Disassembling inner CV (tripod) joints??

[Tremelune]

Does anyone know how to disassemble the inner tripod CV joints? I've got the boot off and pulled back, but the bearings just...won't pull out of the housing. There's no retaining ring that I can see, or really anything else blocking it...

Mostly, I need to remove the half-shaft from the joint...I'm hoping I can just tap the joint off the splines, but don't want to break anything. I need to have custom half-shafts made up for my classic Mini EV conversion.

Should I just whack it with a drift and hammer? This is what I'm seeing:

[Tremelune]

Is it possible to remove the circlip that holds the shaft on with the bearings inside the the housing...?

[goldbrick]

Have you checked youtube, etc? I doubt there is anything special about the joints but I've never encountered that style before. Someone here must have the relevant service manual or you could check nicoclub.com. They used to have older versions of Nissan service manuals available on-line but I don't know the latest status as they may have been taken down or blocked due to copyright issues.

[Tremelune]

The videos I've found just have people casually pulling them right out...A Nissan Rogue video showed a retaining ring that I thought was my problem, but lo, there's no ring. I have yet to find anything for the Leaf where they do anything besides replace the whole assembly.

[jkline]

Do you have a hydraulic press? Could try to press it out-- just go easy.

[Tremelune]

Turns out the housing is "dimpled" after the joints are installed to create a lip, which means they aren't ever meant to come back out! I had to grind away the lip a bit, which freed them.