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1G Question about removing rear CV axles on 1G AWD

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XC92

Proven Member
1,561
356
Jul 22, 2020
Queens, New_York
When I'm done rebuilding and reinstalling the manual trans on my '92 Talon TSi AWD, I intend to disassemble most of the rear suspension and driveline components in order to replace the 4 control arm ball joints and bushings, 2 sway bar bushings and link connectors, and 3 rear diff seals, as well as give everything including the car underside a good cleaning, derusting and paint job (I'd already done much of the latter last year but there were parts I couldn't reach with everything still on the car). So I basically have to take everything out, including both CV axles on both of their ends.

What I'm unsure about is whether this means that I have to trash the wheel bearings and replace them. They seem to be ok with no wobble or play, and with the car still under 78k miles I'd rather keep them in at this point and save a bearing replacement job for further down the road. But would removing the CV axles from the trailing arms trash the bearings and require their replacement? I understand that I have to use a slide hammer or puller to remove the axle/hub from the trailing arms to do this. Or not?
 
Thanks, but I guess I'm asking is whether I NEED to replace the bearings if I remove both control arms, sway bar and CV axle from each trailing arm, disconnect it from the strut and remove it from the car entirely, not HOW to replace the bearings.

It looks like I don't, unless I want to take apart the trailing arm, e.g. to give it a thorough cleaning and derusting, in which case I do. Just making sure.

...Actually, from the video it looks like I can disconnect everything from the trailing arm, including the hub, which is splined to the axle companion flange, and the dust cover, and remove the arm entirely.

One of my goals is to clean and derust the arms thoroughly and paint them, but without destroying and having to replace the bearings.

Although, it looks like there might be an interference fit between the hub flanges and inner bearings that could require replacing the bearings. I guess I'll know when I undertake this job and order new bearings if required.
 
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You will have to disconnect the brake lines and parking brake cables, but I would think the trailing arms could be removed with the stub axles still in them. If you take the stub axles out, then you should at least replace the seals. Wheel bearings shouldn’t be too worn with that low milage. That said, I did replace my fronts as precautionary on my 97k mi car.
 
So if I keep the stub axles in the arms, the bearings aren' trashed, only if I remove the axles? I'd just as soon not fix what's not broken. Mostly I want to give everything a good final cleaning, derusting and painting and replace the bj's, links, bushings and diff deals, and my work is done on the rear end.

I'm also a bit unsure of the proper way to remove the rear diff, diff support and subframe, as they appear to be interconnected in a way that makes it hard to remove them one at a time, and removing all at once is a 3 person job per the FSM. I want to clean, derust and paint them too, and as much of the underbody as possible.

Nearly everything I've done on the car, other than oil and coolant changes and new pads and rotors, is a once every 10-20 year thing, so I might as well be as thorough as possible and then not have to think about it for a long time.
 
I can’t see why the bearings would be trashed by pulling the stubs. The locking nut that holds them is shown as a “never re-use” part if it is removed, and seals are often likely to not seal well after being disturbed after years of service.
That doesn’t seem like a lot of parts to replace, but every time I use that reasoning I end up spending another $200 and waiting 2 weeks for shipping.
It looks like the the diff drops out first, then the subframe. The pinion to d/s bolts and nuts and the c/v to stub fasteners are pretty highly stressed, so more new parts to consider. The restoration rabbit hole gets deeper the more you look.
 
Thanks. I'll think about what doing all this really means in terms of work involved and replacement parts required. I mean if I have to spend a bit more on new fasteners and seals, so be it. But the costs keep adding up...

Speaking of parts, I haven't heard back from TMZ so either he's extended his vacation or something else is going on, and without the shims he has I can't finish the trans rebuild. I mean I can, but with the previous, wrong thickness shims. I can get some from dealers, but not all.

However I checked Amayama and they claim to have all the shims I need, for less than US dealers sell them for, although that's erased by their $20 shipping fee. But they say they can have them to me by the end of August and possibly as early as the middle of next week, which is longer than I'd hoped but certainly earlier than never, and I can find other things to do on the car till then.

But, do they actually deliver when they say they do, or does it often take weeks or months longer than they claim? I've heard horror stories. So before I place an order, I want to know what I'm dealing with. Everything's coming from Japan (except a pulley from UAE, but I can wait on that as I'm not doing the TB job till next month). Or are the horror stories regarding US dealers ordering from Mitsu?

In any case I'm going to do the solder method one last time today, as the first two times had numbers far enough apart that I'd feel more at ease with a third set of numbers. I hope to not have to crack open the trans again for years, if ever.
 
I had good luck with Amayama until covid came up. They ship through japan post, and that basically uses cargo space on regular commercial passenger jets. No passenger travel = no passenger jet flights = no shipping. I had an order in process around March 2020, and it then was held until restrictions eased in May 2021, and then my package arrived. I haven’t ordered from them since. They will ship fedex, for around $80. Then you get it in a week.?
 
Hmm, 14 months to deliver. Was that their express shipping option? LOL

However, given that travel has resumed, hopefully that was a one-time thing. The site says Aug 24-29, but I was hoping that someone who ordered from them recently could chime in. If that ends up being late Nov, that would be bad.

There was a national holiday in Japan the past week or so, so I didn't lose time. It ends today and it's 3am in Japan, so I have all day to decide if this is the route I go. I suppose that if there are major delays they'll let me know and I can then decide whether to cancel it and find another solution.

Still no word from Tim and the several dealers I've reached out to either can't get it or haven't gotten back to me, so I'm running out of options.

Karma, if you know what I mean?
 
