GM 20984613 Front Wheel Drive Shaft Assembly

Begin by taking off the wheel cover and using a long breaker bar to unscrew the hub nut. Then, release the lug nuts on the wheels, lift up the front part of your vehicle and place it firmly on jack stands. Put on parking brakes and block wheels to keep them from rolling away. Remove the front wheel. Next, remove the axle shaft/hub nut by inserting a screwdriver through the caliper and into one of its cooling vanes on brake disc and rotate anti-clockwise once it has been unscrewed from its thread after which it can be removed along with washer. Position an oil pan near transaxle below differential to trap any loss of fluid during withdrawal of axle shaft. Take out caliper and disc then wire support caliper aside. On vehicles fitted with road-sensing suspension, disconnect sensor from lower control arm at ball stud. Undo strut-to-steering knuckle bolts divide strut from steering knuckle. Press down on end of drive shaft until drive shaft comes out through hub bearing. Now safely remove the axle shaft from transaxle whenever you are ready for it. The new axle shaft should be lowered in place while supporting both CV joints as lubricate differential seal with multipurpose grease. Splined end of inner CV joint is inserted into differential side gear so that it sits properly. Outer CV joint splines are lightly coated with multi-purpose grease; steering knuckle is pulled away from vehicle's body. Stub axle is installed into hub, tighten initially to 70 ft-lbs while preventing the discs from turning. While lowering vehicle further, tighten up axle shaft/hub nut more then tighten wheel lug nuts before replacing wheel cover. Last but not least, check the level of lubricant in transaxle and add more if necessary.

Before beginning the removal process, you should remove the wheel cover and loosen the hub nut with a long breaker bar. Also, loosen the wheel lug nuts.