CV axles/half shafts

[hrt4me]

the consensus seems to be that the stock oem half shafts are much stronger than CV axles from the various auto parts stores, e.g. Napa, Autozone, O'Reilly's, Advance Auto, etc.; so would it be worthwhile to pull CV axles from 4Runners in auto salvage junk yards?

if so, then how would I determine their quality prior to pulling them?

 

[Synister]

the consensus seems to be that the stock oem half shafts are much stronger than CV axles from the various auto parts stores, e.g. Napa, Autozone, O'Reilly's, Advance Auto, etc.; so would it be worthwhile to pull CV axles from 4Runners in auto salvage junk yards?

if so, then how would I determine their quality prior to pulling them?

The internals on these CVs are pretty robust. What usually wears out is the boot and the bands clamping the boot to the shaft, thereby allowing water and grime in to contaminate the grease. As long as the shaft is not visibly leaking a massive amount of grease ( a little is probably acceptable) I would say the shaft is good. You could also buy a new boot kit and a couple tubes of CV and reboot/grease them to near good as new.

 

[hrt4me]

I wouldn't mind having a spare CV axle or two... just planning ahead for something which I presume is not a matter of if, but when...)

 

[fourwd1]

Once you have the axle out, hold the long side in one hand and slowly move the short side around with the other hand. There shouldn't be any play/slop, and if you feel any grinding, that means dirt has gotten in there.

 

[hrt4me]

Once you have the axle out, hold the long side in one hand and slowly move the short side around with the other hand. There shouldn't be any play/slop, and if you feel any grinding, that means dirt has gotten in there.

thanks, that helps! I'll probably make it to several salvage yards this week to pull some to rebuild (as necessary) to keep with me as spares