If you ever replace your axles with aftermarket ones - hang on to the
original cores.   The OEM joints do not fit onto the aftermarket
shafts, they have different splines and diameters.   When they fail
(and the will fail) you then still have the proper shafts to rebuild.
As John mentions only buy OEM GKN/Lobro joints and pack them well.
If your boots stay in tact, the OEM joints last 200k without issue.

Jason Ewing

On Sat, Jun 18, 2011 at 10:59 PM, John Rodgers <inua@charter.net> wrote:
> On 6/18/2011 2:16 PM, Carl Mount wrote:
>>
>> I replaced with chinese axles (never do this!!)
>
> Amen!
>
> Carl, my opinion, and it's just my opinion, the aftermarket axle/cv
> combinations with rebuilt CV's just aren't of good quality. The thing
> that really bothers me about them is that things have to be machined out
> and oversized parts installed. This changes the physical parameters a
> bit from what the engineers designed into the system. For this reason, I
> think it leads to problems. Much better to use the stock axles, and
> install good German CV's. Lobros used to be my first choice. It is my
> understanding that now they aren't quite the quality they used to be,
> and if I had to replace any now, I'm not sure what I would use. I would
> have to research it a bit before purchasing. But I would definitely use
> a CV designed to stock parameters. And I would do the change on the
> shafts myself. �I have done it many times and It is not a difficult task.
>
> AS for boot issues, if the CV's aren't German, they may not have stock
> dimensions, and the boots just might not �fit correctly because of it.
>
> Again, this is all conjecture on my part, but based somewhat on both
> experience, and reading I have done on the issues.
>
> John
>
> John Rodgers
> Clayartist and Moldmaker
> 88'GL VW Bus Driver
> Chelsea, AL
> Http://www.moldhaus.com
>