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Thanks. I have the 4 bolt, but I was referring to the stub axles that the CV axles are attached to, the ones still in your trailing arms in this image. Can those be removed without trashing or needing to replace the bearings and/or seals? The reason I'd like to take them out is to give everything a good cleaning, derusting and painting to avoid future rust and get things nice and new-looking. I'm OCD that way.

Btw, why did you remove all of the above? In addition to the cleaning, I'm replacing the ball joints, links and bushings, which requires nearly everything to be removed. Not the stub axles though, or the diff, but the arms and sway bar. Might as well take the rest off and get it all over with for the next 10-20 years.
 
Thanks. I have the 4 bolt, but I was referring to the stub axles that the CV axles are attached to, the ones still in your trailing arms in this image. Can those be removed without trashing or needing to replace the bearings and/or seals? The reason I'd like to take them out is to give everything a good cleaning, derusting and painting to avoid future rust and get things nice and new-looking. I'm OCD that way.

Btw, why did you remove all of the above? In addition to the cleaning, I'm replacing the ball joints, links and bushings, which requires nearly everything to be removed. Not the stub axles though, or the diff, but the arms and sway bar. Might as well take the rest off and get it all over with for the next 10-20 years.
Yes, if you unbolt the nut that holds the axle cup on, you can just tap the axles out pretty easily. I disassembled to do all urethane bushings and toe elim (you can see both in the pic).
 
Good question. When I get to it I'll post here. Meanwhile, I'm working on the front knuckles. Mostly the usual cleaning, derusting and painting, of pretty much everything under the wheel wells that need it, including the actual wells (I like a clean car). I'm also replacing the 4 brake hoses with SS braided ones I just got from JNZ.

I was also going to replace the bearings and seals, in fact picked up a pair of everything last year because I thought I detected a slight wobble. But no wobble. Debating whether to replace them anyway or save them for when it's time.

Thing is to really clean the knuckle and everything there you have to take the bearings out, to get at the dust cover, tone ring, hub and hidden parts of the knuckle. But, again, not sure if it's worth it. I have a front wheel bearing kit, but it's a bit of a pain getting the old ones off and new ones on.

This is why I asked about the rears. Bearings are a pain.
 
As for the front bearings, if they're still good, is it possible to remove them without destroying them, using the proper tools and technique, and you only have to replace the seals? The FSM seems to suggest that it is.

The only front wheel bearings I've removed are the kind that get destroyed when you remove them since they're sealed and removal separates the left and right halves (not to be confused with the inner and outer halves). Are these not sealed? I'm talking about 1G AWD front wheel bearings.

Even if I don't need to replace them now, I'd like to remove the bearings so that I can give everything a proper cleaning and painting, but I'd rather not do this if it will destroy the bearings. If it is possible to remove and not destroy them, will a large enough 3 jaw puller do the trick, so long as the forcing bolt is parallel to the bore?
 
It's almost as if you didn't actually watch the video you posted above ;)

Guilty, I watched enough to make sure it was the one being referenced and at the time wasn't thinking about the ABS question.
 
After replacing the front passenger bearing a couple times (we learn from our mistakes, right), I've been dreading doing the rears. Joe Wrenches' video (linked in post #4 above, thanks for sharing that @steve) has put my mind at ease.
The front are a PITA, like many of the repairs on these DSMs. That said, I believe (based on old man memories) you can reuse the bearing if you find it to still be good (my bearing and hub were both trashed the first time). The seals will be trashed after disassembly. I crushed the outboard seal, at least once, on reassembly by over pressing the new inboard inner race, so if you're clumsy like me it may be worthwhile to have an extra outboard seal in case you crush the first one (don't keep pressing until the 20ton press binds up, just til the bearing starts to drag). The inner race is split vertically into two halves (inboard and outboard). I used an old rotor to help steady the hub when pressing from the inboard direction and wood blocks to steady the knuckle when pressing from the other direction, used the old bearing and races as press tools, so not sure what you'll do if you're reusing them.

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Good luck!
 
As for the front bearings, if they're still good, is it possible to remove them without destroying them, using the proper tools and technique, and you only have to replace the seals? The FSM seems to suggest that it is.

The only front wheel bearings I've removed are the kind that get destroyed when you remove them since they're sealed and removal separates the left and right halves (not to be confused with the inner and outer halves). Are these not sealed? I'm talking about 1G AWD front wheel bearings.

Even if I don't need to replace them now, I'd like to remove the bearings so that I can give everything a proper cleaning and painting, but I'd rather not do this if it will destroy the bearings. If it is possible to remove and not destroy them, will a large enough 3 jaw puller do the trick, so long as the forcing bolt is parallel to the bore?
If I recall yes it's possible to remove the front bearings but you already own new. Why on earth would you do all the labor and not go ahead and install them?
 
Because if it ain't broke, don't fix it? Plus the new ones are Timken, not OEM. It's not like replacing a TB as a precautionary measure. Bearings are good until they're not good. That's when you replace them. The more I tinker with the car, the more I'm impressed at how so many parts have held up over the years. The outside of things often looks crappy, rust, grime, dust and such doing their thing. But the internals are rock solid. Mostly. Anyway, I might replace them anyway. Just asking if it's necessary or discretionary, if you remove things right. Also, at this point removing a knuckle is child's play compared to other things I've done on the car.

An aside, you know what I hate most about the car? The rust. Hate hate HATE it. It's not unique to DSMs of course and it's mostly surface and caked-on rust that doesn't really affect things mechanically. But it just FEELS so wrong, so I have to get rid of it, treat and paint over the metal whenever I find it. It's easily doubled the amount of work I've done on the car over the past year. It's mostly under the car and hood stuff you usually don't see, but knowing it's there bugs the hell out of me.
 
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