You should first lift the vehicle with a hoist, take out the front wheel and tire and then remove the axle shaft. After that, grab a pair of caliper adapter-to-knuckle bolts and remove the assembly, hanging it up with mechanic's wire so that the flexible brake hose does not bear the weight. First, take off the brake rotor and also the tie rod-to-
Steering Knuckle nut, then attach an 11/32-inch socket to hold the
Tie Rod End stud to lose and remove the nut. With Tool MB-991113, disconnect the tie rod end from the steering knuckle arm and remove the retaining nut for the halfshaft to hub bearing. Eliminate the cotter pin and castle nut from the lower
Ball Joint stud and make sure no tool passes between the lower ball joint and the steering knuckle. Rotate the steering knuckle away from the lower
Control Arm and use a hammer to strike the boss, cleaning the lower ball joint stud, without harming the ball joint grease seal. Don't try to separate the inner C/V joint during the process and make sure to support the driveshaft. Take apart the halfshaft from your steering knuckle and use Puller 1026 if the bearing assembly holds the shaft tightly. Slip a pry bar into the tripod join, making sure not to harm the oil seal and strengthen the other halfshaft end with your hand. Try prying against the inner tripod joint until you feel the retaining snap ring come loose from the gear. While holding the inner tripod and interconnecting shafts, remove the inner tripod joint from the transaxle. While installing, move the spline and oil seal along with the tripod joint, add just enough new transmission lubricant and place the tripod joint into the transaxle side gear by hand. Push hard on the tripod joint until you feel and hear the snap ring engage, so you're positive it can't be moved by hand. Clean the front where the outer C/V joint will slide into, check the front of the outer C/V joint is clean and after inserting the halfshaft back into the front hub, fit the steering knuckle into the lower control arm ball joint stud. Set the castle nut on the ball joint stud and tighten it to 95 Nm or 70 ft. lbs. Connect the tie rod end to the steering knuckle, turn the nut on until it reaches 55 Nm (41 ft. lbs.) and steadily tighten the stud while holding it still. Put the caliper/adapter bracket assembly on the steering knuckle, tighten the caliper adapter bolts, clean the C/V joint outer stub axle threads, fit the hub nut and tighten it with the brakes. After that, add the front wheel and tire assembly, tighten all the lug nuts to 135 Nm (100 ft. lbs.) in the correct order and lower the vehicle.