I am looking to replace the two axle shafts/cv joints. OEM are really expensive ($600+ each) and the non-oem stuff from the parts stores look cheap. Does anyone know of a reputable dealer who sells rebuilt OEM or some other reasonable alternative to new OEM or parts store cheap stuff? I saw Ballade has them but their rep seems a little suspect.

Thanks

Chris

 

Unless buying really fancy (Aka even more expensive) race axles of some kind, OEM is your best bet. I have never heard anything good about any of the aftermarket axles. I am not one of the "buy OEM or go home" people either, but there are some parts on this car where you just do buy OEM and axles are one of them.

Why do you need to change them? If pitted/vibrating, you can fix up to 3 times for free or nearly free. 1) swap buckets 2) add axle spacers 3) swap buckets back and use axle spacers. That is what almost everyone does when the cups pit.

And yeah, the general consensus these days is run far away from Ballade.

 

What's wrong with yours? got the shakes? How come?

Look into low mile part outs on eBay, maybe. But the problem may resurface depending on what your current issue is.

 

Puddy Mod rebuilds axles, he is probably backlogged for months though.

 

Looks like rockauto sell reman units. Approx $150 per side.
https://www.rockauto.com/en/catalog/...n,cv+axle,2288
CARDONE 604201 {#42310S2A951} Remanufactured Info
Rear Right
CARDONE 604200 {#42311S2A951} Remanufactured Info
Rear Left

 

Buy used passenger side axles and harvest the inner cv buckets. It's almost always the driver side that gets pitted. I got 2 used passenger side axles on flea bay for ~$190, cups were in perfect shape. Packed them with redline cv2 grease and never looked back.

 

I understand OEM axles are hollow and off the rack are usually solid. Lots of issues with non-OEM.

 

Has anyone ever tried aftermarket axles, but using the old axle and just the actual CV joint off the new axle?

Buy new axle, remove CV from it, install new CV on old oem axle.

 

Reason for wanting to replace is key.

 

I have a slight vibration coming from the rear end under acceleration at 65-70 mph. The car has 127,000 miles and the CV are original so it is not surprising there is a bit of wear. I thought about doing the bucket swap but given the miles I thought if I could find a pair of rebuilt OEM reasonably priced I would just go ahead and replace them. The Rock Auto deal is what I was looking for. For $150 a piece you can freshen up both axles completely and keep the old axles. If you want your core deposit back return the old axles and the cost per side is only $55.