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Reman half shafts

6K views 23 replies 4 participants last post by  JayMac 
#1 ·
Has anyone tried the half shafts from Rock Auto. You can pick up re manufactured shafts shafts for @$50. I am thinking about grabbing a set. Just wondering if anyone has tried them.
Thanks.
 
#2 ·
Got 'em on my 325is right now. No problems. I've dogged the crap out of them, too.

That was after I wasted money on the junky, wrong-length NEW CV axles that Advance Auto sells. Broke three of them in a row (pulled the outer joint apart) before I figured out they were TOO SHORT.
 
#3 ·
Ouch, I hear that. I had a custom set made for the Cobra from The Drive Shaft Shop. When I got them I said I thought they were too short. The told me that I was wrong and they sent the right ones. They pop out at high speed cornering. I don't know much but i do know I have my old ones back in and no problems less the $$$ spent on them.

Did those come all greased up and with the end plates on? The picture shows them without so I just want to plan ahead.
 
#4 ·
Nope, you have to grease them and transfer the end plates from your old axles. They DO come with the grease, however.

If you want a laugh, go to Advance Auto's website and search for E36 axles, then read my review. Mine's the top one. "The Horn Doc" is my screen name. I pulled no punches giving them grief.
 
#6 ·
Well these come with a limiter's lifetime warranty. Of course there is probably fine print but for the price they are worth a look. Horn says he has them and no issues. I always find it odd that BMW parts are 5 and 6 times what other parts cost. Any chance you know who supplied the NAPA ones. Could be the same supplier for Advance.
 
#7 ·
I don't know what the suppler was, but it was a PIA to get the bolts on the output flange. They had the cv joint boot pretty much overlapping the bolt holes. When I got the shaft from pelican there was plenty of room to put bolts on since the cv boot was smaller in diameter.

Sent from my SCH-I500 using Bimmer App
 
#9 ·
Okay here are some shots right out of the box. Notice that the shaft is thinner in the middle but everything else looks pretty good. You get a tube of grease and a new axle nut. FYI the old one weighed in @13.5 pounds versus the new at just over 14 pounds.










 
#10 ·
Upon closer look they are mfg in China, go figure. You have to do a little work. You apply the grease and you use the cap form your old axle. Removing the cap is covered in the Bentley and there are also a couple of videos on you tube. I think you just tap it off and back on. The shaft is 28 mm the oem shaft is actually less @27mm. Comparing them to the extra cobra axles I have I would say that the shaft is solid. Not positive but the added weight and less diameter do make it appear so. I plan to use these and clean up the old ones to see what kind of wear is in the cv joint. I happen to have one of BMW's $500 replacements in one of the cars. I certainly would have gone this route but we needed an axle that day and that was what we did. I have no idea of whom make the axles Pelican has that are a few hundred less but at least this is an inexpensive alternative that is out there. With shipping I have @$130 in two axles. I guess the upside is regardless of where they are made you have a lifetime warranty, although I don't know what that all covers, from a company doing business in the states. Cardone has some videos on Youtube also so you can get some idea of their stuff.

From the vids the shaft are heat treated steel, solid.

It took about a minute for me to knock the cap off. No vice just laid it down with the end exposed. I hit it harder than a tap but did not go crazy because I did not want to damage the cap. I just started hitting and each time rotated the shaft about a quarter turn. By the sound you will hear when it starts to move.


CV joint with grease.


No damage to the edges.



From what I have been able to gather so far you should be able to remove the clip and pull the inner part for cleaning and inspection. No need to mess around with boots......I think!
 
#11 ·
Looks mighty familiar! But you paid $130 for BOTH with shipping? Mine were $130 EACH with shipping. :mad: From Rock Auto, and they are Cardone brand, same as yours. The grease was in a little black bellows-like bottle with a red cap, right?
 
#12 ·
Yes sir. I think you ordered the wrong number. Look at the site, one is a reman and they charge you a core charge of $75 you send in your old axles. The other one is new and only net $10 more. You might be able to recoup if you have the old axles and the paperwork.
 
#13 · (Edited)
Forgot to ask, if you liked 'em at $130 what do you think of the value for $55?

Ah, hold that thought. I am having troubles getting these in. They appear too long. Hub and shaft look okay but overall collapsed length is causing me an issue. See photo.



I am holding these on the garage floor so they might not be perfectly perpendicular to the floor but look at the top. The cv is fully collapsed and the total overall length is not the same. I am having trouble fitting these and am going to put in the old ones until I hear back with someone that can solve this. If you view the top of the shaft as pyramid the top two levels need to go. That is a significant addition to the oem axle. I am going to contact Cardone and see what they say. More to follow.:confused:
 
#14 ·
I think you ordered the wrong one, not me. (yes, there was a core exchange). Mine fit fine and have worked flawlessly. They sure didn't look like that on the inboard end when fully compressed.

