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.

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.

So what is the deal with removing the axles? Do you have to take apart the whole rear end of the car or what? Any special tools required? Mine will be needing to be done by next summer.

Ok,

You guys have stired me up on my most famous soap box.


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.


Ok what do rebuilders do. An axle is basically 2 fancy bearings with balls. Rebuilders can't reuse a damaged or wore race and put new balls in the old races. So, they *all* use a fancy extrude honing tool. It will remove about 0.030- 0.060 to clean up the surface. But, now you've lost heattreating and maybe they didn't cut the race perfectly.

They are good for a while, but won't last like a new axle. You should check your removed axles for angular play before spending $$ on rebooting a worn axle.


Michael

[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).
____________________________________________________________

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.

I think you guys are over thinking this. These are low power cars, come on their is no way a 240D could dream of hurting it's axles. Remeber the W126's had 300hp euro enignes thrashing these axles. I have had good luck with rebuilt cv joints. My friend had a set on his Maxima that lasted 50k until he sold it. Now that was a high stress life 200hp V6 driven by a teenager with a lead foot.

Besides they seem to have a lifetime warranty I wouldn't mind getting a new one every few years. Rebuilt ones are fine.

All this cutting and stuff sounds a little fishy to me.

Most of my repair manuals for various cars show you how to redo an axle. The repair manuals make it sound like all that you do is take the CV joint apart with very basic hand tools, throughly clean the CV cage, bearings and such, removing all the old grease & dirt, reassemble the CV joint, grease it real good, install new boot, install CV axle back in the car.

I thought not really any different in theory than repacking a wheel bearing.

Am I way off base here?

IMHO the original axles (or good known axles) ought to be rebooted.

The rebooting process involves cleaning out the old oil BUT not "changing" "cutting" "rewelding" "replacing" or "modifying" the joint. Add in the new moly grease and replace the boot/can assembly.

Our 123/126 axles are rather well built. AND our diesels traditionally have more miles on them than other makes. I can't make the same case for the half shafts on Hondas, Toyotas, Nissan Saturns et al. Its not unusual for these inexpensive cars to require new or rebuilt half shafts because the joint wore out. AND we generally don't have the reliability data for these rebuilt half shafts because a) these cars generally don't last b) this isn't a Toyota forum.

Our MB axles generally need rebooting because of rubber age and fatigue, not because of mechanical failure (unless related to a loss of lubricant).

May saturn has 119,000 not so gentile miles on the original axels..............

I'm not of similar belief here...


Yes, by all means if you have the time and $$ rebooting 20 year old W123 axles makes sense. The axle boot is going to fail soon. But, in general, these axles and boots last a long time.

I've seen sooooo many failures on W123 turbo diesels.

These joints are not magically better because they came on a mercedes. Bottom line is they were made by Lobro which also supplies : BMW, VW, Porsche etc... The difference is it's not front wheel drive which see more angulation.

Never taken a joint apart which didn't show wear. I've seen failures anywhere from 100k- 250k miles. Turbo'd W123's generally are toward the lower end and 240's 250,000 miles. Just what I've seen.


I can understand the greater concern with the huge jump in new axle prices. In 2001 I got a new axle for $270... Now it look like they are 2X that amount.


Michael