I'm looking for information pertaining to the conversion from stock axles to 300M. When you order a 300M kit you recive the axle rod, but you need to transfer the mazda joints onto the new axles.

I would like to know what exactly is involved the the disassembly process of the stock axles and what is required to assemble the mazda joint on the 300Ms. I was going to have a drive-line shop do this for me, but if it's reasonable I'm going to take care of the work myself.


We can make this thread the write-up and I'll post pics and another break-down of the process after I perform the work.

TY

Rob

 

[/QUOTE] From Greg


Basically, remove the axle nut, remove the lower rear link (you also may want to remove the brake caliper so you dont stress the brake hose when swinging the rear knuckle out of the way...once you clear the outer cv joint from the hub, take a pry bar and pop the inner joint out of the diff. Then remove the axle. Now you will have to remove the old cv boost and the clamps that hold them on the joint. I just take some cutters , snip the clamps off. Pull the boost back so you can expose the inner joint(it will be messy) and pull the cup off the inner joint...now the inner tripod bearings will be exposed, take care not to jar them...remove the snap ring off the end of the shaft that secures the inner tripod joint on the shaft. Then remove the tripod joint,,,may need to take a punch and lightly tap the joint to get it off the shaft. Then on the outer joint, pull the boot back and hammer on the outer joint to knock it off the shaft...be careful not to hit it too hard and crack the joint housing...it may be hard to get off because it has to compress the c clip holding it to the shaft...once its off, install the new small clamp first on the shaft with the smallest depth groove,then install the tripod joint and pound it on until you clear the groove..install the snap ring to secure it...then install the inner cv cup on the tripod joint and slip that into the cv boost, dont forget to burp the cv boot(stick a small screwdriver in between the boot and axle to let air equalize inside the boot..then install the big clamp when its all sealed up and tighten clamps down..dont forget to install the new grease before you tighten down the clamps...then when you have the inner joint all on and sealed...next take the small clamp, install it on the other end first (should be the end of the axle with the deepest groove. install the cv boot on the shaft, Take the c-clip from the old axle and transfer it to the new axle and insert it into the groove, take care not to distort it as it is difficult enough to getthe outer joint on let alone trying with a distorted c clip. Then you can either install the grease now or wait till the joints on...proceed to pound the outer joint on the shaft, be careful to line up splines and also be careful NOT to mushroom the outer cv joint stub when hammering on it...recommend using a block of wood orsomething. When you get it on, put grease in, tighten clamp down and install axle back in car, take care not to damage differential seal when installing back in diff...tighten axle nut down, and stake it so it wont back off..repeat for other side. Hope this helps as this gives the basic idea,you may have a tuff time with seized up joints on the splines or getting them on the new axles.

also just so you know, getting the out joints on was a bitch for me, I had to really pound to the point where it mushroomed the outer stub, so I had to grind where it mushroomed it out to clear it fitting back into the hub and splines...[/QUOTE]

 

Doing this as we speak.....

 

pics?

 

A detailed write-up with pics coming soon ;o)

 

 

The Process

Cut all boot clamps off with snips or dikes. There are snips made especially for this purpose, the cost is about $33 at Advanced Auto Parts. For my purposes my Klein diag cutters worked fine.






Pull back boot from hub end of axle to expose the shaft ball joint assembly.




Either clamp the axle into a vice as shown on page M-19 of the FSM or have a buddy hold the shaft a few inches off the ground as you use the man mallet to knock the assembly off of the axle. All that holds the axle in is a C-clip which is pressure fit onto a groove in the axle. You will distort that C-clip when you pound the assembly off so be prepared to either repair or replace it. Make sure you have something in place to catch the assembly as it flies away from the shaft.



notice the distorted clip below


Remove C-clip with CV clip pliers. This can be tricky, make sure that you cup the clip as you are attempting to remove it so that it does not go flying away. Might be a good idea to wear eye protection for this.



distorted the clip


repair clip with channel lock pliers. The clip should be a tight circle without any sharp bends. If you donot repair or replace the clip you will not be able to get the end assembly back on the shaft properly.


ready for reinstallation


Now you should clean the joint assembly and prepare to install it on the chromolly/300M shaft. You will notice that the aftermarket shafts are slightly different than the OEM shafts in shape. Just make sure that the wider notched end is on the hub side.

