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Here’s a couple pics I saved. I just loosened the rear mount if I remember correctly to let it drop without interference. There are some was a plastic box with electrical connection that I took off. Should be minimal from that end. Most of the labor time is at the front once you loosen everything you will need to pry the front mount toward the rear of the vehicle to clear and lower from its current location. Good luck. It will be a good felling when you all done and done. Prying it back towards the rear Dropping it a few inches
Amazing, thanks man! So I guess it's just pivoting slightly at the joint of the cardan shaft then. FSM says it can pivot up to 20deg, so that should be more than enough to let the front drop a few inches.
I'm just reading through the FSM procedure for dropping the cardan shaft, and it seems wellbeyond what I'm open to taking on this weekend. So glad you didn't have to do that.
Amazing, thanks man! So I guess it's just pivoting slightly at the joint of the cardan shaft then. FSM says it can pivot up to 20deg, so that should be more than enough to let the front drop a few inches.
I'm just reading through the FSM procedure for dropping the cardan shaft, and it seems wellbeyond what I'm open to taking on this weekend. So glad you didn't have to do that.
Got it done a 2 weekends ago! Sorry for the late reply, been too busy recently to write it up. It was definitely more than anything I have done before, but doable provided you have the right tools, a copy of the FSM, and plenty of time on your hands. The most nerve-racking part was definitely balancing the front diff on a transmission jack while it was still connected to the cardan shaft. The risk of it slipping and putting huge stress on the shaft knuckle / transmission was the only thing that made it stressful. If I had to do it again, I probably would have just properly gone the for the full front final drive removal (removing the cardan shaft, fully lowering the front final drive, etc.). But it worked out, and I didn't break anything
I am getting a slight click every once in a while when navigating in bumpy slow car parks. No continuous clicking in sharp parking lot turns like you would expect from a bad CV axle. No other symptoms (grinding, vibration, etc.) I've lifted the car back up and triple checked torque on all the bolts + paint marked them to make sure nothing was backing out. I noticed the new axle joints were a bit stiff, so it might be them. It may also just be me being super paranoid and hyper-focusing on every noise since I did all this work up there.
Anyways, here are my notes:
Special Tools Needed
Transmission jack
Bolt-on Axle puller. Mine was too small, so I ended up using a 4lb sledge to loosen the axle from the hub
3/4" drive torque wrench
32mm socket (I used a 1/2" drive to go with my impact + a converter for the torque wrench)
High-torque impact wrench
Overall process
Lift vehicle and remove front wheels
Remove front and middle underbody covers
Remove front subframe, unhook straps holding it on under gas tank, and plastic gas tank cover
Wipe up old grease from the busted axles
Remove bracing and plastic electric box from the middle of the underbody (under the rearward part of the final drive)
Loosen axle nuts and free from the wheel hub
Unbolt axles from front final drive flanges
You'll need to stick a screwdriver in the brake rotors to keep the axles from turning when you do this.
Remove the front final drive. This is where you can either take it fully out or just do what I did at your own risk:
Support front diff with transmission jack
Loosen rear mount
Unbolt the bolts running through the front mount
Lower the jack only a few inches. Remember, you do not want to be putting too much flex on the cardan shaft joint
Free the axles from the final drive flanges. You may need to shift the final drive slightly left/right in order to free them.
Pull them out of the wheel hub and out of the car through the wheel well. It helps to have someone to hand them to.
Reverse the process to put everything back in.
Torque specs for bolts are in the FSM. Use new bolts for axle to flange. Use new lock nuts for axle.
Be sure the axles are inserted fully into wheel hub before attaching to the diff flanges. You may need to rotate them until they set in the proper orientation.
loosening the axle from the hub. screw the old nut and hit it rather than the axle itself bracing and box to remove rear diff mount Jack under the diff rear diff mount loosened/lowered Freeing axle from the diff diff lowered below the axles Unbolting axles from flange before lowering diff axles bolted back in
Last edited by connerza991; May 31, 2026 at 12:01 AM.
Amazing write up. Thank you for taking the time to do this. I will be doing this soon myself. I may be going down the route of rebuilding the cv axles. I’ve done this on other Porsches. I will also be taking some video and pictures to build on this thread. I’m glad it “mostly” worked out with no issues.also, how do you get a copy of the fsm?
Amazing write up. Thank you for taking the time to do this. I will be doing this soon myself. I may be going down the route of rebuilding the cv axles. I’ve done this on other Porsches. I will also be taking some video and pictures to build on this thread. I’m glad it “mostly” worked out with no issues.also, how do you get a copy of the fsm?
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