As a rule of thumb, if it has been open for any extended period of time you will want to replace it with a reconditioned or new unit.

Last time I checked, last week, the Volvo remaned axles were going for around $300.00 each from the dealer. For years they sold in the $700.00+ market but they finally realized that they were getting spanked to hell in the aftermarket sector and came up with a more realistic alternative, just like they did with their cats.

More and more of my vendors are coming up with these "new" CV joints. They look good but I just did one three frikin times in a row and did another one twice to get a couple of axles that did not leak from the axle seals at the trans. To answer the obvious question, yes I put brand new factory seals in them. At this point in time I am quite reluctant to stuff in any of these supposed new axles.

Leakage while doing them? I use the factory tool that slips in inplace of the axle while the axle is out so leakage is not an issue. I have on occassion done them without it and they don't seem to leak enough fluid out to worry about, unless your gearbox is overfilled already.

There really is not much of a seal on the splined end of it but that splined end can be a real bastard to get out of there. Aside from the rust and corrossion that builds up in the splines over the years, the Swedes are in the habit of putting loctite in the splines! Craziest friking thing I have ever heard of but I have bulletins and repair procedures right out of Vadis that tell you this is the way to do it.

Putting the nut back on and hitting it with a hammer is one way to do it but it is not without its problems either.
1) Make sure that you have a new nut to go back on with.
2) When you are hitting the nut make sure that it is only backed off 2-3 threads or you will risk screwing up the old axle.
3) If you are near the end of the shaft and you still need to hammer it out do not use the nut as you will probably just destroy the first couple of threads on the end of the shaft.
Obviously if you do not intend upon reusing the axle, replace vs reboot, then it is not that big of a deal but I still recommend against destroying the old axle.

When you have the axle out take a wire brush to the female splines in the hub and take the new axle and insert it backwards, from the outside in, to make sure that the splines are corrected and not buggered up.

I've got to ask, what kind of "indy" mechanic are you going to that appreciates the customer bringing in his own parts. In my business that is a recipe for disaster as well as a no money deal. Just think about the nightmare that would've insued on the car that I mentioned doing three times to get it right once. In the end I used a rebuilt Volvo axle instead of this supposed new crap and all was good. Imagine if that was you and I said "too bad sport, that is your part and you can pay me to change it out again". Sometimes it is better to let the man make a little mark up on the part and provide you with a parts warranty on it. If you have found someone that will warranty your parts then I suggest you take advantage of that as long as you can because he probably will not be in business forever.


Good luck
Mark