NOMAD327 Posted January 10, 2008 Share Posted January 10, 2008 99 auto OBW, replaced a driver front drive axle about 6 months ago due to torn rubber boot. My shop does a big trade with NAPA, and have had good luck with their axles on other than Subaru, so I tried one in spite of problems on Subaru discussed previously on this site. The axle caused an odd vibration when sitting stopped in gear which we diagnosed here as being a slightly long axle transmitting noise. It also occasionally clicked reversing, so it was replaced free after a couple months. That replacement axle was completely quiet until it had a catastrophic failure this week in the outer ball race. The car made it home, driven about two miles mostly downhill, with mostly the rear axle pushing via the AWD. The wheel can spin while the axle stands still, rubber boot still holding everything in alignment. I have since seen that NAPA has changed all it’s CV axle part numbers, which I suspect means they have a different axle supplier. They are also now offering brand new axles as well as the remanufactured units (autozone, and advanced auto do now too). I'm going to try one of the brand new NAPA axles, will let you know. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
backwoodsboy Posted January 10, 2008 Share Posted January 10, 2008 To my knowledge, GCK is the only NEW aftermarket subaru axle manufacturer. Im curious now to see if maybe GCK is selling to napa? If you buy one, look for GCK laser etched on the cup. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WAWalker Posted January 10, 2008 Share Posted January 10, 2008 I was useing the NAPA "NEW MAX" axles, started getting a bunch of them with sloppy DOJ's that would make noise. Now I am using axles supplied by Car Quest. These are also completly new axles. They are deffinetly different than the NAPA axles. So far so good on these. Other than getting a bunch of mis boxed axles. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OB99W Posted January 10, 2008 Share Posted January 10, 2008 [...]Other than getting a bunch of mis boxed axles.Which is why it's good practice to open boxes and check that parts are correct before starting a job. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WAWalker Posted January 10, 2008 Share Posted January 10, 2008 True. But when you run a repair shop by yourself and buy any were from $3k-$6k worth of parts each month, it is enough just to keep up with the ordering (by part number), unpacking, checking to see that all parts on the invoices were received, and put them on the shelf. At some point you have to rely on your supplier to supply the parts that match the part number that was ordered. I do check the axles now before signing the invoice though. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OB99W Posted January 10, 2008 Share Posted January 10, 2008 [...]At some point you have to rely on your supplier to supply the parts that match the part number that was ordered.[...]Agreed. I wasn't suggesting that all boxes be opened before they go into stock (except, apparently, certain axles ), but that it would be a good idea for anyone to do that before tearing something apart. For example, I've certainly had "reputable" suppliers occasionally leave a vital part out of a rebuild kit; finding that out when something is disassembled and spread all over the place isn't "fun". Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
porcupine73 Posted January 10, 2008 Share Posted January 10, 2008 Here's a post where someone was replacing wheel bearings, and replaced the front axles with napa units, then had vibration issues, put the originals back in and the vibration went away. http://www.subaruoutback.org/forums/showthread.php?s=&postid=112850 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ferret Posted January 10, 2008 Share Posted January 10, 2008 True.But when you run a repair shop by yourself and buy any were from $3k-$6k worth of parts each month, it is enough just to keep up with the ordering (by part number), unpacking, checking to see that all parts on the invoices were received, and put them on the shelf. At some point you have to rely on your supplier to supply the parts that match the part number that was ordered. I do check the axles now before signing the invoice though. I folded up my own business in 1978 .. for many reasons including a poor partnership. So I whole heartedly understand. Hrs into a job, you open a box, or rip a bag and say ... This isn't the right part !! Then ask yourself, did I order the right part? Did they ship or substitute a part ? or Is it a wrong part in the box? How long will it take me to get the right part, so I can get this done, back to the customer, and get paid? In any case, through all that, I did learn, nothing fits, and with some exceptions, last as well as original. I still do neighborhood repairs, on the side and on the evenings, and will REFUSE to use any Autozone/Advance Auto/ and some NAPA OEM lifetime parts. Mostly because I got tired of seeing them come back for "FREE" replacements, but repeat work for me... and I felt bad and cut them a break on my time to replace them. I don't care if they buy the parts, but will let them know about mine and other experiences. Heck, one 94 Caravan, I replaced the drivers front axle 7 times with a lifetime Autozone part. He finally became angry, because after I pulled the axle, I handed it to him to get the replacement from the Zone. He finally had it, paid $30 more from Dodge, and I never saw that axle again. ( BTW, the original lasted 127K, why think another wouldn't last as long ) End of rant and my $.02 .... See what happens when I have a free day off, and no body's car in my driveway ...... