I will be doing Axle seals this coming weekend. The axle assembly I have does not have teh Bolted on flange but rather the slide in axle that supposedly has a snap ring holding it on. With the Front end assembled and sitting on the ground, I cannot see any Snap ring up there by the Axle Seal area. I was also not able to push the axle far enough toward the tire to see it. I'm new to front end work on the CV joint Axle setups ( I have done many solid axles). Please tell me; when the Knuckle is out of the way, (take off tie rod and upper ball joint) will this Snap ring show itself as I pull the axle out of the Diff?

 

The snap ring itself is located on the stub axle inside the internally splined CV coupler. To disengage it, you need to shock the CV shaft using a hammer, directing the force out away from the diff. There is sufficient room on the stub axle for the ring to be pressed into, below the engaged splines, releasing the CV shaft, but it can take some force. I have found that a block of wood & a 5lb hammer work the best. If you can't get it in one location, rotate the shaft 90 degrees and try again.

 

So if I understand this: The Snap ring stays on the Stub axle, possibly sticks through holes in the stub axle and when pushed into the diff, it snaps around the splines in the Diff. Smacking the Axle outward, the snap ring will lift out of the groove on the externally splined piece in the Diff.

I think I got it.
Thanks

Oh Wait, I just found a descent picture of that end of the CV axle. DRIVERS SIDE I was assuming the splines on that side were Internal and they slid into an external Spline in the Diff. I see now that it is External Splined with a Snap ring that collapses as it passes a point inside the diff and that the is a separate Seal area.
What about the Passenger side/ It only has an internal spline on the CV axle. will that just pull out?

 

Driver & passenger sides use very much the same connection. Same thing applies.

 

Did the Seal this weekend. My daughter's car, she was ther and got her hands dirty. Just another Hands on Lesson on how much it would have cost her for an $8 seal if she had to pay 'The Guy'.

So glad I was able to use my Friends lift. Doing this on my back and on Jackstands would have been a nightmare.

I took the whole Knuckle off to make the axle more accessible. I didn't want to use a Pickle fork and chance ruining the Rubber Boots. The ball joints did not want to let go no matter how hard I hit the knuckle with the big hammer. Getting the knuckle off was the whole job. In hind sight, I'm not sure the Axle spindle would have come off if I left the lower Ball joint attached.
2.5 hours for the one side. Tapped the axle out with a small 2 x 4 and hammer. came out easy.Ran in some self tapping screws into the old seal. Slide hammer on a Vise Grip worked like a charm.

Thanks for all the Heads up.