I have a punctured rubber boot at the wheel on the rear axle on my AJV8 2006 that needs to be replaced grease everywhere .

It looks like if i take the axle out I need special tools to replace oil seals and axle at the diff and that means I am forced to take it to the dealer ...... Has anyone removed and replaced the rear axle feeling a bit of despair.

the manual says you need the seal replacement protector inserted before you install the shaft back into the diff does anyone have any experience on how to do DIY

I only have to remove the wheel hub and lift it off the the CV joint and was wondering if it is possible to remove the CV joint on the car without removing the axle that way I may be able to avoid having to go through needing the LR tools to remove and replace axle at the diff. I know you are meant to put the axle in a vice and remove CV and boot so maybe I am dreaming to think about doing on the car.

Any thoughts please
Bruce

Bruce

I replaced the axle seals in mine's rear diff without using the special tool. The tool is meant to expand the seal to prevent the outer dust seal lip from turning in but this was not an issue for me. The drive-shafts are stepped to allow the splines to be engaged before the larger diameter for the seal seat gets to the seal. The shaft is correctly aligned and supported before the larger dia section meets the seal.

Unclipping the drive-shaft from the diff requires a lever mechanism or a very strong pull. I opted for the lever mechanism, levering the inner CV's outer casing and pivoting from the sub-frame above the driveshafts.

Hi Graeme

Thanks so much for your reply I was hoping a mere mortal DIYer had a chance at doing the job without the tool. I noticed you are at Wagga I am at Coffs Harbour, is it hot enough for you.

How did you get your diff seal out without the tool and how do you get the new one back in? Is it a pig of job or pretty straight forward? I am ok at a lot work on the RR but I just didn't want to start and get stuck.

Thanks
Bruce

As far as I can tell, the tool is a single-use cup that fits inside the seal then is broken from around the drive-shaft once the shaft is inserted far enough that the seal will expand onto the shaft seal area. However even the genuine LR seals that I purchased didn't include the fitting tool so I assume that the tool is not required.

The old seal is easily removed using either a hooked seal removal tool or a large screw-driver as I used. However as I was swapping diffs, the seals were fitted to the replacement diff prior to the diff being fitted. Driving the new seal home only required the use of an appropriate size 3/4 drive socket.

The more difficult task was withdrawing the drive-shafts far enough to clear the seals, having only removed the bolt for the top hub bush rather than releasing both bushes.

According to Microcat, your vehicle should have the later style diff which may even be the e-diff version. The later diffs don't have a removable rear cover. My comments are for the later style diff and are applicable to both the standard and e-diff versions.

Yes, its been warm enough here having been around 44-47 far too many days but markedly cooler yesterday and today at around 38.

Yes that looks to be the later drive-shafts and the later open diff. I had to remove the inner joint from the diff because I was fitting an e-diff but you could instead undo the boot clip on the inner joint which would then slide apart, providing that you had another clip or large hose clamp in case you couldn't get the original done up again. When changing a front boot on my son's D4 we couldn't apply enough force to release the inner joint from the diff so disassembled the inner joint instead. It was a bit messy to refit but straight-forward. The inner joint's shaft is retained in the diff by a clip on the drive-shaft that expands into a groove in the diff gear which then requires considerable force to cause it to compress to slide back out along the splines.

I can't remember why I chose to undo the upper bush rather then the lower but 2 of us struggled to pull the drive-shafts out far enough to get clearance to disengage then engage the drive-shafts without damaging the seals. If removing the bolt for the lower bush is easy enough then worst case would be that the top bush bolt also has to be removed.

Thanks Graeme

When you say undo the boot clip on the inner joint I am not quite sure what you mean that I could do.

What does undoing that clip do.

The clip that you identify at arrow 1 can be undone, after which the boot can be pulled back from the joint's outer casing which then allows the drive-shaft to be withdrawn. However the clip is normally pulled tight then bent back over the slot through which the free end passes, side tabs bent over the turned-back end then the excess trimmed. Without the excess the clip may still be able to be pulled tight using pliers, but can be a fiddly task.

OK thanks Graeme
I am going to attack the job this week so wish me luck