I'm going to be swaping in a built diff into MY03 and was a little qurious how people have been doing it. I was thinking of trying to take it out without removing the c/v shafts from the hubs ( wheel side of the shaft), After looking at every thing under the rear of the car i figure it may be possible to just remove the drive shaft bolts and the inner c/v shaft bolts ( at the diff ), and then take the diff loose from the mounting brakets and just rotate or twist the diff enough to pull the c/v shaft and that little post that sticks out of the shaft clear of the mounting hub on the diff.

I know there is not much side to side play in the c/v shaft but i think if i have both shafts loose and the diff loose i might be able to get the shafts out of the diff.

Has anyone tried this, i've had the shafts out befor but i'm just testing the waters on the leaving them to do a diff swap.

Thanks

 

I've tried that method sucessfully, but the CV shafts won't have enough clearance to pop out unless you move the diff as far forward as you can. Once everything is loose, put a jack under it, and push towards the front of the car. One side will pop first, then the rest is a piece of cake. Also, watch out for the EVAP canister.... it is kinda in the way, and I once damaged one of the wires during removal. Good luck

 

great!!!!! exactly what i was looking for, i was thinking of removing the canister for a little extra room to work.

Thanks a bunch for the info