Special Tools

1. Clamp the wheel drive shaft in a soft jawed vise.




Notice: Do not cut through the wheel drive shaft inboard or outboard boot during service. Cutting through the boot may damage the sealing surface of the housing and the tripot or the constant velocity joint bushing. Damage to the sealing surface may lead to water and dirt intrusion and premature wear of the constant velocity joint.

Important: The following service procedure is for those vehicles equipped a swage style boot clamp. For all others, proceed to step 3.

2. Using a hand grinder, remove the boot retaining clamp (4) and discard the clamp.
3. Using a pair of side cutters, remove the boot clamp (4) and discard the clamp.
4. Using the appropriate tool, remove the large boot retaining clamp (2) and discard the retaining clamp.



5. Remove the boot (4) from the tripod bushing (2).
6. Remove the inner tripod housing (1) and the tripod bushing (2) from the wheel drive shaft (3).



7. Using the appropriate tool, remove the outer retaining ring (1) from the wheel drive shaft (5).
8. Remove the tripod (2) from the wheel drive shaft (5).

Important: If the tripod has a retaining ring located after it, proceed to step 9. If not, skip step 9 and proceed to step 10.

9. Using the appropriate tool, remove the inner retaining ring (1) from the wheel drive shaft (5).
10. Remove the boot (4) from the wheel drive shaft (5).
11. Inspect the inner wheel drive shaft joint. Refer to Wheel Drive Shaft Inner Joint Inspection .

Important: Steps 1 thru 8 are is for those vehicles equipped a swage style boot clamp. For all others, proceed to step 9.

1. Install the swage clamp and boot (1) on to the wheel drive shaft (2).



2. Ensure that the boot (1) is properly seated in the groove (2) in the wheel drive shaft (3).



3. Install the J 41048 in a vise.
4. Position the swage clamp (2) so that it is properly seated on the boot (1).
5. Align the boot with the indicator on the bottom die.
6. Position the upper die and bolts (2) on the wheel drive shaft (1).
7. Hand tighten the bolts (2)  until the gap between the upper and lower die are the same.

Important: Before tightening the swage clamp, ensure that the swage clamp is seated properly so that it will not distort or damage the boot.

8. Tighten the bolts (2) equally one at a time until both of the bolts have bottom out.



9. Install the boot clamp on the boot.
10. Install the boot (3)  and the clamp (2)  on the wheel drive shaft (1).
11. Using the J 35910  (4), torque wrench (5) and the breaker bar (6), tighten the clamp until the gap (A)  in the clamp reaches 2.15 mm (.085 inch).



12. Using the appropriate tool, install the inner retaining ring (3), if equipped.
13. Install the tripod (2) on the wheel drive shaft (5).
14. Using the appropriate tool, install the outer retaining ring (1).



15. Install the tripod bushing (2), the tripod housing (1) on to the wheel drive shaft (3).
16. Install the tripod housing (1) on the boot (4).



17. Place approximately half the container of grease from the service kit in the boot and the half in the tripod housing.
18. Install the outer boot clamp (3) on the boot (2) and the tripod housing and the bushing (4).



19. Measure the distance from the rear of the boot to the front of the boot clamp (a).

•	For vehicles equipped with the 3.8L supercharged V 6 engines, distance a will equal 111 mm (4.75 inch)

•	For all others, distance a will equal 95 mm (3.75 inch)




20. Using the J 35910  (3), torque wrench (4), and the breaker bar (5), tighten the clamp (2).

Tighten
Tighten the clamp (2) to 176 N·m (130 lb ft).

Important: If the gap dimension is larger than the given specification, continue to tighten the clamp until the specification is reached.

21. The gap of (A) should be 2.60 mm (0.102 inch).
22. Remove the wheel drive shaft from the J 41048 and rotate the tripod housing several times to distribute the grease.