Reman CV axle = good, new aftermarket = bad

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Rochester, MI, US, World
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.
 
I buy OEM parts whenever possible. It is almost always worth the extra money.

My friend owns a 2007 Chevy Silverado with around 120k. The driver side front wheel bearing has been replaced three times now with the cheap "Duralast" junk and he keeps bringing them back because of the lifetime warranty. What a rip off. I don't care if they give me a free one, I hate taking stuff apart more than once. The passenger side wheel bearing is original. His alignment is fine and all bolts were torqued to spec.
 
I replaced the axles on my S2000 with "parts store remanufactured" units because it was either that $100 part of a $1000 part. I'm going to have to buy the $1000 part, after all; the cheap part just didn't hold up for more than a few months. Granted, that included a few track days, but still not very impressive.
 
Originally Posted By: Chris142
The remanned axle wont last. When they grind the ball grooves for bigger balls they remove the hardning.


+1.

Some outfits only use better used parts as the basis for cores and dont do this. The rebuilder in Colorado (forget the name) is a good one, but of course they will cost more than the $29 parts store specials...

Pure speculation, but I wonder if the "new aftermarket" units are victims of part number consolidation, so one part is used for a variety of applications/vendors, without doing a true, rigorous check out...
 
Originally Posted By: JHZR2
Originally Posted By: Chris142
The remanned axle wont last. When they grind the ball grooves for bigger balls they remove the hardning.


+1.

Some outfits only use better used parts as the basis for cores and dont do this. The rebuilder in Colorado (forget the name) is a good one, but of course they will cost more than the $29 parts store specials...

Pure speculation, but I wonder if the "new aftermarket" units are victims of part number consolidation, so one part is used for a variety of applications/vendors, without doing a true, rigorous check out...


I think your speculation is correct. My remanned axle was more than $29, so let's hope it lasts awhile! As to the poster who mentioned the hardening being ground away... what type of hardening do they use originally? If it's a coating of some sort, then that makes sense. But if it's heat-treated, grinding won't remove the hardening characteristics.
 
I agree that aftermarket remanufactured axles won't last as they grind the grooves, but do they do this with factory OEM remanufactured axles or do they put in new CV joints at the axle ends?
 
Are CV joint kits so expensive that you have to buy a used driveshaft with used CVs attached?

In Europe we keep the shaft and just put a new joint on, quicker and cheaper and no unknown variables not the equation.
 
Changing the torn boot on an axle was my first job on my 528e. A messy job. But other than that, no big deal. I had step by step instructions in the Bentley manual. Mostly clean, re-grease, slide the boot down. Do FWD CV joints wear? Because the joint balls and groves were perfectly smooth.
 
I also decided to use a NAPA Max Drive CV axle made by Cardone Industries for my Honda. Cost of the part was $91. Because of low volume sales, Honda did not offer a factory remanufactured axle but they had a new one for $270.

So far so good. No vibrations at all. Hope I never have to use the "lifetime warranty."
 
After reading this thread I am going to get a feel for axle prices at RockAuto.com THEN go to my local Volvo dealer to see what the prices are like for "newbies".
 
Originally Posted By: Olas
Are CV joint kits so expensive that you have to buy a used driveshaft with used CVs attached?

In Europe we keep the shaft and just put a new joint on, quicker and cheaper and no unknown variables not the equation.


We just change the joint and keep the original shaft in Mexico too.

Re-manufactured shaft assemblies became super popular in the USA because of low cost and less labor hours compared to just changing the joint. If you try to change the joint on a shaft assembly that has been re-manufactured or replaced with a new aftermarket shaft assembly, the spline count and shaft size will probably be different than OEM, so good luck finding a joint that fits.
 
Originally Posted By: andyd
Changing the torn boot on an axle was my first job on my 528e. A messy job. But other than that, no big deal. I had step by step instructions in the Bentley manual. Mostly clean, re-grease, slide the boot down. Do FWD CV joints wear? Because the joint balls and groves were perfectly smooth.


fwd outer joints do wear more than rwd. Also, if they have been run for any amount of time with a torn boot and sand, mud, or water has gotten in, they're ruined.
 
Cardone only uses OE cores for their reman axles and scraps any non-OE cores they receive.

I got mine at Autozone since they have a lifetime warranty (Napa's warranty is only 3 years). Both were about the same price in my case.
 
Bumping this old thread since I just had this same experience with my 2006 Sonata. Installed a new Trakmotive aftermarket axle (LH) and it shuddered terribly when accelerating between 25 and 40mph. Also had a pronounced vibration at certain highway speeds. Took the car to a shop, and they said it was probably a defective new axle. I had them remove the axle and try another new aftermarket axle. Same exact problem! So they took it off, and tried a THIRD new aftermarket axle and guess what? Yep, same issue!

So here's what solved the problem...

Gave up on the garbage aftermarket axles, and tried a Cardone reman. And wouldn't ya know it ..... problem solved! Apparently, the good reman companies like Cardone use OEM cores only. I don't know if it's mostly Hyundais and Kias that are having this issue with aftermarket axles, but I have never seen this with any other make.

So, either 1) the aftermarket companies came to an idiotic consensus that Hyundai/Kia axles are the same as some other OEM's, or 2) some douchey company like Toyota gained a controlling interest in popular aftermarket parts manufacturers, so they could basically try and screw every Korean vehicle owner. Yeah it's most likely #1, since #2 is quite a stretch and strongly appeals to conspiracy theory (although nothing seems to surprise me these days).
 
Same thing happened to me, but it was a Mercedes. Only problem is that their OEM axle is $1k and even a supposedly good aftermarket one is $300. The $100 aftermarket one had a vibration. I kept the old axle though and got a boot kit from Mercedes for $40 and just replaced the boot. It was fine and no more vibration.
 
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