OEM (bottom) VS. 300M




repaired C-clip installed onto 300M axle shaft


continue in next post. no replies yet please

 

Lube assembly, install new boot on shaft and reinstall joint assembly with man mallet. We simply rested the opposite end on a piece of wood and lightly tapped the joint assembly onto the shaft until the C-clip was fully seated. Do not try to install the joint with a mangled clip!





Seat boot and make sure to burp with small flathead screwdriver (thanks Greg).
We also used a flathead to slip the boot onto the assembly similar to the way a tire mounting machine uses a hoolk to work the bead of a tire onto a rim.



Now this end is complete, minus the boot bands.

Time to swap over the tripod joint from the diff side of the OEM shaft over to the new axle.

The first thing you should do is slip the new CV boot (one of the elongated ones) onto the new axle.


Pull boot off outer ring (looks like a cup) and pull outer ring assembly off of tripod joint. Once the tripod joint is exposed you will find a snap ring on the end of it securing it to the shaft. Remove that snap ring with a set of snap ring pliers and slip the tripod joint off of the shaft. Might need to give it a few light taps.








Now reverse these steps and install the tripod joint onto the new shaft making sure to lube everything up. The kit includes 6 packets of lube, we used every drop of it.



continue in next post.....

no replies yet please

 

reassembly is straight forward. Just lube everything up and install carefully. Finish off by wiping down the finished product, reburping all of the boots and installing the boot band using a CV band crimper to sinch them down.

This process is extremely messy so make sure you lay down news paper and have plenty of paper towels handy.

With this writeup you should be able to do both axles in about 1.5 hours if everything goes smoothly.

Rob

 

Hey Rob,

This thread should really help alot of people, esp. with the nice pics to guide them along. I am glad that it went smooth for you guys.

-Greg

 

Thanks for the early pointers. It really wasn't too bad, though it was extremely, and I mean extremely, messy.

What driveline/turbo setup were you going with again? I'd like to see some pics of your car at some point. Perhaps you can bring it down and meet up with a couple of the local guys one of these days. I'm amazed at the caliber of FDs in this NoVa MD area.

Rob

 

Nice work with the write-up....and I definitely charge for having my head in that one pic...and my legs that a whole different story

 

haha, funny part is that I didn't even come close to posting all of the pictures. We took 75 in total.

 

my favorite part in the write-up " 3. # man size rubber mallet" very precise description!

 

Wow. lol the interest is overwhelming.

;oP

 

How did you remove the axle from the outer hub?

 

Hey Rob, thanks, I might try to get to one of the more local meets, just the gas is expensive, running only C16. Here are the links to the threads about my setup and pics.

https://www.rx7club.com/showthread.p...+makes+544+whp

https://www.rx7club.com/showthread.p...+makes+544+whp

 

The car looks like an absolute beast. Gongratulations on getting her up and running. I like the FM5s too ;o)

 

Removed axle nut by first releasing notch with a small punch. I pressed the axle out with a giant gear puller that I use to pull brake rotors ;o)

 

Very nice writeup and good details/tool requirements.

Another method to remove the stub axles (green units) is with a pry bar. They come out instantly.

This was a PITA to do for sure. Almost as much fun as installing the 18 delrin bushings.

 

I have a set of these sitting in a box that just arrived from Jodeny. Can't wait to put them to good use!

 

TY ;o)


Welcome to Club Chromolly You shoud let us know how long it takes you to perform the procedure above.

 

They look stock to me Was there any weight difference on the axles?

Tim

 

Yeah, metal is metal right? I didn't break out the scale, but I can tell you that there was no noticeable difference in weight.

 

Very nice write-up, wanklin.

For those that want to keep expenses as low as possible, you can borrow some of the specialized tools for free (with deposit) at your local auto parts store (Autozone, etc.).

-Max