Driveshaft removal -spinning shaft makes bolt removal difficult

[cpcpcp]

There must be a no-brainer answer to this. Am trying to remove my front drive-shafts from the gearbox but cant get any tension on the 6 12 point bolts as the shaft/diff rotates. The box is in gear. How can I lock up the shafts without damaging them?

Thanks for any 'been there done that" knowledge

[GWerks]

Have someone hit the brakes and break all bolts loose.

[cpcpcp]

Great idea but I'm all alone on this repair.

[GWerks]

Great idea but I'm all alone on this repair.

Get 2 or 3 of your lug nuts, put them on the hub, get then tight and nice, they should hold the axle so you can break the bolts loose. Or mount the wheel, lower the car, get them loose while the car is on th ground?

[sean1.8t]

Great idea but I'm all alone on this repair.

really? i hope you're smarter than a brake pedal if you're taking on a job like this.

[cpcpcp]

really? i hope you're smarter than a brake pedal if you're taking on a job like this.

Haha -what a smart ass you are too!

Thanks guys! Ended up using a duct tape wrapped (protecting the thread) tapering shaped punch as a dowl through the hub at about the 4 o'clock position. It locked nicely under the brake assembly.

[amd is the best]

Not ideal but you could put a large flat head screwdriver in the rotor vents and make sure you have two or three bolts through the rotor into the hub.

[Taloras]

One side at a time! Jack up driver's side (with pass wheel still on), and the wheel on the ground keeps things static through the open diff. Put it back together with the new/repaired bits, and switch sides.

Unless you're removing both front driveshafts simultaneously as a precursor to something else, in which case you'll still run in to this problem when you move on to the other side.

If, however, you're just replacing them, repairing the CV boots, or something similar, the above works!

[cpcpcp]

Thanks again for the further creative replies. For my purposes jamming the hub rotation was the simplest and fastest solution.