Front axle swap

So just how much of a ballache is it single handed?

bloody thing weighs a ton so i might just invest in another trolley jack to help things along, i have one trolley and a bottle plus the 5ft hilift to get the thing up high enough to block the chassis up but realistically is it doable single handed?

I think its only fair to give her back 4 wheel drive as she has been running about RWD only for about 6 months now and the snow is coming

input from those that have would be appreciated, I have read through busters how to and it looks simple enough but more real world experience would be appreciated.


Ta

Pol

DiscoPol said:

So just how much of a ballache is it single handed?

bloody thing weighs a ton so i might just invest in another trolley jack to help things along, i have one trolley and a bottle plus the 5ft hilift to get the thing up high enough to block the chassis up but realistically is it doable single handed?

I think its only fair to give her back 4 wheel drive as she has been running about RWD only for about 6 months now and the snow is coming

input from those that have would be appreciated, I have read through busters how to and it looks simple enough but more real world experience would be appreciated.


Ta

Pol

Click to expand...

I done mine single handedly.

Tis a bit of a pig getting everything lined up when putting it back together but it's definitely doable.

I stripped everything off the axle before removing the old one and my reconditioned axle went on stripped too. Then built it up from there. Makes life a bit easier this way.

I managed it in a weekend so weren't too bad.


Old axle out in bits.




Reconned stripped axle going in.





Then almost back together.

Couple of ratchet straps will help when trying to get it lined up.

Some of my 'procedure' from doing it before...

-Give all the nuts and bolts a good soaking in plusgas/diesel/etc.
-Crack everything off while it's sat on it's wheels - some nuts/bolts can come out completely.
-Jack it up and support the chassis.

Now, I found it easier to have an old pair of bare steel rims. I put these on the old axle, undid everything (supported of course) and let down to sit on the rims - then rolled the axle out.

Then put bare rims on the 'new' axle, rolled it under and jacked it into place. Do everything up (not quite tight) swap the wheels over and let it down before torquing it all up.

Having it sat on rims makes it so much easier to move about and it doesn't need to have the body/chassis up as high as if you leave tyres on.

I also took the axle out with the radius arms attached to use as handles, and put them on the replacement before fitting.

(btw, this was on an RRC, but, y'know)

So tomorrow is the swop day, new axle is painted and fresh seals and bearings done, so if you don't hear from me again the disco has fallen on me and squished me flatish.

I found it helps to cable tie the axle to pair of trolley jacks, helps holding everything together when you're trying to line it back up

It's done, 5 hours start to finish single handed. I'm pooped.