Axle swap on '94 Prizm (Corolla). Simple enough for novice?: Grassroots Motorsports forum: Grassroots Motorsports Magazine

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Nov. 15, 2010 10:23 a.m. Klayfish Reader

As I mentioned in a previous thread, I just picked up a '94 Geo Prizm as a winter beater. It's in good mechanical overall condition (one owner, used same mechanic, etc...) just normal wear/tear. The owner said the front end started making noise about 6 weeks ago, and he brought it to his mechanic. The mechanic said it needed front axles. The car has 180k miles. When I drove it, there was definitely clunking noises coming from the front end. Didn't sound suspension related, as it was making noise even on smooth pavement.

Is an axle swap on these things relatively straightforward? My wrench in hand experience is limited to changing oil and a few spark plugs. I don't want to spend a fortune fixing a $400 car, so I'd love to try this myself. NAPA sells reman axles for $40 or new ones for $50 for this car, so parts are cheap. Is this something I can tackle in my garage with basic tools? Anyone near Allentown, PA willing to help out a novice?
Nov. 15, 2010 10:29 a.m. 93celicaGT2 SuperDork

Yep, you can tackle it in your garage with basic tools. Rent a slide hammer with FWD axle puller attachment from Vatozone and have at it.

Rust/seized bolts may be your only issue, but you won't have to remove a ton of them.

It's VERY simple. And you'll get dirty. Be prepared to buy new ball joints.
Nov. 15, 2010 11:57 a.m. TreoWayne New Reader

If you don't have a mega-impact you might want to see if you can get a shop to loosen the axle nuts and then put them back on not-quite-as-tight.
Nov. 15, 2010 12:00 p.m. YaNi Reader

93celicaGT2 wrote:

Yep, you can tackle it in your garage with basic tools. Rent a slide hammer with FWD axle puller attachment from Vatozone and have at it.

Rust/seized bolts may be your only issue, but you won't have to remove a ton of them.

It's VERY simple. And you'll get dirty. Be prepared to buy new ball joints.

Autozone doesn't have a FWD axle puller attachment anymore. Ask me how I know... I ended up welding a nut onto the axle so I could use the slide hammer.
Nov. 15, 2010 12:13 p.m. pinchvalve SuperDork

WARNING: Years ago I decided to try to replace the axles on a Civic. It was the first mechanical thing I had ever done, and now I have a garage full of tools and do all my own maintenance and don't consider an engine swap as a radical repair option.
Nov. 15, 2010 12:27 p.m. 93celicaGT2 SuperDork

YaNi wrote:

93celicaGT2 wrote:

Yep, you can tackle it in your garage with basic tools. Rent a slide hammer with FWD axle puller attachment from Vatozone and have at it.

Rust/seized bolts may be your only issue, but you won't have to remove a ton of them.

It's VERY simple. And you'll get dirty. Be prepared to buy new ball joints.

Autozone doesn't have a FWD axle puller attachment anymore. Ask me how I know... I ended up welding a nut onto the axle so I could use the slide hammer.

They did a week ago. I think the issue is that they have no idea what it's called. I had to go back there and just look at all the attachements they had for it and show them which one i was talking about. It's not listed on their rental sheets, either. I've rented 3 in the last 6 months, all at different locations. They've got 'em.

IF autozone doesn't have it anymore, you can also use a bigass pickle fork and a dead blow hammer. That works pretty well, too.
Nov. 15, 2010 3:29 p.m. Klayfish Reader

pinchvalve wrote:

WARNING: Years ago I decided to try to replace the axles on a Civic. It was the first mechanical thing I had ever done, and now I have a garage full of tools and do all my own maintenance and don't consider an engine swap as a radical repair option.

That would be my hope at some point. Start small and work up to larger things.

The rusted/seized bolts is one of the things that concerned me. Those axles have been in there 16 years, I don't have any false hope the hardware will just unbolt easily.
Nov. 15, 2010 4:29 p.m. Dr. Hess SuperDork

94 Rolla. Should be real close to my 88 Rolla. Getting the big nut off is the hard part. I use an impact wrench. If you don't have one, I suppose there could be other methods, but they would be difficult. I think some people will use a breaker bar and a helper standing on the brake. I can't remember what size the big nut is, but you'll need that socket either way. Getting the old axles out can be easy or hard, depending on the phase of the moon, as near as I can tell. BFH time. Also, get the new axles, not the remans. Well worth the extra ten bucks a side. There was an article in The Mag about this some time back. Maybe it's available online? And if I recall, there is not a carrier bearing on that car, so that makes it a lot easier on the right side. My JDM AE101 drive train had a carrier bearing. When I put new axles in, I got the ones for the AE92 and left the carrier bearing out.
Nov. 15, 2010 4:55 p.m. Tyler H Dork

Here's a tech tip for you:

With the car on the ground, take off your hubcap or remove your lug cover to expose the axle nut. Remove the cotter pin and retainer. Put your axle nut socket on with a large breaker bar, then put a 4' length of pipe over the breaker bar. Next, for the driver's side, put the pipe and bar facing the rear of the car and near the ground. Put the car in reverse (a helper is a big bonus here) and SLOWLY back up until the wheel is turning against the breaker bar, which is now pushing against the ground. Gradually apply throttle until the axle nut pops. For the passenger side, same concept except start with the bar facing forward and put it in drive instead of reverse.

If you can pop the axle nuts, you can do this job.

Now you can put it up on jack stands and proceed.

Make sure to torque them back to spec, which is probably 140-170lb-ft. This is what keeps your front bearing/hub assemby from disintegrating.
Nov. 15, 2010 5:08 p.m. triumph5 HalfDork

A set of new axle seals would also be in order. After being in the trans since '94, I would think they have taken a "set" against the output shafts, and may have a problem sealing against new shafts.

Also, I bought a 110volt HF impact gun. Large, a tad heavy. Claims 225 ft lbs. Maybe 200 actual. It has really come in handy over the past year with breaking nuts loose, where before I would have had to depennd on a friend's air impact gun. Made pulling the crankshaft pulley off the Mazda Protege--and that's torqued to 130-ish ft-lbs, according to the manual--easy.. Not a use it every day tool, but for about $50 (20% off coupon!) well worth the money. Also paid for itself when r+r rear struts.