I know most of you guys got Raxles, but I suspect many got the Cardone axles from Advance Auto as well. My question is, what is it that's so good about Raxle that they could charge about twice the price of the one from Advance?

I checked one earlier (97, non ABS, non LSD, Auto pass. side) and Cardone is around 80 while Raxle is 149 plus 25 shipping. Both are lifetime warranty as well.....

Anybody wants to enlight me on this issue? Do you know someone who got Cardone axle?

I probably will be needing one soon since my CV is torn. Would this be a good time to service the LCA as well?

 

I've used Cardone axles plenty and never had much problem with them, I believe the Raxles though are stronger than OEM. If you have alot of mods, are boosted, or just plain drive hard, look into the Raxles more, but if it's just a daily driver, the Cardone's should be fine. They also have brand new ones available although I don't know what they cost exactly, might be another alternative. Lifetime as well.

 

if ur not lauching hard or extremly lowered you dont really need raxles.....but raxles are stronger and can take more abuse....now some of us that auto-x or drag race might consider raxles if i have to replace any axles again anytime soon.

 

Thanks for the reply guys. I asked the same question to Raxle and they claimed that they use several "industry first" to their axle products, such as synthetic grease and no regrind part.

I don't race or drag my car, so perhaps the Cardone axle might be for me. Just for a kick, I checked Napa and they were $150!!!

 

Cardone will work just fine unless you're pushing a good amount of power through those axles or you're hitting the auto-x tracks twice a week or more....

 

Raxles, just pay the few extra $$ to get someting that'll last, trust me ive used both

 

I've never had a problem with an autozone or napa axle, and I've had quite a few of them on my three different 4th gens - and I'm not exactly easy on my axles (drag radials every day and slicks at the track, on two different cars). I probably just jinxed myself lol knock on wood.

 

I have Raxles.. dude, they come with gloves, a shop cloth and a pocket knife (w/ Raxles etched on it) hahaha. They are warranted for life supposedly and the owner is an really good fella from what I can tell.

 

I just ordered a set of raxles...Mainly they are totally new, lifetime warranty and the customer services is second to none. If you have any problem they will make it right for you...Pretty rare in the business.

I only want to do this change out once too. They should arrive this Friday.

 

Yea marty is a real good guy too, ill say it again, just get the raxles, you wont regret it, i promise

 

yeah Marty sounded like a great fella when I spoke with him..

 

Bump^^^^...

 

Cardones are fine. Raxles are better -- ALWAYS new joints, better grease, better boots.

 

Thanks for the reply guys! Really appreciate them

BTW, could I use an ABS axle even though my car is a non-ABS?

The reason is because Cardone has BRAND NEW axles for ABS car, but not for non-ABS (reman only). Other than that, non-locking and locking diff. seems to use the same axle (same part number).

 

which axle is recommended for LSD swap?

 

yes you can put an ABS axle in a non-ABS car without a problem.

 

ok autozone axles arent any good either... i didnt have a problem with them untill last week... when the drivers side broke in half and the passanger side boot ripped only after 6 months of use.. both went bad in 6 months... at least i got new ones under warrantee.

 

f550:
I just read about your experience at the other site. Seems to me the best bet would be Raxles then..... but Mike was right though, Raxles are definitely show quality..... I could probably end up driving around with my torn CV boot and duct tape and show the Raxle on the wall of my cubicle... like a katana sword, LOL

Nealoc:
Thanks for the clarification, I suppose I'll just get the ABS one then.

 

hey u know what.. me and mike took his car on a test drive yesterday with the new raxles and one is already bad right out of the box...

 

No kidding?? How come if it's already bad out of the box he still installed it?

How do you know it's bad (other than leaking boot, which would be easily identifiable)?

 

Do you guys think it's a good time to replace the LCA as well? It's pretty rusted.....

 

LCA doesnt look too bad but you could replace it if you want. You are in there...

 

them there LSD axles of course..

 

I just wiggled the tire to check for play in the LCA. 5 o'clock and 11, 1 o'clock and 7....no play. Everything is tight. If they are loose, LCA would be replaced definitely. But they are still tight......

 

Haha helpful. What brand is better for the LSD swap? Just want to check on the money....

 

Apparently, Raxles did not use new shaft, althought the boot, grease, nut, etc. is are new. Moreover, seems Cardone brand new (new everything) axle can't be ordered through the store.

They have this axle under the brand GSP (reman and new) and based from what I could find in the web, they are made in China.

Anybody using GSP axle and would like to elaborate?

The pass. side axle from Raxles is VERY expensive..... $175, but how come they don't include new shaft?

 

a new shaft is not neccesary, so they recycle.. when they come though you'd never tell because the shafts are re-finished and coated.

 

But, if you are talking about metal fatique.....don't you think new shaft will benefit?

