Drive Axle Replacement - Questions

2004 Chevrolet Impala (police version with the 3.8L N/A engine). Have about 98k miles on it now. Seems like I have a bad left drive axle (metallic clicking/clunk noises in turns and when accelerating from a stop). Anyway, I have both the factory manuals and the Haynes manual and the instructions for replacing the drive axle seem quite a bit different. I was hoping that someone with experience in replacing the drive axle could offer an opinion as to which is the correct way of approaching this job.


Factory Manual
- Raise and support the vehicle on jackstands
- Remove wheel and tire
- Remove stabilizer link shaft
- Remove the front wheel drive axle nut
- Disconnect the outer tie rod assembly from the steering knuckle
- Separate the ball joint from the steering knuckle
- Separate the front wheel drive axle from the front wheel drive axle from the wheel drive shaft bearing
- Remove the left front wheel drive axle from the transaxle


Haynes Manual
- Remove the wheel cover and loosen the drive axle hub nut
- Loosen the wheel lug nuts and raise and support the front of the vehicle on jackstands
- Remove the front wheel and place a drain pan under the transaxle
- Remove the drive axle hub nut (insert screwdriver into rotor cooling vanes to prevent the hub from turning)
- Remove the control arm to steering knuckle ball joint nut and separate the lower arms from the steering knuckle
- Remove ABS wheel speed sensor and place it to the side
- Separate the drive axle from the hub (if it sticks remove brake caliper and rotor and push drive axle out of hub using a puller)
- Support the outer end of the drive axle with a piece of wire to prevent damage to the inner CV joint
- If removing the left-side drive axle pry the drive axle out of the transaxle using a large prybar positioned between the inner CV joint and the transaxle case. Use the subframe as a leverage point
- Remove the drive axle from the vehicle


The difference between the two sets of instructions is basically that the factory manual tells you to remove the outer tie rod end and the stabilizer link shaft, while the Haynes one does not. Not removing these would obviously make things easier and not require having to take the car for a wheel alignment. Also, I'm a bit confused as to the need for a pan under the transaxle per the Haynes manual... when the drive axle is removed should I expect a large amount of transaxle fluid to drain?

i would go with the haynes manual. as for the drain pan, you might have a small amount of fluid come out depending on level. the factory manual is more for a shop where the haynes manual is more for the home mechanic. i have pulled many front drive axles in the past and have never had large amounts of fluid come out of the trans axle. half pint at the most, but rarly that much.:smokin: