97 dodge stratus,half shaft replacement?

Question

Replacing the driver side half shaft, any "tricks" to facilitate this(particularly at the transmission side). How hard of a job is it for a back yard mechanic. Any special tools needed to remove the inner cv portion from the tranny.

Answer 1

You dont need any special tools for this other then your wits, rubber gloves and elbow grease.

1. Have to gain access to the rotor area. Remove the CENTER cotter pin - Lock Nut and Washer.

2. Have to remove the lower Ball Joint Nut - DO NOT remove it all the way , till you are ready to move stuff out of the way to get out the shaft. Back it off will there is like 3 threads that is enough till later.

3. Remove the TIE ROD END on that side - u can use a hammer to hit the SIDE of the Tie Rod not the threaded part.
remove that and hold it away from everything using a rope or what ever u got.

4. Now remove the lower ball joint out of the lower spindel.
Pull the whole Rotor/Caliper/Brake Assembly out of the way- best is that you have the car turned all the way AWAY from the drivers side like you making a full right turn gives you more room to work with.

5 With a Wooden hammer or Plastic hammer hit the center of the axel and see if it moves in the Spindle. If it does - you can try to remove is from that location and let it hand - then procede to the inner shaft area USING a prybar place the bar inbetween the axel and the transmission and pry it out - it will be a little tight coming out cause there is a metal ring that holds it in place just over come that.

IF the car is stick-shift you will need a pan under it to catch the oil-automotics you wil get a little bit not alot.

MAKE SURE YOU HAVE THE CAR SECURE at all times with Jack Stands and Jack when working on this. Replace any fluid lost over a pint.

6. When you are ready to install you will need the wooden hammer again to DRIVE the shaft back in the transmission. USE caution you want to make sure you are installing this in straight cause if it goes at an angle you will bend the metal ring and it will not go in.

7. You will need at the end to TORQUE the center nut back on - its about 95 - 1o5 lbs if im not mistaken.

I can get more indepth on how to do it but i cant type that much.

*** When you get the OLD shaft out MATCH it to the new one-newer cars will have ABS and it will need the ABS ring on the shaft if not there get the correct one. ***

Good Luck

Answer 2

1

Answer 3

Half Shaft Replacement

Answer 4

Oh fun! lol My dad had to change them out more than once on my mom's '88 Plymouth Grand Voyager minivan. For the minivan it is a job that required 2 people..one person to remove the shaft and the other to pull on the caliper brake assembly enough to get it out of the way so the shaft can be removed.
I don't remember my dad using any special tools to remove it from the tranny. If I remember correctly it was a push N turn affair to remove it. Before we got that far though we had to "pop" the ball joint out of it's socket. For that we used an old piece of wood with me standing on it while dad pried on it with a tool. I think it might have been a ball joint removal fork, but I'm not sure. It's been a long time since dad and I did that particular work on the minivan since it's out of commission right now from a bad tranny. Good luck!

Answer 5

A strut spring compressor would be handy. They can be rented from Autozone. The inside end of the half shaft has a snapring around the inner joint that just pulls out with a little force. Before you remove the lower end of the strut, spray some white paint at the attachment points. When you reassemble, line up the painted areas and the front end will still be in alignment.

Answer 6

The previous guy is right that you can actually go to the dealer to get the key cut for not much money......HOWEVER, he forgot to tell you the most important part because if you show up with just the VIN number, you are not getting a key. Take your title and your driver's license for proof of ownership and you will have no problems. Also, they don't order a key, they look up the key code and cut it on the spot. Should be less than $20. Don't go to a locksmith unless you want to pay 10 times the cost of cutting the key. GOOD LUCK!

Answer 7

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Answer 8

if its front wheel drive then its gonna be a real tricky one you would need torque wrench a few box end wrenches wd-40 chains and a good hammer but thats if its front wheel drive if its rear wheel drive it shouldnt be hard at all.

Answer 9

Thank you all for your answers and opinions!