I am just leaning away from Raxles now....since I am not lowered bad (Maxspeed) and seems that I could use some money savings. However, people pm me and stated that there won't be any aftermarket axle (Raxles, GCM, Cardone) as good as original OEM that comes with the car.

 

Good thinking, but no. The amount of metal fatigue probably isn't even measurable, even on very high mileage shafts.

Clearly new is generally better than remanufactured. But Raxles uses new joints and ends, which are really the only parts that will show signs of wear. Plus, they use high-quality fully synthetic grease, whereas Nissan does not.

 

d00df00d pretty much got the better part of it.. But, anyone that tells you that the OEM axles are better than Raxles are on a magnificent drug to be blatant. They are quite a bit above and beyond OEM spec, of which I can't say for many other aftermarket parts.

 

Do I need to get the axle seal for putting a new axle, or this is necessary for driver's side only?

Plus, is it necessary to put some motor oil at the end of the shaft that will go into the tranny?

Thanks guys, you've been a great help.

f550:
Could you PM the guy in Chicago (Brian?) who sells axles? I tried to post at the Chicagomaxima.net but couldn't......

 

Motor oil? ..HELL NO.

 

I thought you are supposed to lubricate the end link going to the tranny since it's a gear to gear contact. Like you apply a little bit of motor oil similar what you do when you change the oil filter, just a little bit. No?

 

tranny's use tranny fluid man.. think of that for a second.

 

Does anybody know the axle seal part number? I asked around (Advance Auto) and went to Pinnacle Nissan website but could not find any.

Is the seal is for driver's side only? I am replacing the pass. side and thought that there should be one for the pass. side as well.

(Mine's auto)

 

Just go to a nissan dealership. They are like $8...

 

If just your boot is torn why not replace it instead of the whole axle? I just did my clutch. Both my outer boots were torn I bought the boot kits from Nissan and did them. The kits are about $40ea. When I had the old boot off and the CV degreased they were actually in really good shape.

If you don't know what sort of shape they are in why don't you take the old boot off and degrease the joint. If it's in good shape just do the boot, if not do the axle.

 

Nealoc:
I suppose I just do that.

ffc:
My car hs 170k miles. I don't want to deal with changing the axle/redo the boot again. But I will look at the axle once it's off the car. A Nissan dealership is close by, so I could get the boot kit too.

 

Just for an update, I finally get around to take it to my trusty mech and he actually dissambled the outer CV joint. I had brought a new axle from Advance Auto (GCK brand) but he pointed out that the axle seal was kinda bent and suggested me to get another one.

I told him to start working on the CV joint while I went to Infiniti dealership to get the boot kit ($42, ouch!!) and the axle seal, located about 200 yards away from his whop. When I came back, the outer CV joint was already cleaned and we did not find any scratches/deburrings, etc. He also said the rip/hole was not as big as it looked like. The grease was not dried out and there were quite a bit of grease there. There were slight discoloration at the rolling area (where the ***** are circling) but absolutely nothing that I could feel by hand. It was really good to feel a well machined parts..... ....really smooth.

About the process, he did not yanked the axle out of the car. He was actually disassembling it on the spot. He was able to do this since he has a special, rotating floor on the wheel area (he is an alignment guy, mainly) so he could rotate the steering while the car are on jack stands. He detached the lower ball joint connection only, so there is no need to do alignment. We did inspect the inner boot and it was in a very good condition. The axle nut was off easily, he said. Not bad for a 175k.

The results.... WOW! I could definitely feel that steering effort has been reduced a little. The car is smoother while powering out of corner. It just adds to smoothness to the front end. Not really a big difference, but I felt that.

Tomorrow I am gonna replace my driver's side brakes and I probably replace the CV boot on the driver's side if it's bad. I am kinda glad that I went ahead with the CV boot kit. The Nissan's OEM axle has been serving me faithfully for 10 years, and judging by looking at the CV joint quality when it was opened, I could surely hope it will last another 10 years.



Now I have to return the GCK axle. BTW, when looking at the GCK boot vs OEM Nissan (or Infiniti, for that matter), the boot from Nissan is thicker. The GCK is slightly thinner. I don't know whether it's bad or good, but it's a good thing that I went ahead with the Nissan OEM.

Infiniti's service was top notch. When they found out that they did not have an axle seal in stock, they actually gave me a courtesy service to pick that axle seal from another Nissan dealer. The driver actually drove me to the Nissan dealership, waited, and brought me back to the shop (which is in the back of the Infiniti dealership). Their service was top notch, not including the friendly attitude when I called to hold the CV boot so my mechanic (who is their direct competitor) could finish the job. I did not feel so bad about paying $40 for it considering their excellent service.

 

A thicker boot sometimes makes heat effects worse (there is just more material stretching and compressing with each rotation), but the net effect is almost always that it's stronger and more tear-resistant.