Rear axle rebuild/replacement?

[duracellttu]

I’m going though a big maintenance job replacing all of my wheel bearings. What is the consensus on rear axle maintenance? I have a ~160k mikes on them. Do I need to consider a rebuild or replacement? TIA!

PS - if somebody know of a good shop to rebuild these in LA please let me know.

[bigjae46]

You could remove the CV, clean and regrease the inner and outer joints. MIght need to do the passenger inner boot due to heat from the exhaust.

[duracellttu]

Is this amount of play normal?

[Shadytype]

That play might be ok because the car is unloaded. Your parts are free balling right now.

If you load them up by putting the car on the ground there will probably be nil

[duracellttu]

When my driver's side half-shaft failed at COTA, I opted for the upgraded set from the Drivershaft Shop. All has been well since.

https://www.driveshaftshop.com/impor...ar-c-v-upgrade

Feff

I’m trying to figure out what type of assessment will give me heads up that is about to fail. Did you have any indications prior to your failure? Trying to get ahead of this.

I saw the driveshaft shop option, but debated whether this or the FCP Euro lifetime warranty was a better option.

[Konok]

Posting this older thread for those of you who find this way I did. I had some cv issues with my 03 e46 m3: sounded like they were binding up when backing out of parking spots and taking off after going from R to 1st gear. Noticed I had a seal leak at the diff output shaft too. So seals easy to find. I wasn’t happy with the cost of OEM half shafts/axles nor the mixed reviews of affordable aftermarket units. Looked around a bit and found these and had them shipped over. https://www.bmwmdev.com/shop/the-bmw...r-cv-joint-kit

It’s been 2 days since I completed the install of these and the output & flange seals. I am so pleased with the results. Soooo much drivetrain slop has been taken out with this. (It’s like somebody had dialed in the lash in diff). I was not expecting that result, and had I known I would have done this before when installing the 3 diff bushings and diff input seal. Between this and the diff bushings I am not hearing or feeling any m-clunk. Europeans seem to talk about these CV joints on their boards, but not seen much about it here in the US as a maintenance item, in my limited research. My car has -95K miles and I’m the 3rd owner. Other drivetrain repairs made other than mentioned above in the past couple have years has included the flex disk, transmission mounts, and center support bearing for the driveshaft. Just thought I’d add this to mix. Hope this helps somebody else out.

[EthanolTurbo]

Posting this older thread for those of you who find this way I did. I had some cv issues with my 03 e46 m3: sounded like they were binding up when backing out of parking spots and taking off after going from R to 1st gear. Noticed I had a seal leak at the diff output shaft too. So seals easy to find. I wasn’t happy with the cost of OEM half shafts/axles nor the mixed reviews of affordable aftermarket units. Looked around a bit and found these and had them shipped over. https://www.bmwmdev.com/shop/the-bmw...r-cv-joint-kit

It’s been 2 days since I completed the install of these and the output & flange seals. I am so pleased with the results. Soooo much drivetrain slop has been taken out with this. (It’s like somebody had dialed in the lash in diff). I was not expecting that result, and had I known I would have done this before when installing the 3 diff bushings and diff input seal. Between this and the diff bushings I am not hearing or feeling any m-clunk. Europeans seem to talk about these CV joints on their boards, but not seen much about it here in the US as a maintenance item, in my limited research. My car has -95K miles and I’m the 3rd owner. Other drivetrain repairs made other than mentioned above in the past couple have years has included the flex disk, transmission mounts, and center support bearing for the driveshaft. Just thought I’d add this to mix. Hope this helps somebody else out.

Awesome. Definitely gonna try this out before I get new axles.

[tlow98]

Same. Thanks for posting!

[Mattn1192]

I just did my rear axle’s a week ago. All I did was replace all 4 boots, and remove/repack the grease. Then installed.

[Epsilon]

Posting this older thread for those of you who find this way I did. I had some cv issues with my 03 e46 m3: sounded like they were binding up when backing out of parking spots and taking off after going from R to 1st gear. Noticed I had a seal leak at the diff output shaft too. So seals easy to find. I wasn’t happy with the cost of OEM half shafts/axles nor the mixed reviews of affordable aftermarket units. Looked around a bit and found these and had them shipped over. https://www.bmwmdev.com/shop/the-bmw...r-cv-joint-kit

Found a YT video here:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mG29dLUSMFs&t=17s

[90mtx]

Konok,
Any updates on your CV joints? Still holding strong?

Jonathan

[Konok]

Yes, still holding strong and feels/sounds good. Checked bolts and boots a couple times and all is good.

[robgill]

Yes, still holding strong and feels/sounds good. Checked bolts and boots a couple times and all is good.

Nice find! just ordered a set.

[bigjae46]

I’ve done 2 more cars - replaced 4 boots and repacked. The common theme is the grease was a liquid. Even if the boots are in decent shape it’s probably time to do this especially if you are pressing the axle out of the hub.

And whatever you do…don’t use an aftermarket axle.

[texaslonghorn]

I'm needing to repack the grease on cv axles after leaking onto thr ground when I removed the diff. Any idea how to remove the boots for the outer and inner joints?