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2G Front axle doesn't spin Drivers side tire?

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Kdouglas89

Proven Member
436
11
Jul 8, 2013
Davenport, Iowa
Car is a GSX.

I just got done putting a new control arm on front driver side due to ball joint going bad. Was spinning the wheel and noticed that there was a loud noise like gears where hittin each other coming from inside the brake area.

I also noticed with front side jacked up, if I spin drivers side wheel, passenger side does not spin with it. Should this happen? Noise is only happening from drivers side, passenger side is quite.

I was looking through service manual with no luck, and I am clueless on suspension issues.


Edit: Narrowed it down to axle is not connected to drivers side hub? What would cause the axle to spin everything but not drivers side tire?
 
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Did you pull the axle to replace the control arm? Both upper and lower control arms can be replaced without removing the axle.

When you spin the driver side axle (Shaft from the driverside hub to the intermediate shaft to the trans) does the driver side wheel rotate? If not, the axle is not properly installed.

The axle slides into a splined hub and the hub has two wheel bearings. These are the only parts that could cause a grinding noise in the wheel area that you describe.



Robert
 
It seems whatever connects the front drivers side axle, to the front drivers side wheel isn't connected. I can spin the axle by hand, and it will rottate the passenger side, but it doesn't rotate drivers side. Why can I grab the drivers side by hand and spin it, but it won't spin the tire? That is exactly where the gear hitting noise is coming from.[DOUBLEPOST=1411074189][/DOUBLEPOST]I did not pull the axle when I did the control arm, but I was definitely pulling on the caliper assembly pretty good. Up and down, in and out.
 
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Put the transmission in gear and the wheel on the other side will spin. With an open differential you are spinning the diff and intermediate shaft instead of transferring the rotation to the other wheel.
 
Put the transmission in gear and the wheel on the other side will spin. With an open differential you are spinning the diff and intermediate shaft instead of transferring the rotation to the other wheel.
I thank you for your help bryan, but I think you're mis-understanding my problem.

Passenger tire spins > Passenger axle spins > Driver axle spins > Driver tire does not spin.

I can hear inside the hub the gears kinda knockin. Is it possible when I did the lower control arm, I could have pulled the axle out of socket per say, so now its not connected to the hub?
 
That is highly unlikely.... check for the nut that bolts the axle into the hub.

Your hub is bolted into the knuckle using 4 bolts. The axle then passes through the hub and knuckle and is bolted down using a large 27mm nut and a lock washer.

Robert
 

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I thank you for your help bryan, but I think you're mis-understanding my problem.

Passenger tire spins > Passenger axle spins > Driver axle spins > Driver tire does not spin.

I can hear inside the hub the gears kinda knockin. Is it possible when I did the lower control arm, I could have pulled the axle out of socket per say, so now its not connected to the hub?

So the axle itself spins, but the wheel does not? If this is the case than the shaft has likely separated from the inner hub on the outer cv joint. There is a circlip that holds the shaft inside of the inner hub which is usually really hard to separate. It still should not be able to push the wheel far enough in to get the control arm bolted up if that had separated.
 
Your axle is separated at the outer joint. Pull the axle, remove the boot and put it back together. You will likely need a new circlip because if it separated so easily than it is either missing or damaged.
 
What could have seperated the axle like that? My car has been in my garage the past 2 months while I rebuilt my motor and a few minor things? It has not been driven over 2 miles, and not been above 30mph or 3k rpms. Is there any way it could have seperated by pulling on the hub assy while doing my control arm?
 
What could have seperated the axle like that? My car has been in my garage the past 2 months while I rebuilt my motor and a few minor things? It has not been driven over 2 miles, and not been above 30mph or 3k rpms. Is there any way it could have seperated by pulling on the hub assy while doing my control arm?

The only possible way that it separated is when you removed the control arm and the hub was far enough away from the trans to have enough room to separate. The crazy part is that they are usually really hard to get apart because of the circlip design. Kind of makes me wonder if there is even a clip in there. This is what you are working with inside that joint. The clip is on the very end of the shaft.
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I mean, I had to cut the control arm bolt off so I needed room. I was pulling and pushing on the hub to get as much room as I could.

Is there a writeup or a video I can go off of to do what I need to do? I have never attempted to pull an axle off, and am completely clueless on this.

I really appreciate all your help. I really do.
 
There might be a writeup here on the site somewhere. It is rather simple as long as the axle isn't seized into the hub. Basically remove the axle nut than unbolt the straight lower arm from the strut fork and subframe. Than unbolt the curved control arm from the subframe. You will need to remove the brake caliper so that you have enough room to slide the axle out and in. From there pull the knuckle assembly out and slide the axle out. Than you will need to pop the axle out of the transmission which can be tricky, but it will come out with enough force.
 
The axle on these cars is nearly ALWAYS rusted/seized onto the hub.
Before unbolting the lower arms and damper fork bolt (you'll need them to hold the knuckle arm solid while you pound) and after removing the axle nut, hammer on the axle end castle nut (keep castle nut on backwards flush with end to keep threads from mushrooming) with a piece of hardwood in between. If it still won't budge after using PBblast, torches, normal puller, and prayer, go rent this heavy duty truck puller shown in post 10 here: http://www.dsmtuners.com/threads/need-help.235884/#post-50449790 (which is what I ended up doing - I broke standard pullers). After it starts moving then unbolt the lower arms and damper bolt so you can swing the whole assembly out.

To remove axle from tranny: Pry axle out the first inch with a flat blade screwdriver between the inner CV housing (green thing) and tranny on each side of that housing 180* apart (ie 2 screwdrivers). Apply equal pressure on each side and it will pop out easily. Applying pressure on only 1 side doesn't always work.

Here is what the hub looks like that bolts into the knuckle arm and which the axle splines into: http://www.dsmtuners.com/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=78775&d=1198915698.

Remember to put lots of anti-sieze on the axle and hub splines when reassembling to help the next poor bastard (which might be you)!!!
 
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