I'm changing the cv axles on both sides of our 98 Blazer. Driver's side went in without any problems. Passenger side is fighting me tooth and nail with the seal. I can't get all of it out. I also think I messed everything up now. A little spring has come out and it looks like I mangled the crap out of the housing lip. I can't seem to be able to pull the last piece of the seal out. And the metal is all ripped up now from my seal puller.

Did I just kill the housing? Any help would be greatly appreciated.

 

grab a corner of the damage with a good pair of pliers and start twisting it like your opening a can of spam ham
You may be able to roll and tear it towards the inner edge of the old seal

 

Not sure if you got this figured out yet or not... but it looks like you just ripped apart the outer case and lip of the seal. You should be able to get the seal puller all the way behind the seal and pry it out.

 

what i have done in the past is get a small straight screwdriver and hammer...then collapse the outer lip and then finish the job when the lip collapse all the way around.

 

I tried using some channel locks on it but can't get a good enough bite on what's left. I've tried using the seal puller but I really can't get a good enough angle. I will try getting a smaller screwdriver to see if I can get this thing out.

Just can't believe how hard something so simple can be. But that seems to be the case with this thing. Fix one thing and two more things go wrong.

I will play with it more this week. I was just worried I screwed up the housing. The driver's side popped right out but this one seems fused to the housing. Am I just cursed or does this actually happen to other people?

Keep the ideas coming guys, really appreciate the help.

 

I worked at one place that there was a guy that put sealer on the outside on the seal before installing
I suspect seals that he installed were a PIA to get out later on

I have a short pry bar that I would try to get as much under the untorn area and pry out

 

lol ive done seals like that before. usually a good way is to kinda smash them in from the side with a screwdriver. its kinda hard to describe but you want to get a small screw driver and hit it between the seal lip and the aluminum housing. it will usually bend up and just smash into hole then you can pop it out with a prybar.

 

Success! I used a smaller screwdriver to lift a piece of it, then I was able to get my seal puller behind it and finally got it out. That thing was in there but thankfully it came out in one piece.

It's all back together, so that is a nice feeling

Thanks for all the help, I really appreciate it.