bill927

ok, well, I won't be in Colorado so I need not worry about the McDonalds Infiniti man. Off to be social with others of my clan, you know, the educated idiots. Have a nice night.

Feed

I didn't mean to add fuel to this fire, and I sure hope that I didn't hurt anyone's feelings by adding my personal opinion...

To blazingchimp - yes, according to the information drawn from your posts, you most definately "broke" your CV joint. I did that once (a LONG time ago), except it was a customer's car...so trust me, I understand your pain x10 b/c it came out of my paycheck, but heck you live and learn, right? Lucky for me, I had a mastertechnician to bail me out. I would suggest you go for a remag (remanufactured) axle from one of your local parts dealers. I'm not familiar with LA parts distribution, but I'm certain you'll be able to find one without a problem.

I don't mean for this to sound condescending, or to state is as "I told you so", but problems like this tend to rise with the more complicated DIY jobs. I wish you the best of luck, and hope you don't run into any more problems that cost you money. Time constraints are fine, you learn a lot from overcoming those obstacles, but when parts break, it costs money, and frankly speaking, I don't see anyone that's responded to this post flying out to LA to help you... Take internet advice with a grain of salt.

I'll get off my now.

To Axiskill - hey, sure, I'd be more than happy to lend a hand.

Best of luck!

blazingchimp

iTrader: (12)

i think the inner joint just popped out and will try to push it back in. but yah this was alot more difficult than I anticipated. at least you learn and move on.

blazingchimp

iTrader: (12)

took a look at it and yah i messed up the inner joint. the ***** came out and everything. the inner joint is held in much differently than the outer and im surprised more people dont end up pulling out the inner joint when trying to remove the shaft from the transmission. what surprised me was that the grease in the inner joint was in far worse condition than the grease in the outer joint even though there was no tear.

FishyMan

would u care to snap pics to help others out? im in the same boat, sorta.

thanksp ics would really help others. for learning diy. the thing i dont understand is popping out part. im scared to ruin things

Lyndon5

When my son and I recently installed new cv boots, strut bearings, and Tokico blues all around, we observed that the struts did not have oversize or elongated mounting holes as we have seen on other vehicles. Not saying a non-concentric kit couldn't or wouldn't work, but it appeared to us that modifying the strut holes would be necessary to do so.

Car was out of the alignment shop in about 45 minutes and required no kit or extra labor charges. Goes straighter than it did before all the work.

blazingchimp

iTrader: (12)

well i dont have a camera on me right now but the advice id give is to pry the inner from the transmission with a prybar. came out alot easier that way. a large flathead screwdriver did nothing for me. I'd also highly recommend a table vice and a puller that connects to a slide hammer to get off the outer joint. As with anything its always about having the proper tools. Yah you can do without them sometimes but ur runnng a greater risk of messing something up. Also putting the outer joint back in is no easy task either. Rubber hammer didnt work at all. I had to use a big *** hammer and probably damaged something but at that point i didnt care since I ordered a new one already.

smokeyone

Maybe it is cv time again... Today i noticed my pass. side cv boot has ripped and leaked grease all over. It happened in the last week, cause i got an oil change a week ago, and it wasn't there then. I didn't hear any noises yet though. Is it too late to just replace the boot, or should i just open the wallet and replace both?

blazingchimp

iTrader: (12)

joint is probably still fine if its only been a week. mine was open for a week and the grease was still in good condition but i was careful not to drive it too much and aviod dirty areas. its easier to change the axle but cheaper to change the boot. its really your call.

Stephen Max

iTrader: (59)

You might want to consider that an alignment shop might not be a disinterested party when it comes to alignment advice. As somebody has already pointed out, in order to use eccentric bolts you have to have bolt holes in your struts that are made for them. As it is, all the Maximas I have worked on (almost all of them with aftermarket suspension) have struts that are drilled for the oem close-fitting shoulder bolts. I doubt you could get even a half of a degree of camber adjustability.

But if you have a method that works for you, that's cool.

dgeesaman

iTrader: (10)

I currently have Tokico blues installed, and it was an alignment shop that asked me if they could open the holes a bit to get camber back in spec. (I agreed) Since the angle between the strut and knuckle is close to 180°, small amounts of play in the hole/bolt can make for some very measurable changes in caster. As well, the play in the bolts at the top of the strut holding it to the frame affect this as well - and here there is more play.

