I am going to attempt to replace my cv axles. Ive had a noise that sounds like the wheel bearing but have had two new ones put on and the noise is still there so I am thinking its a bearing in the front differential. Since I have to take all that out to get to the bearings and any seals, I figured I would just go ahead and replace them since they are spewing grease all over the front end. Are there any tips, tricks, hints, don'ts or do's, or any advice from ones that have done this in the past. Don't know if it matters, but it's a 98 Blazer 4 door, 4 wheel drive.

 

Its not that hard to do just a couple steps more then hub swap. You will need to probably give them a love tap or two but they should come out easy. I did a axle tube seal on the passenger side with a write up...it may help you out. Overall just pay attention to where things go and you will be fine.

 

if the boots are torn on the CV shaft it needs to be rebuilt or exchanged
I have cleaned out a joint ,repacked and replaced the boot and its a really messy job but I am a cheap bastard so I prefer less than $20 for a boot kit
Not sure what brand of bearing hub you installed previously but I would make sure to spin it when the shaft is out and feel for grinding just in case the bearing is failing again

 

I haven't noticed if the boots are torn, but they have leaked a lot of grease. Ive thought about just repacking but Id rather spend the extra money now and just replace the axles rather than get this far and have to do it again later. I replaced the original(?) hub with an ac delco then a timken within a year. Replaced the Timken again under warranty within the last 6 months so actually it's had three on that side.

Thank you for the responses. This place has helped me a lot with my blazer, over 200k and still going fairly strong.