As the title suggests - anyone have a brand they like? Stick with OEM?

I had my CV joints replaced by the dealership @ around 100k (back before I knew how to do stuff myself). I recently did them @ 190k, although I installed some duralast CVs from Autozone.

I've had Duralast's swaybar links in the front for a bit and they seem fine, but I've been reading a lot of negative things about their CV joints online which has me a bit worried. Did I screw up by buying them? I didn't call the dealership to price out the OEM version, but in total I paid just shy of $200 for both CVs.

I also just replaced control arms, but used TRQ-branded arms. $100 each vs $190 each for the duralast part and $350 for OEM. So they're cheaper, but they seem very well made and say made in Taiwan (duralast CVs made in China).

Thoughts??

 

Last month Rock auto had RDX CV joints on clearance for about $35. They were refurbished ones. I think that is the way to go. I think CV joints are pretty complex because each joint needs to go multiple ways and the aftermarkets have trouble with the precision (But just my opinion) OEM's are REALLY pricey; Often times 5 X more expensive.

I think a refurbished OEM shaft is the way to go.

I just checked, they still have them. I guess it sometimes pays off to have a low production car

 

Remanufactured OEM axle is better choice than new aftermarket axles. For the price I'm not sure how much they actually do to remanufacture them but if they at least inspect both the joints for any problems and don't send on anything with an issue then you should be good to go. I've read some people instantly have a vibration with some of the reman axles and this would the case if they didn't inspect the inner joint or did inspect it and let it go with pitted area in the inner cup.

 

That's what happened to me. I messed up my CV joint when I changed my front struts. After that my car would vibrate from like 15 to 30 miles. I felt it in my foot.

I replaced it with one of the rebuilt ones and the install was pretty straightforward and it resolved the problem.

They are not normally that inexpensive. Rockauto bought them as a closeout from another parts company.

 

Welp, about a month and 3k ish miles in, I think one of the Duralast CVs went bad. Started getting a knocking noise from front left that is distinctly worse when turning the wheel. The noise is perfectly proportional to the wheel speed.

I just ordered the new version of those Cardone CV axles - with shipping, $65 each, less than I paid for the Duralasts. Gonna install these and then see if I can shake Autozone down for a refund on those, I spend a ton of $$ there anyways...

 

Remanufactured OEM is definitely the way. They can be hard to fine, but look around for shops that specialize in OEM axle repair. I had a spot by me back when I lived in California that was a Honda/Acura axle specialist shop. You could bring your OEM axles in, and they'd have them completely rebuilt in under 24 hours for you. I got tired of blowing axles on my lowered 90s Accord, and once I took some OEM ones for them to refresh, I never had issues again. I want to say it cost like $120 a pair or so.

I'm sure that there are similar shops around still, you just gotta look for them. Because even refurbished parts can be a bit uncertain when buying online. Although I have had great luck with Cardone so far. I got their J37 throttle body for 1/3 of the new price from Honda, and its been flawless.

 

Update: turns out once of the Duralast CV axles was indeed bad. That knocking noise was completely eliminated when I switched them out to the new Cardone CVs. They felt MUCH better built even before putting them in - no play in each CV joint, unlike the duralasts.

Good looks on the suggestion!

 

Glad it solved your problem!