Not quite stumped...

[Al Powell]

So, I'm still contemplating my front drive axles on the 200. Today I get to
contemplate them in between trips to the smoker; for Easter dinner I'm
smoking a turkey - that's @6 to 7 hours of smoking with apple wood, along
with a chicken and pork tenderloin which will get freezer bagged and go into
cold storage for future dinners.  (Bob Myers, sorry you're so far away or
I'd invite you over for dinner!) Since those trips to the smoker are far
between, I get to do mechanical stuff in the interim.

Based on a response from Cobram, I'm theorizing that the design of my front
axles is a result of Audi parts held over into 1990 from earlier models.
The 1990 200 is supposed to have a retaining bolt at the brake hub which
secures each front drive axle, but mine has the (evidently older) axle
design in which there is a threaded shaft sticking out past the splines
which interface with the hub.  Pulling the axle requires removing the nut
and backing the splines out of the hub.  Cobram suggests a re-install torque
of 210 lbs/ft for the retaining nut, which I can figure out a way to apply
before re-staking the nut.

Unfortunately, there are still a couple of unresolved questions,  The main
one is "wheels up or wheels down?"  All my manuals start at 1990 and go
newer; the 1990 manual says to remove and reinstall the axle with weight ON
the front wheels, so I'm proceeding that way. OTOH, a Chilton's manual which
shows a more similar (threaded shaft) axle design on the 80 and 90 says it's
OK to do it with no weight on the front wheels.  Reinforcement that I'm
making the right move (maybe from someone who has done this process on a 5K
series) would be welcomed.  I don't think it will hurt anything to leave
weight on the wheels as long as nothing moves while the axle's out.

I have the front wheels up on ramps (12,000 pound rating) which give me nice
working room underneath, although I think that snaking the axle out with
weight on the front wheels is going to be a bit tight.

One more interesting detail: I got my triple-square sockets and went to
loosen the inner bolts holding the axle to the transaxle, and all of them
are LOOSE.  I think the shop that did this same job about a year ago is
going to hear about it.  It's not their fault that something punctured the
outer CV boot resulting in a premature axle replacement, but their
negligence could easily have caused my wife to get stranded 100 miles from
home when the RF drive axle came loose.  It could have also torpedoed the
engine with an over-rev.

Time to load the smoker!  Happy Easter!
***********************
Al Powell
Fort Collins, CO
apowell at gocougs.wsu.edu
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