By m.mcarthur (203.97.2.242) on Tuesday, February 13, 2001 - 09:42 pm:

Just wanting to know wheather you can pull the halfshaft and CV joint out of the transmission end (hondamatic) or is this not able to be done without disconnecting all the suspension and ball joints at the wheel end.
Any information would be a help THANKS

By ROotUS (203.34.130.137) on Wednesday, February 14, 2001 - 04:54 am:

arr.. i tried loosening as few suspension parts as possible and bending susp. out of the way, but found it impossible, and a shitload easier just approaching the susp. with the take it all off attitude. take it ovv, take it all ovv.

By Adrian (Civicguru) (203.42.97.227) on Wednesday, February 14, 2001 - 05:22 am:

Depending on the model, you do NOT need to take the suspension completely apart. If it's one with the radius rods that bolt onto the lower control arm, then undo the pivot bolt on the inner end of the control arm, undo the nut on the end of the radius rod, slip the control arm out of the subframe and off the radius rod (this saves popping the ball joint and the potential damage you can do to it), grab the whole upright assembly and pull it out, popping the driveshaft out of the gearbox (don't forget to drain the gearbox oil first!!). Remove the nut from the end of the driveshaft (having loosened it before starting all this of course), slip the driveshaft out. If you've got a rattle gun to undo all the nuts and bolts it takes no more than 10 minutes. If it's a model with the radius rod and control arm in one piece you'll probably have to disconnect the sway bar from the radius rod. I've only ever played with one of these models once and I can't remember if there is enough movement in the front radius rod mount to allow you to move the upright far enough, you may have to disconnect the radius rod altogether, or else pop the ball joint.

Hope that makes sense.

By errol (205.188.198.31) on Wednesday, February 14, 2001 - 10:29 pm:

Another way is to loosen that lovely 32mm nut on the end of the axle, jack up the end, take tire off, loosen and take out the 14mm bolt at bottom of strut, 'pop' off tie rod, grab fender with both hands and stomp down on rotor/hub assembly with one or both feet. It makes it real fun if you miss the knuckle and get the rotor (which spins) and you wind up on your 'vertical crack' But seriously, the strut should just pop out and then it gives you alot of room to get the axle end out of the hub. Don't get zealous and pry it out from the back of the knuckle (damaging the thin dust shield) Or hammering the end of the threaded axle and screwing up the threads...to which you won't know until you have everything back togather and impact the 32mm nut back on that you poo poood the threads and the nut!

By Adrian (Civicguru) (203.42.97.227) on Wednesday, February 14, 2001 - 10:51 pm:

As I said, you can do it quite easily without resorting to popping the ball joint or removing the whole upright assembly, but if you do remove the upright from the strut (completely unnecessary), don't jump on it or bash it with a hammer, just undo the bolt, get a short flat bladed screwdriver or chisel, wedge it into the split in the clamp that holds the strut on and tap it in. This will open up the clamp and the upright will just slip off the strut. This way you avoid damage to the upright, brake, guard (fender) and yourself.

By Charles R. (64.170.157.137) on Thursday, February 15, 2001 - 12:02 am:

Heed that last bit of advise!
I have the scars from 5 stitches across two fingers because someone said "just do it this way..." like an idiot,I did, even though I knew better.
I have the welded radius rod control arms. All I've ever done is pop the strut out of the spindle whenever I've pulled an engine/tranny. If you free the brake lines from the strut, the spindle will "lay out" farther. My brake line tabs are notched to allow easy removal.