Thread: drivers side CV shaft

hello all. i had both of these replaced less then a year ago by a very good shop, and now my drivers side one is leaking grease again. i have found the "slit" in the boot so im confident its the cv shaft.
as far as removing goes, i think ive got most of it, disconnect ball joint, tie rod end, sway bar link. remove the nut from the end of the shaft and pound on it to loosen it from the bearing......

i only have 2 questions tho
what is the exact size of that nut?? ive heard 32mm, ive heard 33mm, and ive read 34mm. with sockets being $10-20 a piece, i would only like to buy one and be done... my second question is, once i get everything moved and am ready to remove the shaft, do i just give it a hell of a good tug, or is there something that needs to be unsecured first?? i understand i will want a drain pan underneath when i do this...

also, is there anything else i should know before tackling this?

You do not have to disconnect the tie rod or sway bar link. My axle nut is a 35mm. A pry bar between the axle shaft and tranny case will pop it out easy.

thank you for the input

that wasnt too bad of a job... i tried like hell for over 30 minutes to get the ball joint separated from the steering knuckle with one of those fork tools and it would not budge. besides taking it to a shop next week my only other option was to remove the knuckle from the strut. i know i know, my alignment is now a little off, but a new shaft and alignment is still cheaper then taking it to a shop for just the shaft.

the size of my nut was 33mm. autozone only loans out even numbered axle sockets, so i borrowed a 34mm, and it worked just fine