Should I Replace My Front Axles? Seeking Advice.

[lardope]

Hello friendly community!

I have a 2004 VW Jetta TDI with over 200K miles and am I am in the process of ordering new suspension components. I will be replacing shocks and struts, control arms, sway bar links, and rear axle bushings. The question I pose to you is this: I have been driving with torn CV boots for years now. I made the conscious decision that I would replace the axles when needed rather than replace the boots. That was 4-5 years ago. I am still driving on the original front axles and haven't noticed any problems. Well, except perhaps when I have to turn the wheel all the way to the left, like when leaving a tight spot, I hear a clicking noise which I know is a classic axle sign. But that's it so far.

So, since I am doing all this suspension work anyway (I am doing it all myself other than the rear axle bushings I think), should I just go ahead and replace the front axles (I would use OEM components only)? Is that the wise thing to do? Or can I just continue to wait for them to have serious problems eventually?

What do you think? Thanks!

 

[03TDICommuter]

Now's the time, certainly easier to do it now.

 

[irvingj]

Ditto. Replace them while you're in there.

 

[JDSwan87]

Look into Raxles rebuilt units...

 

[Tdijarhead]

Idparts has the GKN cv joints. Buy the joints rebuild the axle, if a new axle is to spendy. The box store chinese crap axles will vibrate or strand you beside the road somewhere. GKN not GSP is the original axle manufacturer for WW.

 

[PakProtector]

Idparts has the GKN cv joints. Buy the joints rebuild the axle, if a new axle is to spendy. The box store chinese crap axles will vibrate or strand you beside the road somewhere. GKN not GSP is the original axle manufacturer for WW.

I would re-joint them with IDP bits from GKN too. Inner will be much easier with a proper pair of Knipex expanding pliers, but the outer comes off with a solid application of a hammer. Re-boot and apply enough grease( Napa has some fine packages of The Good Stuff ).
cheers,
Douglas

 

[Genesis]

You're FAR better off to replace the CVs than the entire axle. Among other things the aftermarket ones typically can't have the CVs replaced as they're pinned on! It's neither expensive or hard to do.

 

[turbocharged798]

I find that the aftermarket boots suck too. You will get about a year or two out of them before the rubber falls apart. I go OEM only on boots now.

 

[pkhoury]

So, since I am doing all this suspension work anyway (I am doing it all myself other than the rear axle bushings I think), should I just go ahead and replace the front axles (I would use OEM components only)? Is that the wise thing to do? Or can I just continue to wait for them to have serious problems eventually?

What do you think? Thanks!

I use GKN axles and I'm happy with them. If you have the money, by all means, go OEM. But I have no qualms with GKN. I recently put on junkyard axles on my 2000 Golf, because I was too cheap to get GKN. Actually, that's a lie. The passenger side is a new GKN I bought for my wrecked 2003 Golf that turned out to be okay. My car previously had Chinese specials on them with cracked boots, and the PO used 10mm hex bolts instead of the proper triple square bolts, which were also not torqued to spec (surprise surprise).

 

[lardope]

You're FAR better off to replace the CVs than the entire axle. Among other things the aftermarket ones typically can't have the CVs replaced as they're pinned on! It's neither expensive or hard to do.

So the wear and damage I have incurred from driving with torn boots can be fixed by purchasing the joint and boot kits I am seeing on idparts? If so, I would have to buy inner and outer for both sides. That would save me $100 to $150 per side roughly when comparing the cost to new OEM axles on idparts. Is it just better from a cost perspective? Or are there other reasons too, not considering the problems with cheap axles, which I wouldn't buy. Don't get me wrong, I'm all about saving money on my old car, just wondering.

Thanks.

 

[Tdijarhead]

The GKN joints are a far better option that buying a complete chinese axle. Buying the joints is a less expensive alternative to buying an entire new GKN axle. It’s just that buying the joints only requires a bit of extra labor.

 

[Zak99b5]

Yes. The shaft itself is not a wear item.

If the inner boots aren't torn, you could just clean out the joints, repack it with grease, and put new boots on. Outers I would get new CV joints for both, even if only one is torn.

