CV Axle Replacement at Johnny's Automotive

A CV axle is what delivers power to a front or all wheel drive wheel while that wheel is steering and moving up and down at the same time. The constant velocity joints on each end let the shaft keep turning smoothly through big angles, which is a harder trick than it sounds like. Each joint is packed with grease and sealed behind a ribbed rubber boot.

The boot is almost always the real story. It cracks or tears, grease slings out onto the inside of the wheel, and road grit and water get in. From that moment the joint is grinding itself down on dirty grease, and the clock starts. A torn boot caught early is a boot. The same tear found a year later is an axle. That's the whole reason we look at them during an inspection instead of waiting for the noise.

The classic symptom is clicking or popping on full lock turns, the sound you hear backing out of a parking spot with the wheel turned all the way over. It's usually louder turning in the direction that loads the bad side. An inner joint announces itself differently, as a clunk when you get on or off the throttle, or a shudder under acceleration that disappears when you coast.

On the parts question we'll be straight with you. Remanufactured axles cost less and plenty of them are perfectly good, but quality varies more between suppliers than most people expect, and a poor one comes back as a vibration or a boot that splits early. We pick the axle we'd be willing to put on our own vehicles, and we tell you what we're quoting and why, rather than quietly buying the cheapest one on the shelf.