Hey all, did some searching on this and I didn't find any info. If someone could point me in the right direction I'd really appreciate it.

I'm going to order new CV half shaft assemblies for both sides of my 2002 SS for Christmas and on RockAuto I found the parts for $43 each made by APWI. This car is my daily driver and I'm not trying to go heavy duty or extra speed or anything, I want to keep it as close to stock as possible. I'm wondering:

1) Any opinions about the quality of APWI parts?
2) Does anybody know who the OEM is for these parts or where I would find a list of who was OEM for what?
3) Does anybody have a preferred manufacturer for these shaft assemblies?

There are a lot of manufacturers for this on RockAuto. In the sub $50 range there's APWI, Cardone Select, and Surtrack. The slightly more expensive choices are EMPI and A-1 Cardone. There are also parts from AC Delco which run in the hundreds.

Would AC Delco be the OEM?

 

Just get some parts house reman axles, theyre way better than 99% of the "new" axles. Btw i was just curious, whats wrong with your oe cvs? Ive rarely ever seen them go bad on w-bodies unless the car was wrecked. When i changed transmissions a week ago, my 265000 mile cvs were tight as new(tighter than the "new" cvs ive personally installed in customer cars) Im just saying make sure theyre bad before you change them, mebbe install a cai instead

 

When I'm at a standstill and I turn the wheel around (either direction but It's more prominent when I turn to the left) and press the gas I can hear them clicking. Cursory investigations on the Internet told me that meant the CV was going bad. If I remember correct I'm hearing it's bearings clicking around?

Also my car has a salvage title but I couldn't figure out where it was wrecked by looking under and and round it. I just recently saw that there is no firewall where the passenger door meets the front fender.

 

ive never had any luck with remanufactured axles of any kind, i will only buy gm axles ill even go to the junk yard and pull a used gm axle before using a "new" reman axle.

are you sure its the axle or is it a wheel bearing?

 

I replaced the wheel bearings around 5,000 miles ago with new Timken units which seemed to be in spec when I received them. Any opinions on this APWI brand or the other questions I had above?

 

Yeah new delcos are the best route. The majority of new axles are cheap offshore replacemenrs=crap

 

Gm factory replacement or don't bother changing it at all is how I feel as I said above.

 

Thing is I can get the AC Delcos from about $186 a pop and I want to replace both because I'm also going to replace my front control arms, inner/outer tie rods, sway bar, bushings, balljoints, yadda, yadda, you see where this is going...

The APWIs are like $42 a pop and I can spend more money to the tune of $45/$50/$55/$60 per axle, which is significantly cheaper. Brands are Cardone Select, Surtrack, EMPI, and A-1 Cardone (I heard bad things about EMPI).

 

Make sure theres a good warrantee, ive had horrible experiences with off brand new axles. Btw, oreillys reman axles are like $50.

 

I just replace my passenger side axle. I got it at Pepboys for $62 and installed it the next day. It was new Although I didn't pay attention to how made it I did inspect it. CVs do go bad but no matter who makes or remanufactures it they are pretty much the same. If you know what to look for, inspect the axle when they pull the box of the shelf. If it is bad you will know it in the store not in the car or after you have pulled the old one off.
Go to NAPA, Auto Zone, Advanced, O'Reily's or what ever parts place you prefer. If you order it online and it's bad when you get it you have to send it back and wait for another to arrive. At the auto parts store if the one they bring you is bad the go get a good one from the shelf! No 2 or 3 week wait while you worry about if your daily drive is going to make today's daily drive!