To Change, or Not to Change...An axle?

[Outbackpacker]

Hi Guys,

 

I went for an inspection and after an hour or so in the garage with the guy using a fine toothed comb and white gloves under the hood and undercarriage, he finally rejected state inspection because he said the CV joint needed replaced.  I asked for the est. and you don't even want

to know.  They must have thought I had more money than cents/ sense.  I've never gone to a place that had a hundred point inspection, test strips for all fluids, etc. ad nauseum.  In one way its good to know, even though they just do inspections to get a lot more bu$ine$$. That's OK, I'm just questioning motive and IF the unit really needs replaced.  I normally drive it gently because I don't want to tear it up before I can get another car in a year or two.

 

Anyhow, I did replace the boot and thoroughly clean the old grease w/fresh high temp wheel bearing grease when I used a wrap around boot upon discovery of a tear.  It held up fine.  I even checked it recently before the inspection.  I can't prove anything, but it looked like someone took a sharp tool and sliced it open.  The boot seam was tight and no wear.

 

 Its less than a year old.  Play?  

 

The Joint is solid except for maybe as much as 1/4" in- out.  Up-down/side to side is solid.  No clunking yet.

 

Issues?  It clicks ever so lightly when the wheel is turned hard right, sometimes when pulling up into my driveway.  Other than that, No issues.  I just pulled the boot.  Grease was clean and then repacked it with fresh and tied it back on.  BTW, its OEM with 224,000miles and has never been replaced.  After reading a bunch of posts and Youtube videos on the subject, I'm wondering what the best thing is to do........

 

1.  Replace the Boot and keep an eye on the passenger's side half axle/CV.  Its good quality OEM and alignment is fine.

OR

2.  Replace the axle with a $70 aftermarket axle of questionable chinese quality?  Bought one already and debating taking it back.  The in-out play looks/feels just about the same as the one on the car now.  Maybe 1/8" difference.  Barely noticeable.  I used to get those aftermarkets and they were hit/miss and sometimes bad when I got them installed.  So, you see why I'm reluctant to just replace it.  

 

I decided not to take the high road and spend big buck$ on the dealer OEM rebuild.  Maybe if the car wasn't an antique as of next year.

[AdventureSubaru]

For inspection purposes - take it somewhere else, get inspected and drive.

 

As for the long term life of the axle - if it's already clicking, it is not worth fixing. Aftermarket rarely lasts long and OEM new are about $400.

 

The "conventional wisdom" is to buy a used OEM one from a wrecking yard (car-part.com to find them.) Inner CV cup should be green to ID as OEM. Re-grease and re-boot it and put it on for many more miles. Most will have a 90 day warranty just in case.

[1 Lucky Texan]

did you ask or position yourself to watch?

 

NEVER do that - they may suspect you are a 'plant' from the State to find 'cheaters'. They must do everything. I know someone who lost his license because a lug nut was missing - behind the hubcap. Another tech I know lost his inspection biz because a vet begged him to let the illegal window tint slide thru. Yeah, he was a vet too. Total set-up.

 

I try to go where I went last and sit with my back to the car.

[Outbackpacker]

Yeah Adventure,  I took it somewhere else and they just went through typical, make sure all lights, etc. work.  Got my sticker before getting pulled over with the cop magnet "reject" sticker.  

 

I'll take the new chinese rebuild back and search the yards for a used OEM.  I think that sounds wise.  

 

One Lucky Texan,  I hear what you are saying.  I was sitting facing away from the window until 45 minutes or so, then was wondering what was taking soooooo long.

Its a shame the crooked states steal so much $ in soooo many ways from property "owners".  I realize that took away our stuff and charge us yearly for use of THEIR cars and houses.  They work their little butts off making sure they cut down on "cheaters" with their "plants".  Youre right that they don't want to lose that license to sell inspection stickers. Can't blame them.

Normally I go to a place that is familiar with me and have no issues.  But this place was convenient at the time and near inspection time.  

When I got to my garage, I just got suspicious.  Not that they would do this.  Its just that something recently cut through the double thickness of a well bonded split boot that wasn't even dirty.  It was cut in a way that I've never seen.....not with the crease.  Then an estimate for over $400.   Maybe that's the going rate now.  

[Fairtax4me]

Subaru axles will click for thousands of miles and never give any real problems. Re-boot it again and ride.

 

Aftermarket axle boots don't hold up as well as factory boots. I often see them ripped open looking like they've been cut but they just look like that because of the material they're made of.

[Outbackpacker]

Fairtax4me,  

Maybe that's why the boot is otherwise perfect and rather new. It might just be junk silicon rubber.  

 

I might just be paranoid after having a Subaru shop worker steal a Green Machine (like K&N) air filter from me when I took it in for some other work in

North Central WV.  I made the mistake of telling him that I just bought it and seems to work good.  Next time I checked it at home, it was replaced with a 

cheap paper disposable filter.....the pink belt thief.  That's pretty sad when an auto mechanic steals an air filter. 

 

Either way, I've driven with CV joints that were far worse.  If it gets worse, I'll definitely change it out for a used one and Not a chinese soft one of questionable length.

If OEM, it will probably last longer if in OK shape and won't need to get the car realigned.

[Fairtax4me]

That's pretty damn low to steal an air filter. Although I suppose you can be thankful he at least put one back...

 

I'm cruising right now on an OE Subaru axle that came from a junkyard with a ripped boot. I cleaned and re-booted both ends, ran it about a year and the inner boot ripped. Then ran it another 6 months or so before I had the time to pull it off the car and re-boot it again. (Was in school at the time and driving 90 miles round trip 4-5 days a week)

 

A couple months ago that same boot ripped again. Still haven't fixed it.

It never has made any noise either.

A lifted Subaru is tough on axle boots... Subaru axles are tough.

 

Outer joints are a little different. They have a much tougher job since the wheel end has to turn on basically 3 different axes. An outer boot rips you have to take care of that pretty quick or it will eat up the joint pretty bad.

[idosubaru]

Reboot no big deal.

Light clicking will be fine. At worst it just slowly gets worse over 10's of thousands of miles, clicking at ever increasing angles 1 degree a year...no big deal.

Catastrophic failure of an OEM axle you'll never see unless you're hard core rock crawling.

 

If you're around Morgantown WV, hartsels Exxon and Summers are always fair for people I know and myself. They aren't cheap but reasonable and they never make up stuff for me, straight shooters. I can't imagine they'd steal parts and have always been stand up.

[ThosL]

Whatever is the most reasonable with quality a concern; I haven't ever had short term failure and found some very reasonable replacement places when absolutely necessary.  

 

The way some of these inspections give you the Torquemada treatment you wonder why some people don't take out their anger on them, better than turning anger inward. Those in power can do some pretty nasty things.

 

.  

Edited March 12, 2017 by ThosL