careful with the output seal. I now replace them any time a shaft is pulled, they are cheap. When I made this post I ended up with a slight leak, so I had damaged the old seal during install or removal.

 

I bought the seal but couldnt figure out how to remove the old one to install the new one. Also, the crow bar cracked the lip of the diff insert tube how much of a problem might that present?

 

The seal pulls outwards, a slide hammer works well with a hook attachment. The new seal should come with a plastic protector that stays in place, partially, when the new shaft goes in then is fully removed just before the final few inches go in.

Not sure where you damaged it, but if at the end outside of the seal area you should be fine.

 

Yes its outside of the seal area, Im going to leave the bottom off to keep an eye on it just in case for a few days