So I've got this vibration in the front end that I'm quite sure is from unbalanced tires. However, I also have the "clunk" coming from the front end under loads and when turning. Who has replaced their axles and what do you recommend other than OEM. My girl is a 2013 GL350.

Thanks!

 

I thought one of my axles needed to be replaced when I found what looked like grease splashed on the outside of the inner axle boot and the bits around the area. First I was going to replace just the boot and then I figured given the age at 90000 miles I would just replace the whole axle shaft. Oem is quite expensive but aftermarket is pretty cheap. It won't be quite the same quality of course. From my research it sounds like the rubber boot is where they cut cost and it will not last as long as oem. But given the age of the vehicle I didn't care. The price vs longevity led me to the aftermarket which I got from Napa for 200$. Unfortunately for me it turned out I didn't need it and by the time I went to return it was too late so I got stuck with a spare. I later realized it was not the axle leaking, but the engine mount up above had burst and they have a black fluid inside that was the source of the leak. Doh!
I recently replaced the front struts, rear shocks and air springs on my 2016 450. I had the same issues you described - shuddering while driving turned out to be the tires cupped, which I learned was caused by worn shocks and struts. So maybe be sure it's the axles and not the struts that need replacement first. The vehicle loses contact with the road due to underdamping which makes the tires wear unevenly. More recently the ride quality was pretty bad. Quite wobbly and very clunky over bumps and cracks so I figured the struts were going. It is a pain to replace them since almost the entire front knuckle has to come off, including the axle shafts. Plus depressurizing and refilling the air lines and recalibrating afterwards.
The knuckle is quite heavy and will flop around because it's only attached by the ball joint to the lower control arm and if you aren't careful the brake hose can be ripped out of the caliper while the knuckle is flopping around. Then you'll have a real mess on your hands. You need to secure it to the chassis with a piece of rope or have a friend hold it while you are working. I say all this because if you are removing an axle shaft this will be the same procedure you use. The upper control arm, tie rod, and torsion bar link all need to be detached to pull the knuckle back far enough to get the axle out. Also all of the bolts removed during this repair should be replaced as they are considered one-time use stretch bolts. The axle collar nut is huge and needs like a 36 mm 12 point socket and a good impact gun to remove. The torque is somewhere around 250nm on that Bubba!
I had to rent a front hub puller from Autozone to get the outer axle shaft free from the knuckle. It's pressed in there and I don't know how you'd get it out otherwise. I spent a while trying to pry before I realized it wasn't going to budge without some kind of special tool lol. The one I got was a little too small to fit over the flange at the center of the wheel hub so I stuck a couple of metal rods between the tool and the hub and pressed it against them.
A little awkward but worked fine. A couple of scraps of wood might work too. It doesn't take that much pressure to push it out of the hub so it won't damage the hub surface.
To get the left
​​​axle out on the inner side where it attaches to the front diff I used my axle puller forks that I got from Amazon. On the right side I had to use a thin pry bar because there just wasn't enough room to fit the axle forks in. So it takes a little more time and persistence angling to get it out without damaging the exterior of the axle cup.
For what it's worth my axles and boits looked great and the bearings sounded perfectly smooth when rotated by hand. I had no concerns putting them back on and they looked like they could go another 90000 miles. Mind I am in the southern US so this car doesn't see salt or snow or rust at all. Nearly all of the noises I heard beforehand are gone now, except for a clunks when I shift out if reverse or park which I think is coming from the transmission or transaxle or similar, not the axles. It's an older car so I'm sure bushings are worn somewhere and chasing down clunks could take forever. Hope all this helps.
Overall not a bad job for a home diy if you have stands and decent tools. I had never done it before so it was a bit of a learning process for me. Lots of videos on YouTube are somewhat helpful if taken in aggregate. A few of the things I mentioned above were not in those videos or were wrong/conflicting so they can't be followed strictly.

 

IIRC, OEM front axles were like $800-900 a piece, which seems really expensive. Rock Auto has a fairly large selection for reasonable prices. I've been eyeing the GSP Performance Revolution line of axles for when I need to do the job- priced at about $160 a piece, thermoplastic boot which is supposed to be more durable, and limited lifetime warranty although I don't know how that's implemented through Rock Auto. If you're doing the work yourself, it might be worth it to look at NAPA. If they still offer lifetime warranty on their parts, keep your receipts and you should be ggod for whenever that axle needs replacing again down the line.

 

I replaced the front driver side CV axle on our 2013 GL 350 last year (at 192,626 miles). It had a small tear in the outer boot for about a year and then started to click/clunk when turning at low speeds.

I replaced it with a genuine Mercedes part (I paid around $920). While I was in there, I also overhauled most of the front suspension (upper and lower control arms, outer tie rods, sway bar links, ball joints). I used OE (Lemforder) for those parts.

I expect the vehicle to last another 100K+ miles, which is why it was worth it to me to go genuine on the CV axle. I also didn’t see any other OEM-equivalent parts that I felt confident in.

 

have a torn boot and clicking,now clicking stopped,have rock auto el cheapo axle 150$ ready as soon as it starts clicking again,must have proper pliers to remove abs ring or it will not seal well if you twist it