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WAWalker Posted January 10, 2008 Share Posted January 10, 2008 There is deffiently a learning curve when it comes to which parts to buy from who. I stock as may Genuine Subaru parts as I can. I am a huge fan of OEM parts. As far as axles go.................... When I first opened my doors for business, I only stocked OEM Subaru axles. (remaned by ARI) Very good quality, at a very high price, 1 year 12k mile warranty. Had an outter CV joint ball cage failure on one 13 months after installation. Napa axles at the time were ARI remans. at a considerably lower price, with a liftime warranty. I started stocking Napa ARI remans. Buying 10-15 at a time I got a bigger price brake. Replaced more of those due to torn boots than failure of the joints. Life was good. ARI went out of business..................Everyone including the dealership was scrambling to find a new axle supplier. Napa already had their line of "New Max" axles. Negotiated a deal with local supplier, and the new axles were only costing $5 more each and I didn't have to mess with returning cores. Axles were working great, wasn't having warranty issues, life was good. Then one day............I have ~10 axles on the shelf, I install 4 on one car, swap axles side to side, still have a clicking joint. Install two used axles, noise is gone. Start pulling the other new axles out of the boxes, noticable slop in the DOJ's. Send them all back, get a new batch. Pull axles out of the boxes, noticable slop in the DOJ's. Send them back, get some remans. (Supplied by Cardone who Subaru is now getting their axles from) Same "New Max" axles in reman boxes. Same slop in DOJ's. Tried one anyway, same noise. I can't take it anymore. On to new supplier. I am now stocking "remaned" Car Quest axles. Price is a little higher, but core charge is only $7.14, so I don't have to shell out twice the cost of the axle to stock them. I would say at least 98% of the time, the boxes contain new axles (but different than the Napa ones). Very seldome do I get an actual remanufactured axle. So far so good, haven't had warranty issues. I think there is a supply and demaned problem in the remaned axle industry. The supply of rebuildable cores is diminishing. Any axle I have ever purcased for the dealer ship is in fact a remand OE axle. (no new made in China joints or shaft) So aparently the "quality" remaned axles go to supply the OEM dealers first. The after market gets what is left of the remans, and the balance of the demaned is filled by new made in China axles. JMHO. It is a balancing act for sure. Sorry for the long winded post. But that's my story. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
idosubaru Posted January 10, 2008 Share Posted January 10, 2008 i hate axles - MWE all the way for me, though i know that's not a good fit for a shop. i'm guessing this is a similar in other makes too? toyota's? honda's? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WAWalker Posted January 10, 2008 Share Posted January 10, 2008 i hate axles - MWE all the way for me, though i know that's not a good fit for a shop. i'm guessing this is a similar in other makes too? toyota's? honda's? Don't know. As I have been specializing in Subarus for the past 6 years. I have done a few Toyota and Honda's in that time, most when ARI was still the main supplier, and before the parts houses were selling new axles. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NOMAD327 Posted January 14, 2008 Author Share Posted January 14, 2008 After starting the thread, I got the brand new NAPA axle put in, even got it free to replace the two bad reman units. This latest new axle has a click, especially if applying power with the wheels turned. I'm not out much money to this point, but my shop has been stuck in the middle, at least so far, and I'm going to move on elsewhere. I will now forget NAPA and buy another axle on my own, what's the best bet for a mail order new or reman front axle assembly? I have a local carquest outlet, and that sounds like a good choice from what I've read. Will probably go with them unless there's another idea. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dhewitt Posted January 14, 2008 Share Posted January 14, 2008 After starting the thread, I got the brand new NAPA axle put in, even got it free to replace the two bad reman units. This latest new axle has a click, especially if applying power with the wheels turned. I'm not out much money to this point, but my shop has been stuck in the middle, at least so far, and I'm going to move on elsewhere. I will now forget NAPA and buy another axle on my own, what's the best bet for a mail order new or reman front axle assembly? I have a local carquest outlet, and that sounds like a good choice from what I've read. Will probably go with them unless there's another idea. We just went through the same issue. http://www.ultimatesubaru.org/forum/showthread.php?t=83879 I ordered a Soob axle from Marshall Wolf at MWE Axles (just google it) through PayPal - piece of cake. He's shipping it out today and we should know by the end of the week if this fixes the problem (identical to yours). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
roger1 Posted January 14, 2008 Share Posted January 14, 2008 [Have you tried CVO axles located in Fl? I put one one a Subaru and a Plymouth minivan. That was 8 months ago and no problems. Price was fair and shipping was prompt! cvo@cvaxles.com sells retail and wholesale Good Luck!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dhewitt Posted January 23, 2008 Share Posted January 23, 2008 Put in the MWE axle yesterday and the vibration went away! Back to normal. Might be best to simply avoid NAPA axles. The first two we tried in this car developed clicks soon after they went in and were quickly replaced (under warranty). The third set up the vibration, even though it seemed fine otherwise. Too much headache and worrying for me. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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