Just bought a rebuilt axl for my 300TDT, the rebuilt one cost 175. Looked brand new, works great. Took 3 hours to put in.

I assume rebuilt means they take the old axle apart, clean the bearing cage, balls, whatever, inspect for wear, scoring, pitting, etc, reasemble, pack with new grease, put new boot on and basically give you back "new" CV axle shaft.

AZ lists them for $79 for my 1982 300TD with lifetime warranty. For that price I'm not gonna mess with replacing the boots. I don't really care what "rebuilt" means if they are gonna give me a LTW.

Your SDL might be a lot more. Then the reboot price is pretty good then.

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1987 300TDT
1981 VW MKI Caddy 1.6 diesel, waiting on engine swap
1983 D-50 Power Ram 4x4 "Mitsubishi" 2.3 turbo diesel
assorted gas powered crap and motorcycles

RIP: 1984 300TDT, 1982 300TDT, 1984 190D 2.2, 1992 300D 2.5, 1987 300TDT, 1982 Maxima LD28, 1983 Maxima LD28, Isuzu C223 P'ups X3, 1983 Holiday Rambler 6.2 Banks turbo diesel, 1984 Winnebago LeSharo 2.1 TD, 1985 Allegro 6.5

I have seen new not rebuilt CV's for our SDL's listed for $595 each!

Carquest here I come!

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2016 Corvette Stingray 2LT
1969 280SE
2023 Ram 1500
2007 Tiara 3200

Just think what you could do with an extra $1030.00!

Yeah I could get some dents removed! Or maybe a new trans. The SDL always has a place that wants money.

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2016 Corvette Stingray 2LT
1969 280SE
2023 Ram 1500
2007 Tiara 3200

Rebuilt means they cut off the old joints and weld on new ones destroying any temper that was in the original axle. This is SOP on most rebuilt axles.

Our 123 axles are generally bullet proof provided the boot doesn't leak AND your trans is set to a proper shift setting. (not too harsh).

I'd rather just have a decent set of axles rebooted (I'll keep the original German joints).

2 hours is rather fast for replacing ONE axle (I've done it twice). The first time took me 6 hours including a shower afterwards and garage cleanup. I don't have a lift, its on jack stands.

I paid about $145 for one rebooted axle, that's about $65 more than a CarQuest rebuild. Mine time is worth that to avoid a redo.

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84 300DT Puke Yellow. Totalled after 438,000
84 300DT Orient Red. 169,000 (actual mileage may vary)
2002 Explorer EB (wife's)

I've got to agree with Eric. Most stories I hear about axle failures are from dry CV joints due to leaking boots. The stock units are very rugged and if you can keep them in the car I think you should. The lifetime warranties are nice but I don't value my time and labor as free so I think the difference paid for a reboot on a solid original axle is worth it.

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LRG
1987 300D Turbo 175K
2006 Toyota Prius, efficent but no soul
1985 300 TDT(130K miles of trouble free motoring)now sold

[QUOTE=Eric Eliel]Rebuilt means they cut off the old joints and weld on new ones destroying any temper that was in the original axle. This is SOP on most rebuilt axles.

Our 123 axles are generally bullet proof provided the boot doesn't leak AND your trans is set to a proper shift setting. (not too harsh).

I'd rather just have a decent set of axles rebooted (I'll keep the original German joints).
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If they are still tight I re-boot my own axles and swap sides with them to even out the wear.

The cans "cut off" or apart, the actual joint can be taken apart at this point and the inner section presses off of the axle. Just wanted to clarify what gets "cut". I agree with the rest of the above quote except the cut and weld theory... no welding involved on rebooting or rejointing 123 axles. I think these axles would last almost indefinitely if cleaned, greased, rebooted and swapped sides about every 100k miles.

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Diesel-guy