It was a good year bonus wise, and the wife was tired of me spending time and money trying to fix the problem with the aftermarket axle rumble on my '02 Nissan Maxima (at least 10 axle replacements in the last two years), so I picked up this low mileage (66k) beauty this past weekend. God, I love these cars and this site. Thought I'd share...

PS I won't quit on my '02 Maxima GLE; I also found a CV axle rebuilder in NC (Axles Unlimited) who will rebuild our OEM axles for a nominal fee if you ship them to him. I literally just paid Fed Ex $250 to ship 6 pairs of OEM Axles from Philly to NC so that I have future spares. Yeah, it's been an expensive month, but what the

 

Sounds like you have another problem besides bad axles....axle tend to last nearly 5-10 yrs depending on how you take care of your car!

 

Yes i agree,my axles have lasted sometimes over 10 years.

 

Bad motor mounts, LCA bushings, strut mounts, loose subframe hardware, cracked radiator core support or Crossmember....?????

 

You think this will solve the issue?

 

Ouch, you could have strapped them to a pallet and shipped them freight for less than $100.00. Ask them about freight shipping for the return.

Looks like a nice car. The I35 is a nice way to go for a fully optioned car with an auto.

 

go to a junkyard, there's literally dozens of them in an urban area

 

in addition a wheel bearing could cause a "rumble".
i had a neighbor that had a 2000 and when we rode in it the car had a "rumble" or burring noise. It was definitely a bad wheel bearing.

 

How many axles?
Bad bearing maybe.

 

A quick follow up for everyone. Attached is a pic of my rebuilt OEM CV axles that I received back from Axles Unlimited in NC. They look great, and they only charged me $40 per axle + return shipping back to Philly. The final bill for 2 complete sets was $229, and they have been completely rebuilt with new boots, new clamps, grease, painted, splines refinished, etc... They feel 100% better than when I shipped them, no looseness or clacking from inner plunge joint or outer joint at all. I'll follow up with an update after I install in my '02 Maxima tomorrow...

Just to clarifiy since I received multiple responses to my first post... I bought my '02 max in '15. I replaced the oem cv axles as preventative maintenance while gutting the entire exhaust back in '16 since I needed the space to drill out broken manifold / precat bolts (another horror story chronicled in multiple posts on the org, but we live and learn), and I also saw that the boots were wearing down (not leaking, but rubber was looking bad). Unfortunately, I disposed of the OEM cv axles, and wasn't aware that 5th gen Max do not like aftermarket cv axles, and I have been getting a horrid rumbling / vibration on acceleration ever since. I replaced the axles on each side over 10 times with various aftermarket, reman, and used units with no success. I'm positive that it isn't other suspension parts or bad wheel bearings as all of those items have been replaced (some multiple times), and the vibration / rumbling only occurs on acceleration. At this point, I am totally insane, but have thrown so much money into the car that I am not stopping until I find the solution. As posted, I've purchased a low mileage I35 which I am now in the process of refurbing to perfection, but 2x fully restored low mileage 5.5 gens is a good problem to have!

 

$40 is a bargain! That's got to be cheaper than buying boots alone. Did they give you a deal since you sent them so many?

I love seeing these cars get the attention they deserve. Keep them on the road for years to come.

 

So I am wondering as well...have a vibration on my psgr side axle as well. Just too chicken to replace it since I have never done that before and then getting the same results....would tick me off..

 

Good news to report, after a week of driving the '02 Max with refurbed OEM Axles from Axles Unlimited, my rumbling / vibration noise is almost non-existent. I've got a small vibration that I can feel under my feet a little bit on acceleration, but it's mild compared to what I was getting using any of the aftermarket axles that I've ever installed. Today is a good day. Many lessons learned. STAY AWAY FROM AFTERMARKET AXLES!