These posts invariably contain a few oblique references to disaster: "known to fail," "catastrophic failure" etc,

How exactly do these so called Chinese axles "fail?"

I've yet to read any first hand experience, or even a third party anecdote.

One of the first things I had to deal with as a new owner was a busted axle due to a torn boot. I didn't know any better, so I purchased and installed a generic homokinetic axle.
The next time it happened (4 years later on the other side), I did the same with a generic annular axle. No issues to date. The former has about 60k miles on it.

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1981 240D 4sp manual. Ivory White.