Rebuilt axles, CVs, philosophy, etc.

[John Larson <jdlarson@ix.netcom.com>]

We're getting close to the rebuilt driveshaft thing here. As a shop
owner and long time tech, I think I'd park my car before I'd put in a
rebuilt axle. The rebuilders, at least the ones to which I've been
exposed, sell a decidedly second rate product. A fellow shop owner was
at a boneyard in LA and saw a crew going through a pile of axles,
picking the ones with the least slop, cleaning and painting them, and
installing new boots. I'm sure the real rebuilders arent that bad, but
there is NOTHING in these driveshafts that can be rebuilt. The races
wear, not the balls. The cages break, tolerances get larger, and they
just get old. Fabricating new cages, finding inner and outer races with
no grooves, and with even wear to accommodate oversize ball bearings,
all sounds to me like big dollars. When this subject came up on the
iATN, a mechanic's list on the net, some guy reacted with a long reply
about how good his product was and how long it lasted and how cost
effective it was to use, but he didn't convince many of us. A good, new
CV joint should last for YEARS, especially if the boots are inspected
regularly and replaced as necessary.
I have a VW Bus with a 911 driveline. This overpowered, and certainly
overweight, vehicle is often used for towing a dolly and a car, and has
2 Bus cv joints and 2 Bug cv joints. In 9 years, and easily over 150K
miles, I've changed 2 inner boots. Sure, there's slop in the joints, but
I use top quality grease and I don't let it run with broken boots. My
son became a local legend in this bus, and not for his conservative
driving style. It's gone through 3 differentials, but never a CV joint.
My 80 4K has 350K on the original CVs, and he beat that car up too. Take
care of your axles, and replace parts with new, it's a better deal,
IMHO.
BTW, the Meistersatz and Lobro boot kits, inner and outer, come with an
axle nut for cars that use them. I don't know about other brands.
John.