Deklan

I’m doing a differential swap on my IS to a Torsen LSD from an FRS. I have seen another user do this however I am struggling to get the axles out of the differential and out of the wheel hub. Does anyone have any helpful tips for this newbie? Thanks in advance!

Sasnuke

For removing the axle out of the diff.: https://www.clublexus.com/forums/is-...l#post11096939

With the hub, what's the specific issue? Is it getting the nut off, getting the end of the driveshaft out of the hub? Or something else?

Deklan

I cant get the axle out of the hub. I’ve taken almost every bolt out that supports the hub and I just can’t it al the way out. I’m at the point of the threads that the nut goes on.

Sasnuke

If I recall correctly the hub has 4 bolts that secure it to the knuckle.
When trying to remove the driveshaft from the hub, you have two choices (assuming you have the large nut off the driveshaft already):
1. Remove the 4 bolts and remove the hub from the knuckle (due to corrosion this is likely going to be fairly challenging...it wouldn't be my go to)
2. Don't remove the 4 bolts, rather remove enough bolts that hold the entire knuckle and hub assembly in place so you can swing it up or down, whichever is easier for you, so that the end of the driveshaft can clear the hub splines

The other choice is to remove the entire knuckle hub assembly, which basically will leave the driveshaft end just sitting there.
I'm assuming the driveshaft is moving back and forth in the hub fairly easily.
There is no way to remove the driveshaft from the hub with the hub sitting is in it's original position...either the hub has to come out, or the entire knuckle has to be removed/moved out of the way.
If you do this on one side of the car, then you don't necessarily have to do it on the other side as you can just remove everything in the direction of the side you took apart...I'm not sure if that quite makes sense the way I phrased it.

Deklan

I have most of the bolts removed that hold the knuckle, all except one. I have a large range of movement, but I cannot manage to get the axle out. My car is fairly low miles (46,000) I’m going to check the 4 bolts and see how corroded they might be, to remove the hub. Sorry for any dumb questions/statements. I’m new to all this.

Deklan

Do you have any more information/pictures about how to access the 4 bolts holding the hub on? Thank you for all your help, I truly appreciate it.

Sasnuke

Here is two pics...the upper is the knuckle...I drew a red line in every location (5) you need to remove the bolt and/or nut...there is a small 10mm bolt that holds the ABS wire to the upper arm that's not in the pic.
The bottom pic is the 4 bolts for the hub...realistically if you take the knuckle off you don't need to remove the hub bolts.

Deklan

I have 4 of the knuckle bolts/nuts removed. I have the hub off. The axle is still in the knuckle. I have been trying to get the axle out of the diff, struggling with that too. Im sorry for taking your time.

Deklan

I actually have all five from the knuckle off, I just get can’t get the bolt to come out on one of them. The one with the rubber boot

Sasnuke

Of the 4 bolts and 1 nuts (for the Toe adjuster) that connect to the knuckle, which one is the one you haven't removed yet? I'm guessing the one at the very bottom.

For the driveshaft end in the diff., if you have a piece of wood, place it on the lip like the tool in the first post linked pic and hammer the wood in the direction of the knuckle of the same side.
It just takes one right hit for the driveshaft to come free...but several wrongs ones that will do literally nothing.
I reference using wood as it won't damage the driveshaft.

Sasnuke

Take a big effing hammer and give it one good hit where the blue circle is in the pic...with the nut off of course...that arm will drop out...it may not drop all the way out, but once it's loose you can remove it by hand.

Deklan

I got the knuckle off! Still struggling on the axle in the diff. I put a pry bar on the lip and had a friend hammer on it, pushing it out of the diff. Nothing. Had multiple hits that felt good, but no influence on the axle

Deklan

Both axles are now out of the diff and the knuckle. Thank you so much for your help, I wouldn’t have made it otherwise. Time to get the new diff in and put everything back together! Thank you so much

Sasnuke

Looks like you're on your way to getting it done.

Remember to turn the opening of the snap ring on the end of the driveshaft so it faces down...any other way and the axle won't go back into the diff.

Deklan

Both axles are in the new diff. Almost everything is back together. Just working on putting the knuckles back on. One of them isn’t lining up right. So close to finishing this project!