Rebuilt OEM axles 850.

Post by **rguzz** » 06 Sep 2016, 13:05

Found 3 possibilities, wonder if anyone can suggest a preference. Raxles will rebuild your core if it is OEM but does not stock them otherwise, 189$, Fla. Axles Unlimited, Charlotte NC has them stocked 169$. CVJ Axles in Denver has them stocked at 84$! Quite a difference in pricing. All of these are OEM only. Unclear about the rebuild parts. A couple of consumer complaints against Axles Unlimited in NC but complaints sound complicated. Pricing is after core has been returned and does not include shipping at any of these places. Raxles may be the safest bet but I'll have to have mine pulled and wait for it to return. Has anyone had experience either way with any of these places (I have used Raxles in the past with good results) but will need to wait on mine to be rebuilt!

Post by **BEJinFbk** » 06 Sep 2016, 14:38

Both of mine have been rebuilt by Raxles.
Marty is a sure thing - And I got pocket knives!

Post by **98v70dad** » 06 Sep 2016, 19:48

I did not have good luck with axles unlimited. I hate to beat them up but these are just the facts in my case. My axle arrived quickly and looked like a good part. I installed it and it leaked around the transmission seal within an hour of putting it on. I removed it the next weekend, cleaned up the sealing surface with fine steel wool (it had been painted) and found a big pit in the seal surface. It looked like it had been damaged at some point. Luckily, I was able to re-position my seal a bit to miss the pit and it hasn't leaked since. Big unnecessary PITA. When shopping I was told that the part was all OE but the boots used were not genuine volvo. How do I know? I bought volvo boots a week earlier to fix my torn boot and decided that it was better to just replace the whole part since it was getting old. I compared them before I returned the volvo boots. The axle nut is a cheap aftermarket part, definitely not OEM. The nut is tiny CAD plated part instead of the huge black coated nuts volvo uses. The volvo nut I ordered to replace it doesn't even fit whih makes me wonder about the origin of the axle and internals...are they really remanufactured OE-the volvo nut should fit. The parts used may be adequate but they were not volvo parts as I was told before the sale. I specifically asked if volvo parts were used before placing my order and was told yes. Also, the cost is deceptively low. The core charge is only refunded if you return an OE part. There is a piece of paper in the box explaining this and it makes it absolutely clear. My return axle was an after market so I got stuck paying cost PLUS the core charge of $85. I even asked before I ordered why he wanted the core back if he was supplying rebuilt OE parts and the response was "there's probably something OE on it that I can use". What I was told and the return instructions didn't match. I felt like I was sold a defective part (inadequately overhauled) and was deceived on several aspects of the sale. I wouldn't buy from them again. Of course you may have a better experience. Mine wasn't good. Of course the owner offered to make everything right. But after removing the axle twice and the pain and effort it requires and the days of missed work due to having an undriveable vehicle I decided to just go with what I've got and chalk the whole experience up to optimism and bad judgement. I had a bad feeling about axles unlimited but ordered the part anyway. I wouldn't do it again I'm going with raxles next time.

Post by **erikv11** » 06 Sep 2016, 20:20

I've only ever used raxles.com. Still I would go that way given the options you list, unless the car (and the axle) didn't need to last that long, anyway. Axles Unlimited would have to be amazingly good to be worth the $20 savings vs. raxles.com.

Post by **rguzz** » 06 Sep 2016, 20:27

Sounds like Raxles it is. Not surprised, need to plan a bit as I don't have a spare and will have to use the one on the car for the rebuild. Thanks.

Post by **98v70dad** » 06 Sep 2016, 20:31

erikv11 wrote:I've only ever used raxles.com. Still I would go that way given the options you list, unless the car (and the axle) didn't need to last that long, anyway. Axles Unlimited would have to be amazingly good to be worth the $20 savings vs. raxles.com.

The issue with raxles.com was the extra cost it's the fact that he no longer has any cores to overhaul. You have to send him a core or at least that was the case for my car. I didn't have time to go looking for one. That said the path I took didn't work out for me. I would have been better off locating a core.

