# Pathfinder WD21 front axle removal



## SkyFive (Oct 28, 2007)

I'm changing CV boots on my 1995 Pathfinder SE 4WD and I discovered a couple of time and work savers that I wanted to pass along. This may be common knowledge so if I'm preaching to choir, forgive. 
I have the factory service manual for this vehicle and I usually try to follow it to the letter. In the case of the front axle removal it says to remove the entire spindle/hub at the ball joints and also to take the tie rod loose. The diagram shows the hub/spindle/axle in a vise after removal. I started by trying to take the tie rod loose. It was tighter than dick's hat band and I could not get it free even with a puller. Ok, I'll trying the ball joints..same thing, I couldn't get them loose without risk of damage and I'm not planning on replacing them. At this point I've been working for two hours and I've made no progress. I decide to take the upper ball joint loose from the mounting to the upper control arm by removing four (M14?) bolts. That was easy! Then I remove the shock absorber, take the brake caliper loose and hang it out of the way secured by a wire. The spindle now swings forward and down with the lower ball joint still attached. I removed the auto hub and axle snap ring earlier so the drive end of the axle is free. After removing the six bolts at the final drive the axle comes out no problem. CV boot replacement is another story but, I completed the job in half the time had I taken the upper and/or lower ball joints loose at the spindle and I loathe taking ball joints and tie rods loose. Hope this helps someone.


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## 88pathoffroad (Jun 6, 2004)

Thanks for the write-up. That's exactly how I do mine too, but you actually don't have to remove the brakes it'll be fine as long as you don't let the knuckle drop forward and pull on the brake hose. Taking them off is the safest way to avoid accidental damage, though.


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## jwwskymaster (Sep 7, 2010)

*Boot replacement*

I ran into a few problems when I went to replace the outer boot on my 1995 Nissan Pathfinder SE. Firstly the bolts that hold the upper ball joint to the link were rusted. Three of them twisted off. Then even with the lower ball joint undone, the upper would not release from the link I ended up unbolting the upper link from the frame, and undoing the shock absorber at both ends.
For the tie rod I ended up undoing the other end of the tie rod that is attached to the knuckle. I was able to get a three jaw puller on it and it popped out no problem. I think a two jaw puller might pop off the other end, but I didn't have one. My puller is really old, most pullers now days are combo 2 and 3 jaws. I had no problems with the autolocking hub other than the hex bolts were very tight. It was a little difficult to get the snap ring off, I managed with out a set of snap ring pliers by clamping a small nail in the splines to hold one end while I worked on the other end. I actually did this step first before the others, best to do so as recommended by Chilton. The tie rod should also be done before the ball joints. Once I undid the upper link the hub came right off the axle, no putting it a vise to knock it out. I then undid the five bolts holding the diff side cv joint to the differential flange. I got confused here because the bolts where 12 sided, I couldn't figure out why 6 pt 12mm was too small and 6 pt 13mm was too big. I ended up using a 12 mm box end which by the way was 12 pt. Afterwards I looked closer under all the dirt and grease and saw why. The next problem was what to do about the twisted off bolts I gave up after trying some bolt extractors, and ended up buying a new upper ball joint. The Chilton book was very helpful here in indicating a make shift tool to force the ball joint off after loosening the nut. Consisted of a long bolt 4.5 to 5", 1/2" dia, nut, washer and deep socket. Bolt should be threaded 2 or 3 " from the end. Put the nut on the bolt place the washer on the end insert that into the business side of a decent sized deep socket. You now have a pusher that you can place between the lower ball joint and the bolt of the upper ball joint. Best to keep the nut flush on the end of that bolt, while doing this proceedure. Popped it off no problem. The last major hurdle was trying to remove the outer CV joint and axle from the main axle. Both the Chilton book and the on line techs indicated it would just tap off. I hammered pretty hard without it budging. I tried the pusher trick with a shorter bolt and a visegrip clamped to the main axle in one of the shallow areas so it couldn't slide on the shaft. I placed the pusher between the visegrip and a flat piece of metal bar place across the CV joint housing and the CV joint itself. Torqued it up pretty tight, still no luck. All this time I was reluctent to touch the diff side CV joint because the Chilton book indicated you needed a hydraulic press to remove the spider gear. Reluctently I tackled that end hopeing to use a puller to get the spider gear off. To my suprise the grease cap popped off with ease, just push the CV slide housing down as far as it will go, then tap it with a hammer the axle and CV joint will pop the cap off. After cleaning up the grease to get at the snap ring I tried whith no avail to remove it without a snap ring plier. I gave up after 20 mins and went and bought one, off in a minute. Then to my very delightful surprise the CV joint slide off the axle, by pushing the axle through you can grab the CV joint and pull it off the axle. No hydraulic press or vise needed. Pulled the inner boot off and slide the new outer boot on. Filled it with grease, adjusted the length all though the axle seems to be shallowed at the correct spot where the small end should be clamped. Put the diff side cv joint back together. Total time about an hour to replace the boot on the axle. re-assembly went fairly smooth except for bolting the ball joints back to the links. An extra hand would help at this point, holding the hub and joints, pressing the upper link down and adjusting the ball joint to the correct angle and rotation was time consuming to get it just right so I could get at least one bolt in to hold things up. In retrospect I suppose I could have wired the hub to one of the fender supports to hold the majority of the weight. I am assuming that one might exist at the correct location. The top of the shock absorber might work too.
Adjusting the jack holding the lower link in place didn't seem to help a lot for the upper ball joint. It does help when attaching the lower ball joint.

Hope this may help some one else with the same setup as mine, as the CV joint described in the Chilton manual I have seems a little off inn regards the the spider gear and the outer CV joint. Some of the techs I talked to indicated that some outer CV joints will come apart easily, while others are very tough. I have to wonder in my case whether mine even comes apart at all. Guess I won't know for sure until I have to replace one.


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## jwwskymaster (Sep 7, 2010)

*boot replacment*

Oop's the manual I have is actually Haynes, not Chilton.


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## 2milehi (Mar 4, 2008)

SkyFive said:


> I'm changing CV boots on my 1995 Pathfinder SE 4WD and I discovered a couple of time and work savers that I wanted to pass along... Hope this helps someone.


Thanks for posting this info. I was dreading this job because both of the outer CV joints were shot. The wife was getting on me because the CV noise on turns was getting louder.

So I dove in and loosened the upper ball joint. The CV half shaft was very close in coming out but I still needed a little more freedom. I loosened the tie rod end and popped it loose. That was the trick.


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