Just read the instructions

The new CV boot arrived on Friday just in time for a weekend repair. Replacing the CV boot required removing the right front axle.

So out comes the handy dandy factory service manual...volume chassis...section suspension....subsection front suspension..."Replacing CV Boot FWD Right Front".

One thing about the service manuals is that they tend to be repetitive. If you need to do work on the front end, whether its the CV boot, brakes, suspension, etc the steps are always pretty much the same. So each section in the front end section starts with the same set up steps...loosen lug nuts...jack up car...remove front tire..etc.

So I glance at the first few steps and the diagrams and see its the same as usual for front suspension work. Been there and done it so should be no problem. After about a half dozen steps I get to the part specific for the repair I am doing. Remove front axle from wheel knuckle.

Having removed the other end of the axle earlier in the conversion I expected that the axle should slide right out or maybe need a little bit of prying. I tug, and pull, and tug, and pry, and do it all again even harder. No luck. After about 20 minutes I give up and decide I'm missing something. This shouldn't be that hard.

So I call Chris and ask him if there are any special tricks or tools needed to remove the axle. And if not can I borrow a bigger pry bar. Chris says that usually once you remove the axle nut they slide out easily or can be hammered out.

"Axle nut", I say to Chris. "I don't think this axle has an axle nut. The other end definitely did not have an axle nut."

So after getting off the phone with Chris I go back to the shop manual. Section "Replacing CV Boot FWD Right Front"...loosen lug nuts...jack up car...remove front tire..etc. No axle nut. Lets look at the wheel. Hmm...there is a big nut holding the rotor on, but I'm not replacing the rotor. Let's look at the manual again.

Section "Replacing CV Boot FWD Right Front"...loosen axle nut and lug nuts...jack up car...remove front tire..etc.

OK. To be fair the instruction for loosening the axle nut was not in small print. The writers of the manual are a little bit more insidious than that. They made it the first line of the instructions! More importantly the section was otherwise identical to the sections not requiring the axle nut be loosened. So at first glance (and second glance) the instructions and diagrams look identical to the instructions not requiring the axle nut be loosened.

Of course once the axle nut was loosened the axle removal was so much easier :-)