Allroad Drive Shaft Removal

[JTown77]

For those of you that have completed this exercise, are there any concerns I should have for doing this in my garage on jack stands? The car in question is a 2003 AR tip with rust issues.

[02 A6 2.7T]

The (first) worst part is removing the exhaust while on stands. Pick up 2 new exhaust sleeves (behind the cats) with bolts as you will likely destroy the old ones.
The second potential trap is getting the Allen head bolts out of the CV joints without stripping the heads. Clean any gunk out of the bolt heads, tap in a hex socket until it is firmly seated and use fairly long power bar or impact gun.

[Mad Cow]

The second potential trap is getting the Allen head bolts out of the CV joints without stripping the heads. Clean any gunk out of the bolt heads, tap in a hex socket until it is firmly seated and use fairly long power bar or impact gun.

I'd even use a bit of heat on the bolts, the threadlock on those things is no joke. I always manage to strip one or two even being super careful, next time I'm busting out a torch.

[njpcyclist]

For those of you that have completed this exercise, are there any concerns I should have for doing this in my garage on jack stands? The car in question is a 2003 AR tip with rust issues.

I replaced the drive shaft on my "00 Avant last year. On Jack stands, in my driveway. It was totally doable. As others have said messiest part was dropping the center muffler pipes. Be prepared with new OEM sleeves. You will not be reusing the old ones. Use care in removing the allen bolts. There are two gaskets you need for the mating point of front and rear universal joints. Be sure these are installed properly or grease will leak.
I heeded advice and bit the bullet and paid BIG $$ for an OEM Audi drive shaft. I only want to do this job once.
When you remove the center support bearing bolts mark them in relation to the body, and replace exactly.
Unless you have or can make the special alignment tool do your best with a straight edge to insure the shaft is true front to back, and level.
I have over 10,000 mies on the new shaft without any issues .
Good luck!

[JTown77]

My center support bearings are shot and sound like a baseball card in the spokes of a kids bicycle. Considering all my prior experiences with rust on the car I am planning on replacing all the hardware, gaskets, propeller CV joint, and boot.

I could fab up a steel bracket and clamps to hold everything straight and level. Or is it simple enough to just use a straight edge. Also I just put on brand new DP's and a Miltek catback. I think Im going to drop the subframe and piggie the new dp's. With the pipes being relatively new, less than 500 miles should I still plan to replace the sleeves?