what prevents certain axles from not being interchangeable?
 

I had to do a boot replacement on a w208 and ended up fracturing the synchromesh when I tried to remove the end. I had a spare axle from my w201 and was able to use the synchromesh from that one and everything worked out fine. Other than noting that the w208 axle was significantly thicker than the w201 shaft what would prevent the 2 from being interchangeable if you also replaced the rear wheel carrier assuming that the bolting points on the wheel carrier line up? I'm curious because there are tons of w124 around my area, but not so many w201 and if being able to swap out something like the axle with that of a part that was more plentiful then it would make things a bit easier. At some point I may need to completely redesign the center console of my 201 or start fabricating my own parts since a lot are NLA.

The answer to your question:

a lack of interest in trying, and a lack of information sharing! :-)


It’s great to know that the axle worked for you. There are a lot of things that do work just fine, but if people aren’t trying it, and documenting their success, then others won’t know to try.

Thanks for sharing!


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What is a synchromesh? If you’re substituting a thinner axle for a thicker one, you’re obviously sacrificing strength. In addition, the different moment of inertia would create an undesirable steering effect unless both sides were swapped as a set. (Because the lighter axle would accelerate more quickly)9

Axle length is a major consideration. Different differentials are different widths and thus have different half shaft lengths as a result. If the half shafts are the same length and have the same spline setup, they should be interchangeable physically.

I did not swap the axle. Only the synchromesh, which is the cage within the can that the ball bearings are contained in. I would not run 2 different axles that were not identical on one car, but other than the thickness of the axles, I could not detect any discernible differences between the 201 and 208. Well also I did notice that the 208 axle had the notches along the end for the abs sensor which shouldn't be an issue on the 201 because it's monitored at the diff. I would think that finding interchangeable parts or ways to refurbish or modify parts would be something of great interest since the majority of these cars are a dying breed. A lot of the parts are already NLA from the dealer.

Probably the cage for the CV joint.
Moment of inertia isn't a consideration. I do know that a C class / W202 has thicker shafts if the car has ASR Vs a non ASR car. A thicker shaft reduces axle wind up / spring back when only one brake is being applied to transfer power to the other wheel.

You can buy those ball cages from some CV axle rebuild outlets. I think rockford and GKN driveline shops or any decent CV rebuild business can get you those cages. The guys running the older SAABs are on that sort of rebuild level now as parts are NLA for those cars.