What do I think of them at $55? Not much if they won't fit! :confused:

By the way, by editing a previous post, it doesn't bump it up to the top or flag it as being a new posting, so I had to go to the second page of threads to find your update. Thanks for the heads-up. I would have never seen it otherwise.
 
#15 ·
Well they are in. I think it is operator error. I must have all the geometry out of whack because I have had everything lying in pieces. After staring at them for awhile it hit me that if the gap between the cap and the base was the same the overall length has to be the same because the cap is the furthest point out. I jacked up the hub as far as it would go after removing the shock and they went right in. I am for the moment officially confused. Thanks for the heads up on the edit. Just finished bolting everything up and running the car in gear. All is good. I did send that shot to Cardone. It does make you wonder by the looks. The part I ordered was 669271 you should have had 609271, I think. Do you still have the info? From Cardone's site both cars use these numbers.
I am curious as to the difference between new and rebuild. I have to do the front end so the shake down will be a week or two off. As usual, I will keep you up to date on how these go. I have visions of the shaft punching a whole in the cap.
 
#16 ·
I'll have to look it up on my desktop, which axle number I ordered. I'm being extremely lazy watching TV and using the laptop. :tsk: I doubt your axle is going to poke a hole through the end cap. If it fit in there, it's OK. If it was really that much too long, you couldn't have forced it in place. That's just the opposite of the Advance Auto axles. They were literally stretched into place and pulled apart as soon as I put an acceleration load on them. I felt so stupid when I realized after changing everything on the rear suspension it wasn't the car, it was the crap parts.

Good luck with yours! :thumbup:
 
#18 ·
Okay all back together including the front strut, poly bushings and end links. So far no issues with the axles and no grease flying around. After doing the front bushings i understand why BMW's are notorious for scrubbing tires. I was able to pull the old bushings off by soaking then a touch with PB blaster. Press out the old and popped in the poly. The stock from the non M are pretty weak when you compare all three.



And the results of worn bushings get you this.



Good thing new skins were in the budget. Also for what it is worth I was able to swap out the belts by just removing the top shroud. Took @ 1/2 hour. Labor saving gets spent tomorrow on a mid rise car lift so I am not rolling around in the grime anymore.:thumbup:
 
#20 ·
#21 ·
The drive over seems to give better / clear access under the car but on the other hand who has an electrical pannel in their garage to run 10 gauge wire to ? Also takes up a lot of space. So I can see why the scissors is attracive - more compact, lifts higher, hopefully can just plug into a normal 20amp circuit. Sure would like a report when you get it as it sure is tempting , especially for an old fart like me.
 
#22 ·
John, as will everything I attempt it always takes longer so i have not ordered. I did eliminate the Kwik Bay even though I like it the best. The lifting plate is perfect for the e36 it creates issues for other vehicles. On my wife's car the jack points are @56 inches apart and that is what the pad is on the Kwik Bay. I have visions of it slipping off one end or me damaging the underside of the car so that is a real issue. On my other car the front frame rails are narrow, (19 inches) so you have to get the additional bars that lay across to enable picking up vehicles with narrow frame rails. I reasoned that if I needed to do tranny work where I need the center open I can raise the car up on the lift and drop it down on the jack stands to open up the center if needed. Called them today to inquire as to freight to ship and they quoted @ $220. I can barely drive it for that so they will deliver. The TD has 7 locking positions versus 4 and a larger pump and an additional year warranty on the hydraulics. The MR is 1/2 inch lower so that helps when figuring out how to layout the necessarily boards to get the cars over. Don't know if I would go this extreme with the wood but you get the idea.


This is similar to what I have in mind with the step up wood on the floor. I don't have the height this guy has but I can raise the cars @ 35 inches so that is much better than stands. Not perfect but a whole lot better than rolling around on the floor while the car is on jack stand. Keep tiping my beer!
 
#23 ·
That looks pretty good, Jay, but my knees will not tolerate even a little bit of squatting and waddling under the car, so I'm going to have to find a two-post lift if I buy anything at all. How much is that mid-lift? I can get a new two-post 9000 pound lift for < $1500. I'll have to build a building for it, but it will be worth it. I understand needing it semi-portable, something the two-post will never be. I wish I could use a mid-level lift.

How did a CV axle thread morph into a lift thread? :rofl:
 
#24 ·
Boy you are grumpy! Enjoy the morph! Luckily I can still roll around but I was looking for bang for the buck which also includes selling at some point if I outgrow playing with the cars. Up to this point it has been a Harbor Freight jack and jack stands. If I spend a day on the floor I pay for it later myself. A roller stool of some sort was coming also. I thought oil changes tires, brakes, etc. All crap I have done before but hopefully a little easier. The more expensive of the lifts is $1395. Looking for a used one also but so far no luck. Thought about a two post but just couldn't justify the cost.
 
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