This is your basic starting point. Here I have loosened the axle nut (32mm or 1 1/4"). This isn't fun on a rusted axle, it can take a long breaker bar and standing on it, and in some cases, you will have to put a pipe on the breaker bar to get more torque on it. If you have a pipe handy that will fit on your 1/2" ratchet/breaker bar, use it, it will make it a lot easier.

Knock the axle loose. Spin the axle nut out enough so that you are tapping it, not the threads on the end of the axle. If you have a rustbelt car, you may have to beat on it HARD. I suggest you take a look at the amount of rust between the axle and hub, and if the parting line is not immediately obvious, consider ordering new axle nuts, as you may destroy the old ones in order to knock the axle loose. I have seen a car that had the axle and hub rustwelded together so badly that a 25ton press could not get them apart, and it ruined the hub in the attempt. A new axle end and hub had to be ordered. But in most cases, a few whacks with a hammer knock it loose. Some cars only require pushing with your hand.

Remove the strut bolts (shown circled in pink, and swing the hub downwards and to the rear. There is no need to remove the tie rod end, you can swing the hub out far enough to remove the axle end from it. Make sure to unbolt the brake line from the strut, so you don't stretch the line when pulling the hub down/back.

Here's the driver's axle and spindle out of the car. There is no need to remove the spindle (or the entire axle, if only working on the driver's axle), I just had it out while I was working on the suspension.

Once you have the spindle free from the strut or lower control arm, you can swing the spindle up/down enough to slide the axle out the back side, then remove it from the tranny.

Here's the passenger axle out of the car.

Once you have the spindle free from the strut or lower control arm, you can swing the spindle up/down enough to slide the axle out the back side, then remove it from the tranny.

NOTE: you probably will NOT be able to pop it without removing this frame brace nearby. It is sometimes possible, but takes a long time, while removing this brace takes about 2 minutes, and then you can usually pop the axle on the first or second try.

Now that the axles are out of the tranny, this is a good time to replace the axle seals in the tranny. Just gently pry the old ones out with a screwdriver, then tap the new ones in place lightly with a hammer, circling around as you tap to press it in as straight as possible (I'll be doing this soon, will add a pic later). Note that you should look at how deep the passenger seal is in the tranny, and only tap the new one in that deep when installing it - there is no shoulder on the passenger seal to keep you from installing it too deep like there is on the driver's seal.

A note of warning: Rebuild one axle at a time. If you tear them both apart at the same time, you might mix up the outer axle shafts/ends, and put the passenger outer axle onto the driver's inner axle. As someone found out, while they look the same, they won't fit back in the car this way. If you do this, I hope you have spare boot clamps, as you'll be cutting the old ones off to swap axle shafts/ends.

Now clip the bands off of the axles, and then cut the old CV boots off. Be prepared with a bunch of shop towels, it gets really messy at this point. Clean as much grease off as possible with the rags before cleaning with brake parts cleaner.

Here is one of the inner axle ends pulled off of the axle. The roller bearings shown here simply sit in the axle end. Pull the inner end off, and clean out all the grease shown here.

Here is one of the inner axles. The roller bearings shown here simply sit in the axle end. You need to clean this axle end after removing the roller bearings. The bearings are held on with a C-clip and are splined onto the axle.

Here is the C-clip you need to remove.

C-clip pliers on the C-clip.

Removing the C-clip.

Roller bearing off the splined end of the axle. Clean the axle end and the roller bearing completely using brake parts cleaner, then shake the roller bearing to get rid of as much brake parts cleaner as possible. Then set it aside to dry.

The outer end of the axle next to the roller bearing. You can remove the outer axle end to clean it, but it is messy. If you remove it (see below), you can totally clean out the joint (let it dry a long time) and repack it with all new grease. However, you can instead use the tube on the brake parts cleaner can to force out most of the outer grease, then set it aside to dry.

Here's an end view of the new outer axle end. When removing the old axle end, you basically hold the axle, and hit the race ring circled in this pic with a hammer. Strike it a few times with nice sharp blows, and it should pop off. Make SURE you only hit the race ring, as Raxles has warned that if you hit the edge of the axle end, parts can shatter and sharp shards of metal can go flying everywhere (more importantly, they can fly at you).