 

[Genesis]

Take it apart FIRST (assuming you can deal with the car being down for a few days) and see what you got.

My former (now my kid's) Jetta had a torn inner boot; took the shaft out, removed the joint, cleaned it up and..... the joint was in excellent condition. No pitting at all and perfectly-serviceable. Re-booted and re-greased it, put it back together and the cost of turned out to be a new axle nut and boot. You may find that you can swap the inner joints from one side to the other since that changes where they ride and they'll be ok. You won't know until you look.

If they're toast then yes, change the joints and boots on the existing axles.

Mine is coming up on 300,000 miles -- on the factory CVs. IMHO change what's damaged; the OE stuff is of good quality and Chinese axles IMHO all suck.

 

[lardope]

Okay, I think you all have convinced me to take apart the axles and replace the cv joints and boots instead of buying new axles. Here is an example of one of the cv joint/boot kits on idparts: https://www.idparts.com/outer-joint-and-boot-kit-gkn-manual-speed-auto-357498099e-302963-p-5672.html

1. Should I be replacing any other hardware that is not including in the kit?
2. Any specific tool recommendations? One of you recommended Knipex expanding pliers.

Thanks!

 

[Tdijarhead]

That's the outer joint. Do you also need the inner?

Inner CV Joint and Boot Kit - Left [GKN] (A4 BEW Manual)(A3)

Left inner CV joint and boot kit for the MK3 Jetta and Mk4 BEW TDIs with 5 speed manual transmission. ...

www.idparts.com

 

[lardope]

That's the outer joint. Do you also need the inner?

Inner CV Joint and Boot Kit - Left [GKN] (A4 BEW Manual)(A3)

Left inner CV joint and boot kit for the MK3 Jetta and Mk4 BEW TDIs with 5 speed manual transmission. ...

www.idparts.com

Yes, 3 of the 4 CV joints have torn boots... so I was going to order all 4 kits and then I suppose if I don't use any of them I would return them for store credit at idparts.

Thank you for pointing out that each kit is specific to inner and outer and left and right.

 

[pedroYUL]

Idparts has whole axles for something like $80 each, that's a no brainer for me

Complete Axle - Right [GSP](A4 Manual)

This axle fits all Mk4 Jetta, Golf and New Beetle TDI with manual (5-speed) transmissions. Right side (passenger side). Includes new outer axle nut. Brand new unit, not remanufactured....

www.idparts.com

 

[oilhammer]

Stay away from the new Chaxles...they are junk.

You can infinitely rebuilt the original 5sp ALH axles. New boots, new joints, whatever.... they'll still be far superior than these junk Chinese crap that so many people are selling.

 

[braddies]

1. Should I be replacing any other hardware that is not including in the kit?

Wheel bearings while you're in there

 

[03TDICommuter]

Stay away from the new Chaxles...they are junk.

You can infinitely rebuilt the original 5sp ALH axles. New boots, new joints, whatever.... they'll still be far superior than these junk Chinese crap that so many people are selling.

Agreed, and if you don't and put in Chinese axles, DO NOT THROW AWAY YOUR OLD AXLES!
Rebuild them and keep them as spares. I wish the previous owner of my NB did that. He did put in a GSP on the driver's side and knock on wood, it's doing okay driving wise, but when I did the clutch, I could tell that the CV joints on that axle were pretty worn (lots of rotation backlash). I wish he had the old one that I could rebuild and stuff back in there.

 

[lardope]

Wheel bearings while you're in there

Is this a component of the axle? Just not included in the kit? Or is this somewhere else in that vicinity? If so, what part? Thanks!

 

[Zak99b5]

Wheel bearings while you're in there

Wheel bearings are not a "while you're in there" replacement item. Definitely check them, but if they are tight and silent, keep running them.

 

[Tdijarhead]

How to replace your MkIV's front wheel bearings

How to Change a Front Wheel Bearing on a MkIV A-Platform VW in Eleven Million Easy Steps. UPDATE JANUARY 2018: Fixed the pictures? HOLY CRAP GUYS! I finally put together a video showing the noise from a bad wheel bearing and some of the other updates what have transpired in this thread over...

forums.tdiclub.com

Unless the wheel bearings are making noise I’d probably leave them alone. However if you do decide to change them get a F A G bearing as once agin they are the oem manufacturer.

