Hey I was changing out my shocks and springs earlier today, and while I was doing this the driverside axle somehow came un-knuckled and I cant get it back in. Same thing happened on the passenger side but I was able to get that side back in pretty easy. My friend whose house I was doing this at told me that something in the knuckle didnt feel right to him, something about bearings not lining up. He said I need to get a new axle??? Why would the axle just come out and what would prevent it from going back in? And is getting a new axle gonna solve my problem? My car is sitting at his house untill I can figure out what to do. Please any advice here would be greatly appreaciated. Thanks

 

If the whole outboard end of the driverside axle can be removed from the knuckle, wipe it down with a cloth and apply some bearing grease to the spline. Wipe the inner area of the hub and apply some grease there as well. Feed the outboard axle end into the knuckle/hub, at the same time making sure the grooves/splines line up. It may take a little manipulation (twisting/turning of the hub and/or outer axle) to get the axle end to seat.

IIRC, the outboard end of the axle fits within the hub assembly so the 'bearing' should not preclude the outboard axle shaft from entering the hub.

The only other thing I can think of is that the outboard CV joint within the boot my have separated or something, making it difficult to fully seat within the hub.
Good luck!

 

Thanks for your response. I'm gonna man handle it a bit tommorrow and if I still can't get it in, I'm gonna get a new axle and try it. Anymore advice/opinions are welcome please. Thanks

 

No problem.

Be advised that if it comes to getting a new axle, some manual tranny fluid may exit at the differential case on the driverside, so be prepared.

 

Bought a new axle, got it earlier tonight and it went in like butter. Posted just incase anyone in the future runs into a similar problem.