New axles for 1985 300d defective?
 

I bought two new axles for my 300d from advance Auto. They are carquest brand. I was handling both new axles And while they look and measure the same the stiffness of them is different. The boots on one axle are softer than the other and the inboard side of the "softer" axle feels looser than the other and pivots way easier. Ive read that there is supposed to be a spring inside that brings the inboard side back in when extended? The softer axle will extend but not spring back. Should I return that one?

You read that where?

It's just a a matter of time before you will need to return both.

Given the age of these cars these axles dont fly off the shelf. One is probably pretty old compared to the other and the boot harder and less supple

There is no spring...

Post pics and I can help ya... ive rebuilt hundreds of MB axles... never seen any spring in any of them...

Does Carequest sell Cardone rebuilt Mercedes Axles. If so they are the real Mercedes Axles. I bought some when I first got the car and they worked fine but the Boots started to get surface cracks at 5years old.

Better would be CVJ Axles Inc at around $250+ each.

New Axles from GKN or GNK can't remember which are around $400 each. Not made in Asia.

Rebooting your own with boots that stretch over the "Cans".

On the bottom is the various Asian made Axles that have had spotty successes. What it depends on if you are willing to do the labor to take advantage of the lifetime warranty some autoparts places give when an axle goes bad.
If you buy an axle that has bolts going through one end the bolts need to be removed one at a time and Loctite used on the threads when re-assembles. Otherwise they are known to come apart.

All of the above mentioned axles must make use of the proper spacers or must fit perfectly with out any spacers. Which means you can insert the C clip but you are not able to feel any in and out movement of the Axle where it goes into the Differential.

If your original axles had spacers note how they fit on it.

If you have issues with the spacers contact member Stetch. He can tell you what he did to fit the spacers on his aftermarket axles.

Mostly you are feeling the boot spring back, this likely isn't an issue.

As for a spring, some other brands ( like 90's to 00's front drive Chrysler ) have a spring in the inner joint that keeps the joint extended and engaged in the differential. This type does not have a clip on the inner joints shaft that engages into the differential.

Does the inner joint on your axle have a clip on the differential side of the shaft?

Not sure what you mean clip. And yes that's what the instructions mention. For the people that asked where this is noted, it was on the "CV axle assembly installation guidelines" by carquest "Rough handling may cause the inboard spring to separate, making the axle inoperable".

Do you have a part number for the axle? If so I will look it up on the Advance site. As a side note, Carquest bought Advance a few years ago.

The axle is retained in the differential by means of a clip which fits in a groove near the end of the splined shaft.

Often, the translation from Chinese to English is more entertaining than it is accurate.


It was Advance who bought Carquest. (Just a side note.)

If you buy your axles from here or any of the associated parts dealers you can get Chinese brand annular axles which if the boot fails you can replace them without having to pop the pumpkin .

I have a pair on my r107 and they're pretty good.

CVJ is also good. I'm tempted to call and ask if they sell rebuilt annulars that will work with our cars.

Axles from your average car store are going to be junk in most cases. Best bet is going to CVJ axles...well worth it if you expect them to last.

It is likely the instructions are generic.

The end of the Axle that goes into the Differential on your Mercedes has a C clip that goes into a groove on the axle so that end of the Axle does not come out of the differential.