This is more of a rant than anything else, regarding the quality of two new aftermarket CV joints I received, vs a remanned OEM unit.
Less than two years ago I had the driver's side CV axle replaced on my van; had a bad inner joint. Having never done an axle before, and because I cannot live without my van for work for more than a day or so, I decided to have it done by a shop. They gave a free loaner car, were local, nice people, growing business, etc. They got the new axle put in quickly, and immediately I noticed a vibration on acceleration. This points to a bad inner joint on the axle. I took it back, and thankfully they replicated it and replaced it, stating that the outer joint had play. At any rate, this second axle was improved, but the vibration was still there. I tried replicating it for them, but could never. They offered to balance wheels/tires even though this clearly wasn't the issue. I decided to live with it for awhile until recently, when the vibration became worse. I drive a lot so I was sick of it!
I decided to have a go at replacing it myself, and bought a remanned OEM unit from Napa, which is from A-1 Cardone. I say OEM reman, since it looks identical to the OEM axle on the passenger side. At any rate, the install went well and the vibrations are gone; feels like a new car! But the shocking thing was just how cheap the 'new' aftermarket axle was that came out. The remanned axle had a noticeably thicker axle shaft, a beefier CV/outer joint, and the inner tripod joint was so much more substantial, it looked like the wrong part at first. Both joints did have play on the old axle. Additionally, the aftermarket shaft also had a 1 mm smaller hex on the axle nut... odd. Thankfully I had just purchased an axle nut kit with several sockets. I know I'm out the money I spent the first time around, but I may bring the old axle by the shop to show them what their 'new' parts are doing in customer vehicles. Lesson learned.
Less than two years ago I had the driver's side CV axle replaced on my van; had a bad inner joint. Having never done an axle before, and because I cannot live without my van for work for more than a day or so, I decided to have it done by a shop. They gave a free loaner car, were local, nice people, growing business, etc. They got the new axle put in quickly, and immediately I noticed a vibration on acceleration. This points to a bad inner joint on the axle. I took it back, and thankfully they replicated it and replaced it, stating that the outer joint had play. At any rate, this second axle was improved, but the vibration was still there. I tried replicating it for them, but could never. They offered to balance wheels/tires even though this clearly wasn't the issue. I decided to live with it for awhile until recently, when the vibration became worse. I drive a lot so I was sick of it!
I decided to have a go at replacing it myself, and bought a remanned OEM unit from Napa, which is from A-1 Cardone. I say OEM reman, since it looks identical to the OEM axle on the passenger side. At any rate, the install went well and the vibrations are gone; feels like a new car! But the shocking thing was just how cheap the 'new' aftermarket axle was that came out. The remanned axle had a noticeably thicker axle shaft, a beefier CV/outer joint, and the inner tripod joint was so much more substantial, it looked like the wrong part at first. Both joints did have play on the old axle. Additionally, the aftermarket shaft also had a 1 mm smaller hex on the axle nut... odd. Thankfully I had just purchased an axle nut kit with several sockets. I know I'm out the money I spent the first time around, but I may bring the old axle by the shop to show them what their 'new' parts are doing in customer vehicles. Lesson learned.
