Need to pull CV half shafts, what size cap head Allen do I need?

It's not an Allen bolt, it's an 8mm "triple square" twelve point socket. That is, unless someone along the way replaced the correct bolts with standard Allen bolts. That would not be fun to extract if they stripped. Hence, twelve points.

You can buy one from Pelican here:

http://www.pelicanparts.com/More_Info/PEL-...2%20in.%20drive

But you also get them from NAPA or a local Beetle shop.



quote name='John1180' date='Apr 17 2013, 10:49 PM' post='1851659']
Need to pull CV half shafts, what size cap head Allen do I need?
[/quote]

I have even found the correct tool at Autozone, but it is hard to find.

Stu

Thanks, I have one of those. Just wanted to make sure I had the right tool before I got to it!

Damn! That's why none of my allen wrenches don't fit!

The right tool to turn the fasteners is only the first part.
Then comes a big f%#&!N hammer and a cold steel chisel to seperate the joint from the flange.
And that's just the inside joints.
The outside ones are real fun.

That's half the battle. The tranny CV's disconnect easily but the ones at the wheels can be real buggers. Still haven't got my CV's to disconnect from the stub axles.

The axle comes out in one piece from the hub relatively easy as long as it hasnt been on there its whole life.

Stu

[quote name='r3dplanet' date='Apr 18 2013, 12:13 AM' post='1851662']
It's not an Allen bolt, it's an 8mm "triple square" twelve point socket. That is, unless someone along the way replaced the correct bolts with standard Allen bolts. That would not be fun to extract if they stripped. Hence, twelve points.

You can buy one from Pelican here:

http://www.pelicanparts.com/More_Info/PEL-...2%20in.%20drive

But you also get them from NAPA or a local Beetle shop.



quote name='John1180' date='Apr 17 2013, 10:49 PM' post='1851659']
Need to pull CV half shafts, what size cap head Allen do I need?
[/quote]
[/quote]

You're only partly correct. Early cars had 6mm Allen head bolts, later cars used the 8mm triple square design. Less chance of stripping, able to take a little more torque without chingering up both the bolt and the tool. Personally, I prefer the triple square variety, but the Allen head bolts are fine. Both require cleaning the head before attempting to remove the bolt. One advantage of the Allen head is you can hammer a triple square tool into a stripped bolt to remove it. Can't do that with the triple square bolt.

The Cap'n

So no hijack...

I have to replace both swing arm bushings and ...."while I'm there" I should grease and check the CV's since I need to crack the two half shafts completely off both the trans and the swing arm.

1. Take off the trans side and just break of the stub axle once its off the car?

I've never taken them off the car before so unknown torque and rust.


What is the easiest way?

I'd brake loose the large nut holding the stub axle before removing anything. It does take a fair amount of torque, and you won't have as good leverage once it's off the car. Just don't roll the car around after removing the half shaft.

Definitely repack the CVs while it's apart.

Inspect your cvs good and be prepared to replace them.

Thus, why god invented vice grips.

I had a heck of a time getting the wheel side of my cv's to pop off the hub.A pair of big vise grips on the axle about 1.5" away from the trailing arm,a big pry bar inbetween the visegrips and trailing arm,a little prying...and Voila!

Got the cv joints off, bolts were mixed hex and twelve points! It did take a bit of persuasion to break them loose after all the bolts were out. Thanks for the tips.