CV drive axles

[mchoss1970]

Has anyone changed the drive axles on a '95 Passat VR6 sedan with manual tranny? I am having a wicked time trying to get the flange bolts off. VW used torx bolts for this. It's not that I cant get at them, just that I dont want to put a lot of stress on the bolt and end up stripping it. It seems the wheels have to be on the ground for this also, which makes it all the more challenging. I would have to loosen the bolts I could get at then roate the drive shaft to get the other ones. I am replacing both axles so it's not just one side. Any hints would be great. Thanks.
Mike

[Denny G]

Whew! Don't I know it! I changed one on an '86 Jetta. I found a resource somewhere on the net that had some nice "How-To" pictures. I am sad to say I can't remember where just now.

You need to get a Snap-On or Mac Tools torx bit. Only they will stand up to what you are going to have to do. Even at that, mine is a bit twisted. The Lisle tools are not hardened enough, so don't bother with them. Pay the piper.

Get a 24" extension and take offf the front wheel. Now you can get outside the body of the car and really get some torque on it (as in add a length of pipe to the wrench handle). I tried heating, but was afraid to go too far with it, and it did not seem to help. I would recommend tightening before trying to loosen. An impact tool is probably what is really called for. The boltheads are amazingly strong, so I don't think you will ruin them. Notice that the tightening torque spec is not very large. How they get so tight is amazing.

That's basically all I remember. Once the bolts are loose the rest is no big deal. Good luck.

Denny G

[boschmann]

Make sure it's not a 6mm triple sqare or spline bolt. They can get frozen, I've had to break them loose with an air chisel.

[mchoss1970]

It was an 8mm 12 pt spline drive. Impact got it off. I've heard of people having to cut the heads off these. Once the heads are off though I guess the bolts just back out by hand. It sounds like the bolt heads get fused to the race cups. The cup needed to be split from the flange with a chisel. I'm guessing they were original. 266700 KM on the car, not bad realy.