Just got started replacing front CV boots and upper and lower ball joints on the 95' 4runner.

FSM says remove wheel and hub etc., remove differential flange nuts and drop the whole short shaft out.

Yeah, right.

Well, to get the Short shaft out , I ended up removing the nut on top of the shock, unhooked the stablelizer bar, and the upper ball joint in order to get enough room to pull the short shaft.

If the front diff flange studs were removable bolts instead I think I could have just dropped it out of there.

My question is has any one replaced their studs with bolts??

Thanks

What's been done in the past is that folks have pressed the bolts out, shaved the splines down to where the bolt still fits tightly, and used a nut/lockwasher.

Cheap trick that's been around awhile, started with the 80's IFS.

i did exactly this. it worked like a charm!
i would recommend some red loctite threadlocker. i did that and lock washers. it was a cheap fix. all it took was a bench-grinder to grind the splines off. you don't need to take off much.

this allowed me to change my CV's in the woods, if i had to.
just a couple of wrenches and a socket set

oh also instead of pressing them out, i put the nuts on the end to protect the threads and beat on the nuts.
don't mangle them up too much though!

I've done this too.
in fact, isn't there a write upon this here somewhere?
It not only makes dealing with the CVs easier, but removing/installing the front diff as well.

One note, if you have BJ spacers, you cannot do the trick of pulling the CVs w/o removing the upper balljoint. The angle is too steep, by like 1".

Might depend on how much you have the torsion bars cranked. I have the spacers on my '91 and was able to pull the CV w/the wheel still on.

Thanks for the replies guys, gotta love this board.

After a couple of whacks with a five pound sledge and big drift on the nut on the stud bolt I thought that shock might be not too good for the front diff.

So I bought one of these .
http://www.harborfreight.com/air-impact-hammer-kit-32940.html

Best 7 bucks I ever spent . Used the pointy tip attachment in the reccess of the end of the stud and pulled the trigger and bamm! out of there. Couldn't freakin believe it.

And I also purchased a pickle fork attachment for the air hammer which made removing the ball joints much easier too.

So , I'm going to grind the studs till they're just snug and loctite/lockwasher them back in.

Other than feeling guilty for supporting the Chinese economy, it was a good day