How To Remove Front Halfshafts

[BREW]

Fellas i'm going nuts trying to get these halfshafts out of the hubs on my 97 Tsi AWD. The engine is ready to be pulled, and with it i'm removing the transmission, aside from the mounts (engine and transmission) they are the only thing left before I can pull. If a few of you could tell me the easiest way, or at least some way that I can accomplish this, well then

Brew

 

[Cirus_93TSI]

use a pry bar
just stick it inbetween the trans and the shaft and pry away, it will come out eventually, your should be easier to remove then mine were, it took a good 15-20 min to pry 1 axel out, we even bent one of the pry bars, good thing its a craftsman and will get replaced for free

 

[TRBOTSI]

You don't need to remove the axle from the hub, just pop them out of the tranny

 

[BREW]

I was under the impression that they had to come off the hub first, so they would have enough play in them to clear the transmission. I'm going out to try it, hopefully i will have good news...

-Is a Budweiser needed in order to complete this?
-If so, more than one?

Answers to these questions and more when I return.

Brew

 

[Laguna739]

i stuck a screwdriver up in there and just twisted it so it goes from flat to sideways and it popped right out,
-jason

 

[BREW]

So I cracked open a Bud, removed the the 5 transfer case bolts, slid it off the drive shaft, removed the half shaft bracket (drivers side), and it slid right on out (best to do it with another person). At this point I was very relieved that it came out as easy as it did, that, well, I had to finish off that Bud just to calm me down.

On to the passenger side and as anyone knows theres no sense in starting a project on a DSM empty-handed, so, I cracked another Bud.
I removed that funky looking black sheild on the under the car (passenger side), just to get better access to the input of the axel. At first I tried a screwdriver, but didnt have much luck, I stepped back, took a couple sips of my Bud, and switched to a pry bar. got the tip of the bar between the axel and the trans, two strokes of the hammer to wedge it in there and thats it, poped out nice and easy.

-So all in all I say it took about 15-20 mins
-If your counting my celebration Bud then it was a 3 BUD JOB

Brew