06 Rubicon front axles

[Jeep Virgin]

How difficult is it to replace my front stock axles to Alloy type. i just bought new axles and am wondering what i am in for when i take it apart and swap them. Is there any stuff i need to press on or any thing weird. Iam a mechanical guy but not MR Goodwrench!

[goodtimes]

Nothing special involved....no rocket scientist needed.

1. remove front tires
2. have friend stand on brake pedal while you loosen and remove the nut on the end of the axle shaft (36mm???? socket required)
3. remove brakes (calipers and rotors)
4. remove bearing assembly (bolted in from the inside of the knuckle, IIRC it is a 13mm 12-point socket you'll need--gotta be a 12 point, well, on my '03 its gotta be a 12 point, yours may be different). The shield around the back of the rotor will come out at the same time.
5. pull old shaft out
6. put new shaft in, taking care to not let the shaft slide along the bottom of the axle tube where it will pick up dirt--which will invariably get wiped off on the seal and cause a damn annoying leak in a couple weeks (pain in the butt to fix too).
7. put the rest back in the opposite order it was removed
8. torque fastners as required
9. keep the old shafts for spares.

The first one you do will probably take less than an hour, the second about 1/2 the time of the first one.

[Jeep Virgin]

Thanks so much for the info will tackle it this weekend.

[CJBrian]

When installing the new shafts be carefull. There is a small white round plastic spacer inside the axle housing.The factory uses it as a guide when installing the factory axleshafts. Sometimes it comes out with the stock axleshafts and sometimes it doesnt. I've seen one get pushed into the seal when installing the new ones and cause a leak.