But it depends on the car and the fit of the bolts, clearly.

David

4DRSpeed

iTrader: (22)

I got a question. I bought some new axles how the hell did you guys get the axle nut off?

I have a prybar holding the hub in place and I have my breaker bar trying to knock this thing loose, but it won't budge one bit.

i30ds

iTrader: (8)

Get longer breaker bar.

MaXiMa420SE

you dont gotta drain tha trans to change the axle...a little will leak out...

4DRSpeed

iTrader: (22)

Alright I thought this was suppose to be fairly easy, I guess it is with air tools all I have is socket wrenches and open end wrenches.

I got the axle nut off, but now can't seem to get those 3 bolts loose on the passenger side so I can pull the axle out all I'm doing is screwing the bolts up.

.......damn it, it looks like I might have to take it to a shop .

dgeesaman

iTrader: (10)

That joint gave me the most trouble. I used liberal amounts of PB Blaster before those screws loosened - and if they've stripped then I guess a shop might be the only option. I remember putting a box wrench over the bolt and tapping with a hammer until it broke loose. Then the bearing housing and bracket wouldn't separate until I took a sharpened chisel and hammered it into the split between them. The housing never really let go - I had to work the chisel carefully to wedge them apart.

Dave

unkadave11

Where is the best place to buy a complete cv joint for 1996 max? Are the ones from the local parts store any good?

4DRSpeed

iTrader: (22)

I bought my axles for my 96 5spd at autozone. They probably aren't the greatest since they are remanufactured, but compared to what came off the car its top notch, lol.

PhillyDonut

iTrader: (3)

When I had mine alignment done at a local Sears Auto Center (closest to me) the guy used a bolt (I think what you guys are referring to as eccentric bolt) that adjusted my camber. He did not have to widen the strut hole (at least not that I can recall, it was a year ago) but did have to play around with the bolt for almost 4 hours until he got it right. Any yes, a little movement affected the camber by a noticeable amount. I was on the shop floor watching him the whole time and the display screen showing the change as he moved the bolt around.

I recall the company name on the box as "Northstar" or some like that. Also, I watched a video made by “Northstar” that showed how the bolt works.

NCSUpilot

I did mine fairly easily. I used the Haynes manual, it worked like a charm, the boot kit, i got for 11.00 at Advance/

NCSUpilot

I have everything stock. When I removed mine, I removed the strut bolts and thats all. I had it aligned a little while later and it was not out of alignment.

rneedles

I would appreciate any help with my cv axle problem. Went to change brakes and top strut mounts on both sides. Changed drivers side strut mount without a problem, however went to change passenger strut mount and cv axle become disengaged. Any tricks or easy way to put axle back into place? Do not want to cause anymore problems by not doing the right thing. Thanks, Noodles.

ATTappman

You mean the outboard end came out of the hub? Just insert it back into the hub. There's not much clearance between the hub and the end of the axle, but with patience and effort you can do it. If it came out by itself, it's got to be able to go back in.

mbhang

I have had my share of inner cv joint separation - and I think it happens if somebody forgot to put in a retainer. I tried to cause separation in my oe driver side axle inner joint, and I just can't do it, but it happened so easily on 2 BRAND NEW axles I got.

Read my experience here.

http://forums.maxima.org/4th-generat...xperience.html

I guess, it can be re-assembled, but it is very messy. I prefer a replacement axle instead.

With LLT warranty, good thing is if it fails in future, I get a new axle and don't have to deal with the cleaning the joint, putting a new boot etc.

loxety

how many hours is it for labor costs for replacing the cv axle?

mbhang

The first axle experience was harrowing as I had to diss-assemble a lot of other parts to get the axle out (it had lengthened due to the inner joint popping out).

However, now that I am experienced, I would say drivers side should take somebody 30 minutes tops with hand tools. With power tools, 10 minutes is do able.

The passenger side should take 45 minutes with hand tools, 30 minutes with power tools.

I don't know how much mechanics charge, I wouldn't be surprised if it were 1 hour per axle.

ATTappman

Alldata lists 1.5 hours for each axle, or 2.1 to do both.