 

[oilhammer]

Wheel bearings are really quite often at the mercy of road conditions. A hard pothole hit will be enough to take one out in short order. We see this a lot here (especially this year, since we had several rounds of snow). They go hand in hand with bent wheels.

 

[braddies]

Wheel bearings are not a "while you're in there" replacement item. Definitely check them, but if they are tight and silent, keep running them.

I mean, if you're diving into the axle project and have removed the axle from the car the ball joint, and tie rod are disconnected,
OP mentioned wanting to replace struts also.
Doing struts while doing the CV joints you can have the spindle out while doing those projects, might as well press in new bearings while it's all apart and then get an alignment.
Agreed, replace with quality bearings, just thinking that you'd want to replace (original?) wheel bearings while refreshing the axle.
Would also be an easy time to replace transmission output shaft seals/bearings if there's any leaking from the trans

 

[Genesis]

On the pax site at least there is utterly no need to disconnect anything suspension related on the ALH to get the axle out of the car. Those who say you have to are wrong; it clears and comes out with unbolting only one end of the sway bar end-link. Now if you're going to do that (which means an alignment is now required) then yes, do anything that is worn in that path at the same time. But wheel bearings are a special case because the OE ones are of good quality and replacements might not be.

 

[braddies]

On the pax site at least there is utterly no need to disconnect anything suspension related on the ALH to get the axle out of the car. Those who say you have to are wrong; it clears and comes out with unbolting only one end of the sway bar end-link. Now if you're going to do that (which means an alignment is now required) then yes, do anything that is worn in that path at the same time. But wheel bearings are a special case because the OE ones are of good quality and replacements might not be.

If you can get the axle out without loosening the ball joint more power to you, if you can remove the axle and only remove a sway-bar link and the tie rod then you can get by without an alignment, but if struts are a part of this project

Hello friendly community!

I have a 2004 VW Jetta TDI with over 200K miles and am I am in the process of ordering new suspension components. I will be replacing shocks and struts, control arms, sway bar links, and rear axle bushings.

So, since I am doing all this suspension work anyway....

What do you think? Thanks!

If it were my car and I was pulling the control arms for new bushings I'd know the spindle (aka knuckle) would be removed and an alignment would be needed.
With the knuckle out one could bring it to a shop with a press to press out the old bearing and press in new one.

AND, the harbor freight FWD bearing puller kit would work for wheel bearings and control arm bushings, just make sure to support the captive nut INSIDE the subframe before removing the control arm.

 

[Genesis]

@braddies its pretty easy on the ALH's at least on the pax side (haven't tried the driver side yet but eyeballing it suggests the same strategy works) -- remove the triple-square bolts and push the transmission end UPWARD off the flange. There is a gap space there into which the transmission end can articulate sufficiently. Remove the swaybar link bolt and swing it out of the way so there's a gap through which the axle can come out. Turn the wheel hard right and the axle can be pushed out of the knuckle -- it will clear. Reinstallation is similarly easy.

Now if you're pulling the control arms anyway then yeah, just take it off first. But if you're just interested in the CVs or the boots then there's no need for that.

Work smart, not hard.

 

[lardope]

Well, now I know at least that my car has something called "wheel bearings" and where to find them, hahaha... so thanks all for that. I think those will have to wait until they fail on me.... this will be my first time replacing struts, control arms, sway bar links, rear bushings, and rebuilding the axles myself, so that's enough learning for this time out.

 

[lardope]

I mean, if you're diving into the axle project and have removed the axle from the car the ball joint, and tie rod are disconnected,
OP mentioned wanting to replace struts also.
Doing struts while doing the CV joints you can have the spindle out while doing those projects, might as well press in new bearings while it's all apart and then get an alignment.
Agreed, replace with quality bearings, just thinking that you'd want to replace (original?) wheel bearings while refreshing the axle.
Would also be an easy time to replace transmission output shaft seals/bearings if there's any leaking from the trans

I appreciate the suggestions. Definitely will now check for leaking from the trans at least.