Subaru reman CV axle vs Cardone

"NaturallyAspirated" (NaturallyAspirated) 02/15/2016 at 19:54 • Filed to: Axle, Reman, Subaru, Cardone

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You hear a lot about Subarus being picky about axles, about “New, made in China” replacement axles not being great, and that Subaru axles are the only ones to use on your Subie. Now, I add my voice to these anecdotes.

The top axle in the picture is a Cardone Select 66-7055, “new, made in China,” and ostensibly the correct axle for my ‘98 Subaru Legacy Outback. I installed it about 2 years ago and I have regretted it ever since. Odd vibrations and noises started about the same time I installed this axle.

The bottom axle in the picture is a genuine Subaru remanufactured axle, part no SOA966H900R1. I installed this today, and my car now runs smooth and quiet. Or, at least as quiet as can be expected of a 18 year old station wagon.

Notice how they aren’t the same length? The Subaru axle is slightly, but measurably shorter than the aftermarket. The splined portion on the hub end seems just a hair shorter as well, although I didn’t measure it.

The boots on the Subaru axle are made of a heavy rubbery material, while the aftermarket boots feel thin and plasticy (and what’s with the weird shape of the inner boot?).

The Subaru axle is much more expensive (about 3x the price of the Cardone), but I feel strongly that it’ll last at least as long as the rest of the car does.

Brickman > NaturallyAspirated 02/15/2016 at 19:59

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The classic “you get what you pay for” Some times remans are better than various part companies with varying specs.

lone_liberal > NaturallyAspirated 02/15/2016 at 20:12

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The same kind of thing happens with old cars and reproduction parts. Originals are almost always much better.

Urambo Tauro > NaturallyAspirated 02/15/2016 at 20:15

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A quick Google search tells me that the Cardone unit should still be under warranty. Is that true?

If so, that’s pretty clever, offering a warranty when no one is going to want to put the free replacement back in...

Sweet Trav > NaturallyAspirated 02/15/2016 at 20:16

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my theory for driveline parts (half shafts, wheel bearings, u-joints etc.) has always been to buy OEM and if you cant buy OEM buy the Best NAPA premium part you can buy.

You would literally not believe the quality of some of the Chinese bearings i used to deal with.

The frumious Bandersnatch! > NaturallyAspirated 02/15/2016 at 20:20

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I got burned by cardone on Jeep Liberty half shafts. They were about 3/4 inch shorter. That seems to be the difference between popping out when you go around a corner and not popping out. Booo Cardone, booooooo! [boo reference below]

CaptDale - is secretly British > NaturallyAspirated 02/15/2016 at 20:22

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We see this all the time here. People get the aftermarket ones and have them installed elsewhere after we suggest new ones. They almost always come back for factory ones, plus then they have to pay the core charge too because Subaru won’t take the crap aftermarket ones as cores.

JRapp: now as good as new again > NaturallyAspirated 02/15/2016 at 20:34

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Not that I’m defending the Chinese made part, but are you sure the inner bearing is just not unseated inside the housing, allowing it to stretch out and appear longer? It looks like inner the dust boot is streched out more than normal..

NaturallyAspirated > JRapp: now as good as new again 02/15/2016 at 21:03

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Yeah, that’s possible. The joints on the Cardone axle are pretty sloppy as far as in-and-out motion goes. For the picture I let the axles sit wherever they wanted to so it’s plausible I could have compressed the Cardone axle to make it the same length.

Frenchlicker > Sweet Trav 02/15/2016 at 22:01

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I work for a well known Remanufacturing company and you wouldn't believe the grade bearing we use in our units. Timken sells bearings graded from 1-10, I heard ours are closer to the one than to the ten.

Sweet Trav > Frenchlicker 02/15/2016 at 22:26

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Timken makes good Tapered Roller Bearings and that’s about it, everything else is purchased from the market and the timken name is slapped on it, for the most part.

Frenchlicker > Sweet Trav 02/15/2016 at 22:29

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That’s what we use, however their lower grade stuff is junk. We’ve been having problems with metal coming off the rollers and getting stuck on the race. It’s very weird.

Rusty Vandura - www.tinyurl.com/keepoppo > Urambo Tauro 02/15/2016 at 22:32

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Irony!

itranthelasttimeiparkedit > NaturallyAspirated 02/15/2016 at 23:29

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I need axles for my e30 and have not purchased anything yet because I am torn between oem and reman...