Here is the old outer axle end off of the axle.

An inside view of a shiny new outer axle end. If you look carefully at the center where the axle is inserted, you will note that the exle end has a pocket in there. That pocket should be filled with grease, as it feeds the back side of the race and ballbearings.

Here is the new axle end filled and packed with grease and ready to install. To install it, simply place it on the ground, grease end up, place the axle end in the splined middle as far as it will go, then pick up the axle and axle end, and rap it on the ground until you feel the axle click into place. It would be a good idea to rap it on a piece of cardboard or wood to protect the axle threads. Once it is installed, rotate the axle end around to make sure there aren't any spots that aren't greased. Parts of the race will wipe themselves clean when rotated, so ignore that, you are basically looking for any air pockets around the ballbearings or in the race that you missed when packing in the grease.

Once all the parts are dry, slide the new boots over the axle splines. Be sure to put them on the right end - the one with the 3 "bumps" (inward pointing arcs, someone help me with a better word here) on the inside matches up to the inner axle end cup.

Even after cleaning the outer axle end and letting it dry, there will be some grease left in it if you did not remove the end. If you force the grease in using a grease gun, in the direction shown by the blue arrow, you will force out almost all of the old grease. It will take a lot more of the new expensive synthetic grease, but tough, it's worth doing.

Once the outer axle end is full of grease, cover the end with a layer, similar to as shown. Then you're ready to install the outer CV boot.

Cram the outer CV boot over the outer axle end (it's not fun), then slip the clamp over the boot. Then pull the clamp as tight as you can by hand and latch it in place, and use the CV clamp pliers to tighten it down. Note the axle splines at the top of the pic - remember them, we'll get back to that later.

Here is the special CV clamp pliers - they crimp the clamp inward, tightening it down, while the black anvil also presses the crimped section down, keeping it tight.

Here is the clamp after crimping. I then tap it with a hammer to flatten the crimp down.

Line up the inner end of the CV boot on the depression in the axle, then tighten/crimp/flatten the inner band clamp.

Make sure your inner CV boot is on the axle (note the "bumps" circled), and C-clip the roller bearing back onto the axle.

Here is the inner axle end, cleaned out and ready for new grease. Note the depressions in the axle end cup - this is where the "bumps" on the CV boot go.

Fill the bottom of the axle end cup with new grease, about a 1/2 - 1" layer.

Shove the axle end into the axle end cup. If the grease doesn't cover most of the roller bearings, pull the axle out and add more grease.

Fill the axle end cup almost full of grease. Then install the inner CV boot as you did the outer CV boot. Note there may be 2 depressions on the axle the small end of the boot can go on, but it will be obvious which one to use, as you don't want to have to stretch or compress the boot much to fit it onto the depression.

If just rebuilding the driver's axle, there is no need to drain the tranny. Just cut the inner boot in half (if it isn't already split in half), and remove the outer axle half to rebuild it.

Follow the directions above to detach the hub and pull the axle end from it. Cut the inner boot in half, then pull the outer axle half out of the inner half, leaving the inner half still bolted to the block.

Cut the band clamp off of the inner axle end, cut the rest of the boot off, and remove it.

Clean out the inner axle end.

Fill the axle end cup about 1/2 full of grease. Rebuild the outer axle end/CV boot as noted above in the VFAQ. Put the inner boot onto the outer axle half, assemble the roller bearings on the outer axle half. Push the outer axle half into the inner axle half cup, then fill the cup almost full of grease (it's actually a little too full here, I removed some). Then install the inner CV boot as you did the outer CV boot. Note there are 2 depressions on the axle the small end of the boot can go on, but it will be obvious which one to use, as you don't want to have to stretch or compress the boot much to fit it onto the depression.

Note - the band clamp pliers I used were too large to fit up next to the inner boot on the car. I removed the front/rear driver's frame mount, which gave me the room to crimp the clamps with the axle in the car.

The CV boot/axle work is now done!