Post by **98v70dad** » 06 Sep 2016, 20:32

98v70dad wrote:
erikv11 wrote:I've only ever used raxles.com. Still I would go that way given the options you list, unless the car (and the axle) didn't need to last that long, anyway. Axles Unlimited would have to be amazingly good to be worth the $20 savings vs. raxles.com.
The issue with raxles.com wasnt the extra cost it's the fact that he no longer has any cores to overhaul. You have to send him a core or at least that was the case for my car. I didn't have time to go looking for one. That said the path I took didn't work out for me. I would have been better off locating a core.

Post by **98v70dad** » 06 Sep 2016, 20:36

98v70dad wrote:
98v70dad wrote:
erikv11 wrote:I've only ever used raxles.com. Still I would go that way given the options you list, unless the car (and the axle) didn't need to last that long, anyway. Axles Unlimited would have to be amazingly good to be worth the $20 savings vs. raxles.com.
The issue with raxles.com wasnt the extra cost it's the fact that he no longer has any cores to overhaul. You have to send him a core or at least that was the case for my car. I didn't have time to go looking for one. That said the path I took didn't work out for me. I would have been better off locating a core.

Sorry about the duplicate post. I quoted myself instead of editing out an error. The second post has the error corrected.

Post by **cn90** » 06 Sep 2016, 20:52

Given that aftermarket axles are just a gamble (search for EMPI, Duralast etc.), you have a few options:

1. Ask local Volvo dealer where they get the axles from. You will be surprised my local dealer buys axles from NAPA!
I think NAPA carries better axles than Autozone etc.
But I may be wrong.

2. Search ebay, there are quite a few OEM axles for about $40, free shipping etc.
- Ask the ebay seller if this is OEM Volvo and not aftermarket axle.
- Ask them to check if there is any play.
- If all is good, buy it and reboot once you receive the axle.

This way you have an OEM axle CV joints and new boots.

The thread on CV Boot is below, I use Audi GKN Boot for INNER and Volvo GKN for OUTER.
https://www.matthewsvolvosite.com/forums ... hp?t=64252

The more I think about this issue of lack of GKN parts for 850 and S/V70, I think this ebay + reboot approach is a reasonable option.

PS: There is a guy in VW forum with 360K miles and original CV joints. You know what he does? He religiously reboot the CV joint every 80K, no matter what. This proves to you that virtually all CV damage is caused by dirt/debris, if you keep the rubber boot 100% intact, the CV joint lasts the life of the car.

Post by **98v70dad** » 08 Sep 2016, 16:32

cn90 wrote:Given that aftermarket axles are just a gamble (search for EMPI, Duralast etc.), you have a few options:

1. Ask local Volvo dealer where they get the axles from. You will be surprised my local dealer buys axles from NAPA!
I think NAPA carries better axles than Autozone etc.
But I may be wrong.

2. Search ebay, there are quite a few OEM axles for about $40, free shipping etc.
- Ask the ebay seller if this is OEM Volvo and not aftermarket axle.
- Ask them to check if there is any play.
- If all is good, buy it and reboot once you receive the axle.

This way you have an OEM axle CV joints and new boots.

The thread on CV Boot is below, I use Audi GKN Boot for INNER and Volvo GKN for OUTER.
https://www.matthewsvolvosite.com/forums ... hp?t=64252

The more I think about this issue of lack of GKN parts for 850 and S/V70, I think this ebay + reboot approach is a reasonable option.

PS: There is a guy in VW forum with 360K miles and original CV joints. You know what he does? He religiously reboot the CV joint every 80K, no matter what. This proves to you that virtually all CV damage is caused by dirt/debris, if you keep the rubber boot 100% intact, the CV joint lasts the life of the car.

If you had a pile of old used axles to chose from how would you check for play and how would you know to tell aftermarket from an OE part? I'm going Monday to sort through a bunch of them but I don't know what I'm looking for and how to tell which parts have too much play.