2001 Passenger Side Axle-CV Replacement

[heydere]

Ahoy !
After all that needs to be removed or loosened, how difficult is it to extract the axle-cv from the transmission ?
My internet searches have found a range of effort from it can be wiggled right out to not at all/DIY'er giving up.
God-awful grinding/grating noise erupted in approx 3 miles local driving. I am guessing axle-cv joint. Can't say for sure because I've not been able to loosen the lug bolts and remove the wheel. Likely: bone head mechanic w/impact wrench + siezing 'cause did not use anti-sieze.
Thanks.
Richard Cielec
Greater Chicago Metro

[Xfingers]

I use a breaker bar to loosen the lug bolts. In my case, it's not absolutely necessary but the extra leverage makes breaking the bolts free a breeze and limits the strain on my back!

[hoonk]

how difficult is it to extract the axle-cv from the transmission ?
searches have found that it can be wiggled right out to not at all/DIY'er giving up.

Right side axle always slides out easily, there is not a circlip holding it into the transmission. The left side has a circlip and gets stuck rarely. - But when it does is almost impossible to remove.

[Astro14]

Very easy to remove from Angle Gear. Two bolts on bearing retainer. One hub bolt.

Get a new (not rebuilt) axle. Rebuilds are all cheap and they all suck. A new GKN is about $300 from Pelican. Do it once and do it right.

[heydere]

Hello, Everyone.
Thank you.
In the Matthews site, I found a super-simple method among the comments to the initial posting. Below is that method. I missed copying the name of the poster and so cannot give proper credit. I apologise, whoever you are.
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st replaced both front axles of our 2003 XC70, here is my experience:

First things first: I loosened the lug nuts and the drive shaft bolt with the car on all 4's, safety first. Than jack up the car.

I did not take anything off, but the tire, than loosened the lower ball joints and that gave me enough play to swing the strut out of the way to remove the drive shaft!

The trick is to separate the ball joint from the lower control arm: Thanks to the Haynes manual: Tie a rope or chain around the lower control arm so you can put a long bar through it which slides through it below the arm. Fixate the arm on one side and step on the other side so you pull the arm down. That's the trick the rest is peanuts.
In my setup(see pictures) it ended up being an easy fixation with the end of the jack handle that I use in the frame of the jack stands.

Again, I did not have to take the brake caliper or ABS sensor off or whatever else, it worked like a charm.

The axles I used are also from Axles Unlimited, phone: 704-399-1003. Seems to be a good product and you get rebuild, original Volvo axles. No problem getting them out as with the 'China' stuff!

On a note for all folks that have ft lbs and not Nm indicated on there torque wrench: Torque axle nut at 26 ft lbs, than an additional 90 degrees. For my own torque wrench I used 312 inch pounds(26*12). 
And as you might have guessed, I torqued everything with the car back on it's wheels.

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All the best,
Richard Cielec
Greater Chica

[goldxc70]

Right side axle always slides out easily, there is not a circlip holding it into the transmission. The left side has a circlip and gets stuck rarely. - But when it does is almost impossible to remove.

hoonk, I have used this "trick" to remove stuck axles on Toyota's and VW's. If the axle doesn't pop out with gentle pressure, rotate slightly while maintaining a little pressure and try again; repeat until it does pop out. The logic is that turning the axle centers the circlip at which point it should pop off.