Half shaft removal?

[TowDawg]

I got my new rear end assembly with the Quaife and 3.33's installed and the car is at the dealership having the old assembly swapped out for the new one. I got a call from the dealership yesterday and they said the stock half shafts are seized in the stock rear end that is still on the car and they can't get them out. They said they had tried everything they could think of. They are going to let it sit all weekend with some ********* sprayed all over it and see if they can break them loose on Monday. He said if that doesn't work, the only thing he can think of is using heat, but that might ruin my half shafts (which I was planning on re-using).
I have talked to some guys on here by phone and gotten some info, but I'm hoping someone else can chime in that has had this problem before. I can tell them to do what they need to to get them out and then buy some Unitrax shafts to go in the new unit, but I did not have that expense in mind when starting this. There are other things that I had planned on doing with the extra $1,500 right now. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

 

[HSSSSSS]

Snakeoylproducts.com halfshafts- $759.

 

[TowDawg]

Snakeoylproducts.com halfshafts- $759.

Thanks. The only ones I see though are the solid ones for $1695.
If I end up having to buy replacements, JonB has a great price on the Unitrax half shafts.
I'm really hoping someone can shed some light on how to get my stock ones out without destroying them.

 

[mjorgensen Woodhouse]

Depending on what they have tried they could use a large pry bar and try and pop them out next to the diff seal, they have to "pop" it. If that will not work they will need to take the knuckle off the outside shaft and use a slide hammer to pop it out. I have never had one we could not get out so they need to try harder/smarter.

 

[j-rho]

Are we talking about the halfshafts (the U-jointed shafts running from the diff to the rear hubs), or the stub axles (the short splined axles that stick out of the rear end) ? When you say "seized in the stock rear end", makes me think of the stub axles.

Can't imagine they're having trouble with the half shafts themselves, they come out easy. If they won't come off, chances are they're already screwed up.

The stub axles are tricky, I've had mine out a couple times, you have to if you're changing the diff. Their inner C-clips are a monstrous pain to remove but once that's done they came out pretty easily, hmm.

 

[TowDawg]

The problem is getting the half-shafts off the stub axles coming out of the diff. If they do get them off and the half-shafts are no good, I will have to get new ones anyway. Been on the phone with Mark at Woodhouse a few times and he has been a great help, but still no luck yet.

 

[Viper Wizard]

If they are not using Miller Tool Kit #8846, they WILL NOT get them off! Like Mark said, I've never had one we could not get off and we've done hundreds.

 

[TowDawg]

Mark talked to the tech at the dealership and they are using the right stuff. He gave me one other idea and they are going to try it tomorrow. We'll see.

 

[Canyon707]

The old gen 3 shafts were hollow.... What was Dodge thinking?? The construction of the older shafts hollow with a curf in the shaft like a cold joint in concrete. Always will fail at this point. Dodge now only makes the shafts solid. I guess they got tired of replacing them. Driver side is usually the first side to break. Been there done that. Hard drag racing launch.

 

[Black Moon]

I'm out of town until the 29th but if you want to bring it to Knoxville after that we can swap it out for you. I have 2 shops i use when i can't do it on my own. Keep us posted.
Sal (Knoxville)

 

[JoeCom05]

pls update: How did they manage to take them out?
_____________________
Joe
09 SRT-10 Cvrt white w/blue stripes
05 SRT-10 Commemorative Edition 80/100 (sold)

 

[Viper Specialty]

Haha, then I have had one that one-ups Mark and Chuck!

Get this guys: I had one last year that would not come off with 2 people prying AND a slide hammer at the SAME TIME! All in all, we ended up pulling the diff with the shaft, took the case apart, took the inner circlip off, and removed the stub and CV shaft [still together] for our machine shop. They made a "press" for it to pop the stub out using two jack screws.

Ha... if only it had been that easy. The damn retainer clip inside actually grabbed one of the splines, and RIPPED the spline clean out of the CV! It was a first and only... but man was it ugly!

 

[TowDawg]

Thanks for the offer Sal, but they got it done today. It basically looks like surface rust was in there and there were holding on like hell. After three days of soaking everything with penetrant, they finally broke loose with the pry bar and slide hammer. No damage to the half-shafts. Just cleaned them up and they went right on the new rear end perfectly.
Now what's killing me is not being able to play with it. I want to launch and feel the Quaife and 3.33's, but I have to be good and give them their break-in time. Damn it's hard to do!