Replacing A Drive Axle - NH92X
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Disclaimer: By reading this, the reader accepts full responsibility in performing the following work at his or her own risk. B5one cannot assume responsibility for any damage, injury, dismemberment or death, as a result of you the reader, following our instructions. We supply this information freely, for those interested in knowing what is involved with such modifications. If you find you would like to perform a similar modification to your vehicle, we urge you to first seek the advice of a qualified mechanic prior to undertaking any of the work. Some work will require physical strength that may be beyond your ability to perform.

DIY Rating:   Moderate (I'd give it 2.5 wrenches on a scale of 1 to 5).

Cost:   $175 approximately for each remanufactured driveaxle (not including core charge)

People Needed:   This is a job one person can do.

Parts Necessary:

• Replacement axle(s)
• New drive axle bolt

Tools Necessary:

• Jack stands and jack
• 17mm tire iron or breaker bar
• Torque wrench 0-150 ft lbs range
• 14mm socketed hex driver
• 6mm allen wrench or hex driver
• 10mm triple square driver/bit
• 10mm combination wrench
• Loctite threadlock
• Tools suggested:
• Urethane mallet
• MAPP gas torch
• Long socket extension
• Wire/rope

I replaced both front half axles on my 1999 VW Passat after the CV joint boots tore and allowed crud into the joint. The boot on the outer joint is there to keep debris out of the joint and the grease in so if it tears, you've either got to catch it very quickly so that you can just replace the boots or you'll need to replace the joint. I found it easier to replace the entire half axle rather than trying to locate someone to rebuild the joints. The telltale sign that my joints were bad were the significant amount of grease on the inside of my wheels and the clicking noises when turning.

Good source for replacement rebuilt half axles is www.raxles.com. They will ship you out a rebuilt half axle for about $175 plus a core charge that is refunded when you ship your old half axle back. They are rebuilt axles but the only parts actually reused are the shafts so its as close to having a new one as you can get without having to pay the $600 that the dealer wants for a new one.

Figure 1

Figure 1 shows the drive axle on the passenger side of my 1999 1.8T Passat GLS. This is the part discussed in this write up. My understanding is that the V6 and later model 1.8Ts might have some different size bolts. Also know that the passenger side is slightly more difficult than the driver side on the 1.8T because of the way the plumbing for the turbo and exhaust are routed.

Instructions:

1. Loosen the lug nuts on the side of the car you'll be working on.
2. Loosen the drive axle bolt using the 14mm hex driver. This bolt is on extremely tight and will be difficult to remove without some real force. The bolt is shown in the center of the rotor in Figure 2.

Figure 2


3. Now raise the car up with the jack and place it on the jackstands Ð be sure to place the jackstands correctly, as safety is important.
4. Remove the wheel.
5. Using the 10mm triple square driver, remove the six aluminum bolts that hold the drive axle to the transmission. I found that using a 6-inch socket extension made this much easier. You'll need to rotate the axle to get access to all of the bolts. If you have raised the entire front of the car, you'll need someone to step on the brake to do this. If you only have the side you are working on in the air, then you should be able to rotate the shaft without having someone on the brake. These are fairly soft bolts so be sure to completely seat the driver into the head or you risk stripping the bolts and will be forced to use vicegrips and the MAPP torch - not fun. Figure 3 shows me pointing at the aluminum bolts described in this step.

Figure 1


6. On the wheel hub, pull out the wheel speed sensor - failing to do so can ruin the sensor when you remove the drive axle. The speed sensor just pulls out and does not require any tools to remove it.
7. Remove the upper control arms from the steering knuckle by removing the 10mm bolt and nut that clamp the upper control arms to the steering knuckle as shown in Figure 4.

Figure 1


8. Remove the upper control arms from the steering knuckle - this might take some doing - I had to beat on mine for a bit with a urethane mallet. DO NOT use a pickle fork as you will damage the rubber boot on the joint and you don't want to turn this into an upper control arm replacement as well. I found this out the hard way.
9. Remove the drive axle bolt that you already loosened in step 2.
10. The steering knuckle will be able to move around quite a bit at this point - and it's heavier than you'd think. Move it out of the way and support it (I used a milk crate for this but you can also hang it with wire or rope). You should now be able to remove the drive axle from the wheel hub and off of the car.
11. Place the used drive axle to the side so that you can send it back and avoid the core charge.
12. Time to put the new drive axle in!
13. Insert the outer end of the new drive axle into the steering knuckle and secure it using the NEW drive axle bolt. Do not tighten this bolt down all the way; you just need it to hold the end of the axle in place while you work with it.
14. Move the drive axle into position.
15. Slip the upper control arms back into steering knuckle using the 10mm socket and wrench to tighten the clamping bolt and nut. Torque the bolt/nut to 30 ft lbs.
16. Next attach the inner end of the drive axle to the tranny housing with the aluminum bolts and triple square driver. Again be sure to seat the driver fully into the bolt head. I used some blue thread locker on these bolts. Tighten each bolt down to 59 ft lbs.
17. Put your wheel back on and put the lug nuts back in.
18. Lower the car back down and finish tightening the drive axle bolt. Torque to 85 ft lbs.
19. Tighten up the lug nuts to 89 ft lbs
20. Pat yourself on the back because you're done.

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