Good half shaft brand?

[hill8570]

Urg. While bleeding my brakes, I noticed my driver's side CV joint boot is ripped around. I'm gonna just solvent-weld on a split boot to keep it from getting any worse for now, but when the weather warms up a bit I'll probably want to replace the half shaft.

Toyota looks awfully proud of their half-shaft, and the original only lasted 9 years anyhow. The current replacement has been on there 6 years...whatever NAPA was selling at the time (probably A1 Cardone).

Anywho, looks like Rockauto and NAPA both carry A1 Cardone (reman) and Cardone Select (new...probably Chinese built). I've heard some less than stellar stories about them, and the fact that they're "lifetime warrantied" worries me, since that's usually a red flag for junk. Are there any other known-good alternatives?

Anybody ever use Raxles? I've heard some pretty good buzz about their remans.

How about Toyota remanufactured (from Toyota)? Price doesn't look too bad through 1sttoyota.com but I have a feeling shipping the core back would be a deal breaker.

[chronoti]

cardone they make new not rebuilt axles

[peshwa]

-10 on Cardone..they rebrand it and sell as Mevotech for Kragens here and its A W F U L stuff..I bought that Mevotech for $60.00 after core exchange, put in and next turn it started slow clicking...i was mad as hell..waiting for the weather to improve when i can use the "Limited Lifetime warranty"...i desperately want to use that warranty...Getting a new is not an option except OEM...the new axles they make are all CHINA made with absolutely crappy quality control..... if anyone has better experiences please share...

[haux]

I bought A1 Cardone remans from rockauto. Terrible stuff. They're already showing rust, and I suspect that in a year they will look worse than my originals after 10 years. They work fine for now, however. Had I been smarter at the time I would have gone with Toyota remans. The price you were quoted from your local dealer may have been inflated. 1sttoyota lists the MSRP for each item. If your local dealer's price is higher, ask them to give you the MSRP and they probably will. If you decide to go that route, find out exactly how much it will cost you in the end for both, and pick the cheapest one (local or onlne).

Otherwise, I can't recommend another aftermarket brand. But I'd say no to A1 Cardone.

[Nervous]

NAPA sells also new shafts, for about $100. I have installed one 2 years ago - still works fine. Shows some rust but who cares?

[chronoti]

hummmm i have the new cardone on mine for about 4 years now, still good, and i abuse the hell out of them, meh.

but if napa has new non remans +1 to them