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I did some searches on the forum but couldn't find anything relevant relating to rebuilding cv axels so I'm creating this post.
I went for an alignment 2 days ago and the mechanic told me that the outer part of both cv axels were full of old dirty solid grease (see photos) probably coming from the axel booth. Weird that both axel kind of failed the same way. Anyway, I looked online for new axel but those are 1k a piece and only cheap options are either Cardone or Trakmotive. I've put Cardone on my GF's car and there's no way I'm putting that crap on the C63 so only 2 realistic options now are i) swap with Trakmotive or ii) get kit 211-357-00-91-02 and new grease to "rebuild" the axels.
So my questions to the MBW Community are:
Are Trakmotive axels any good?
Anyone ever rebuild their axel with the 211-357-00-91-02 kit and was it worth it?
Thanks in advance and feel free to suggest any option I might have forgot.
Honestly once the boots go odds are some debris got in there and you are on borrowed life. If they have a bunch of miles on them I would say just swap it out with a new unit. If you are tight for funds then a boot replacement is worth trying might save you a while before needing replacement if you get lucky
Boots are looking good and are not torn, I honestly have no idea how the grease got on the covers. Pretty confident there's no grime inside, my concerne is if there's enough grease left inside.
Jason - Are you saying yours look similar? I feel like it would be safer to change the boots and regrease the joints. Are you also planning on doing this or you take the bet that there's enough grease and it all looks good inside?
2012 C63;1971 280SE 3.5(Sold);2023 EQS 450 SUV 4 Matic (Wife's)
Since your axle boots are looking good and not torn and there is no sign of grease being flung out I would not worry about it. I think that is what Jasonoff is saying as well.
Thansk Mort. Would be interesting to know if it's a common issue.
Nonetheless, Ì`m still intrigued by how did that happen. Like we say in French " Nothing is lost, nothing is created" so that grease must be coming from somewhere, and that somewhere must be missing grease lol
I think I`ll try refurbishing one and see how it goes. Car is an 09 and pretty sure those are original axels so might not be a bad idea to change the grease and boots.
2012 C63;1971 280SE 3.5(Sold);2023 EQS 450 SUV 4 Matic (Wife's)
The boots on my C63 looked pretty grungy as well. It appears to be undercoating applied at autoport at time of entry, into Canada in the case of my car. After a while it dried out and started to crack and peel a bit and attracted some road dirt and dust. Looked a little like grease but drier and shinier on my car. Maybe that is the case for your car as well. Some sort of protectant applied after manufacture but before delivery to the dealer. You can try to squeeze one and see if there is still a decent amount of grease in there and if it is still pliant or if it has dried out and is turning hard and no longer able to do it's job. That will also give you and idea of how the rubber in the boot is holding up and if it is drying out and starting to crack. If not I wouldn't worry too much about it.
Mine is also a canadian car so probably the undercoating you are referring to. I will squeeze and stretch the boots next time I'm under the car. I think I'll wait before buying the rebuild kit.
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