John's reply digest. CV Joints/brake tools.

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

Good afternoon. Little late on these, but here goes.
Audi tool # 3272. Snap on, Mac, and Matco all sell these. A call to a
local auto repair shop should put you in touch with one of those
dealers. You're gonna get a set, and it might be more than you want to
pay, but they have them. 
Rebuilt CVs and Axles. Being in the trade, I am of the opinion, based on
experience, that the terms "quality" and "rebuilt axle" are, without a
doubt, mutually exclusive. Most we've seen have as much slop as any we'd
replace anyway. We've removed a great number of them and pulled them
apart, finding things like extra spacer cones and washers, joints welded
to shafts they weren't meant to be on, mismatched balls, badly grooved
inner/outer races, and cracked or broken cages. Anyone who tells you
theirs aren't that way is feeding you a line, and a lifetime warranty
isn't worth a damn when they are the ones who determine the
warrantability of the product and you are the one eating the labor. "Oh,
this isn't worn enough for us to take it back. It's gotta be broken."
BTW, a good fresh load of grease makes most any worn out but unbroken CV
joint feel OK.
Anyone claiming to "remanufacture" a CV joint is talking a HUGE amount
of investment, an expense already covered by the  manufacturer when he
set up to produce the original product, and those costs are spread over
a much larger production run. 
Buy what you will, it's your money and I can't force you to make a wise
decision. Purchasing one of these painted up and rebooted frauds is not
one of my ideas of a wise financial move. Most of you already know of my
opinion of national and regional parts store chains from previous posts
(rants) and they're the foremost purveyors of this crap. "It'll work"
and "It'll fit" don't get it, IMPO.
John