NAPA Drive Axle (CV Axle) Differences?

NAPA has 6 different CV's for our trucks. 3 have regular neoprene boot & 3 have heavy duty thermoplastic outboard boot. The heavy duty boot is ~$30 more. Anybody know the difference in all these besides the boots? It appears they're all made by CARDONE, which I always thought was shit but everybody says they've had good luck w/NAPA CV's.

 

Also following because I’d like to replace one or both of my front CV axles very soon and OEM is like three times more expensive than a cheap one from AutoZone with a lifetime warranty. But I would say I’m OK with paying more if it means I don’t have to worry about it or change it out again more frequently or sooner

 

The scary thing is when you start reading reviews on the cheap CV axles for the Tacoma, most of the reviews say things like the boots are under filled with Greece or have no grease at all, or it’s missing c clips, or that they break shortly after installation. You can get OEMCV axles for about $330 from Camelback Toyota. All I keep thinking to myself is that if there were ever a part on my truck where I say that it is worth it to buy the more expensive OEM option, the axle might be one of those places

 

I have close to 10k miles on an Autozone axle without problems. Not a huge number but it had grease, the circlip and hasn’t broken.

 

Just go OEM or get rebuilt from CVJ, anything from an auto parts store just can’t take the angles if you are lifted it off-road.

 

How are the CVJ's different than the reman. OEM from Napa that are $64 + $55 core?

 

I have run the Napa new ones not the remanufactured ones on several vehicles and never had an issue.

 

To answer some of my original question (to the best of my knowledge after researching a bit):
3 are reman.
3 are new
1 of the reman. appear to be OEM reman. (the cheapest of the bunch)
Reman. carry a 3 year/36K mile warranty
New carry a lifetime warranty

 

Get the new ones from Napa, keep your OEM's and rebuild when you have time. If you destroy (I never have) a new Napa one go get a new one and use as a backup.

 

CVJ are reman OEM shaftsbut you can get OEM or high clearance boots put on to reduce the issue of the ribs rubbing when the truck is lifted or off-road.
https://www.cvjreman.com/

 

I thought I was dead set on getting OEM but I have decided on the $116 Napa cv axle with the heavy duty outer boot. It has a lifetime warranty & is in stock at basically all Napa stores near me.

 

I’ve read many people that got those high clearance boots only to have them tear quickly, as in less than 2 years or 20K miles. Many people. Thanks.

 

Not sure what people those are but no issues with mine and well over 20k miles.

 

I have had good luck with cardone. 3" lift, no diff drop, and I'm far from gentle offroad. Bought brand new napa cv's with the thermoplastic boots 2 years ago and the boots still look new. Much better idea than rubber imo

 

i relpaced mine with new not rebuilt from napa they had 2 grades oem and heavy duty with blue boots on them 45000 miles no problem they were 188.75a piece

 

I bought my truck December 2017 with 126k miles on it (with a spacer lift and original axles as far as I could tell)
And since THEN, I have had a small grease leak at the passenger inner cv boot putting a small but noticeable amount of grease spillage but we have never been able to find an obvious spot where the grease is coming from.
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To this day, I have been wheeling my truck hard, regularly without any noticeable change or weird noises or weird performance at my front axles. That being said... I want to replace the slow leaky OEM axle with a new thermoplastic heavy duty lifetime warranty Napa axle & rebuild my OEM leaky one and keep that in the truck as a spare. Meanwhile testing the NAPA to see if I can confidently put a NAPA in my drivers side and keep that OEM as a replacement too. Truck has now 136k miles. Is wheeled hard and has given me no grief whatsoever. Spacer lift has been gone since I bought it but I have big tires low offset wheels. I am somewhat careful when I wheel though. I use 2wd when I’m going fast on rough roads and I put it in 2wd to make tight turns or U turns on trails with super uneven terrain.

 

A chain store CV (advance auto, etc) lifetime warranty is not "lifetime" its limited lifetime against normal wear and tear. I returned one for a torn boot at 2 years and 2 months from install and they made me absolutly fight for a replacement, even with a receipt. They said it was out of normal life expectancy but because I had my receipts they will do me a favor. (Gee, thanks fella, like it's coming out of your pocket) another good option is call LKQ and get an OEM take-off for $74 shipped.

 

Picked up my Napa lifetime warranty CV axle with heavy duty thermoplastic outer boot today. Wanted to give a quick breakdown to my thought process on this again.

New heavy duty thermoplastic outer boot lifetime warranty Napa axle $115

Front L and R new axle oil seals $20

OEM rebuild kit for current leaky OEM axle $50 (boots and grease and clamps)

Total spent $185 vs $335 for new OEM axle (axle only)

 

Just FYI I bought remans at the cheaper 63$ price and got these exact brand new cv axles with HD Boots. Came in a pro tech box

Also have ran cardone Napa remans. Good quality


Only thing is the outer joint is clearly smaller diameter than oem, however they haven’t broken yet.

 

Here is my NEW cardone (spare)


This was my napa reman (it was oem)


You can kind of tell that the reman oem style has a larger outer joint than the first cv axle I posted which I currently run