Getting ready to do the CV boots on our 2005 4Runner and need help figuring out if it has aftermarket axles or not.
I was told the 5th Gen CV boot kits are interchangeable with the 4th gen.
My 16' 5th gen has 11-1/2" diameter (OD) inner axle cup and the 4th gen is 10-1/2" diameter (OD) and the 4th generation does not the cutouts to use a chisel on to remove them.
Do these look OEM?

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Check this thread - OEM CV Axle, are there 2 different types?

Broader question: Are aftermarket front axles reliable? Recently had front right replaced. Mechanic was able to find an OEM axle. Claimed the aftermarket stuff was junk?

Anyone have any opinion? More to the point, does anyone have any positive experience with aftermarket front axles? (I'm running an 07 SR5).

If you search these forums you will find that the general consensus is that the OEM axles are far superior to any aftermarket axles.

I don't know if the CV thread I commented in many moons ago is still around and showed up as part of the history referenced here. FWIW, visually, my 2003 V-8 OE CV was identical visually to the NAPA (Cardone) replacement. Naturally, I didn't pull the boots off of a brand new part to look at the trilobes, but for everything I could see (tulips, boots, length, diameters, etc.) they were the same. Nor did I cut samples for metallurgy testing. For $99 at the time, it sure beat the mess of trying to reboot the existing axle. I didn't do any heavy off-roading with the 4th gen, just farm roads, a little beach sand, and urban obstacles like curbs/sidewalks, but the NAPA never gave me any issues. YMMV, of course.

Are you sure the Cardone axle was a "new" axle or could it have been a remanufactured axle?

It is entirely and highly possible to get a OEM axle that was turned in as a "core" and then rebuilt and sold as a remanufactured axle, I highly suspect that most OEM axles that get turned in as cores are only re-greased and rebooted since the bearings very very rarely wear out unless they're ran for a very long time after all the grease has slung out via a torn boot.

It doesn't look OEM because it doesn't have the turned notches for the removal/installation tool and the boot clamp says "GSP".

It was purchased as a supposedly new NAPA MaxDrive axle. Cardone lifetime warranty card was inside the box. Can't remember if NAPA was even offering reman'd options at the time.

Checking my maintenance log, this was back in June of 2015. A quick check of the NAPA website shows they no longer use the MaxDrive name and none of the current CV photos (new or reman) resemble the tulips on the CVs I swapped.