Red Journey 2013 Posted January 23, 2020 Report Share Posted January 23, 2020 59,600 miles on vehicle. Had some clicking on the driver's side front wheel. Put it up on a hoist and as the wheel turned by hand, there was a clicking that seemed to come from the differential. Instead, it was the CV axle so had it replaced. Garage charged me $150 for the axle and $80 labor, $250 total with taxes. I mentioned I found axles online for under $100 and was told this was a new one and not "Chinese junk". The replacement solved the problem, no more clicking. Two weeks later, heard the same noise now coming from the right side. I figured it was the passenger side CV axle. This time, I called called a different mechanic, asked him if he could replace the axle for me. I called the parts store and they got an axle delivered the next morning. Again, put it up on a hoist and as the wheel turned by hand, the clicking seemed to located in the differential. One of the mechanics- the older one- thought it was in the transmission but I assured him it was the cv axle since the symptoms were identical as before. When the younger mechanic returned from lunch, he agreed it was the cv axle. Took him 60 minutes to swap out the axle. Axle cost me $85, labor $75, total $160 with taxes $90 difference between the first and second jobs. I didn't see where the first axle came from so I don't know where it was made. I have a problem with the term "Chinese junk" . Back in the 50's and 60's, imports from Japan were considered Japanese junk but Japan showed the USA how to build cars a few years later. China is a highly industrialized nation building very complex machines for their military and civilian users. There may be some junk made - like in the USA - but to write off the entire country as sub-par manufacturers is ignorant. I was tempted to go to the local dealer to see what they would have come up with as a diagnosis and an estimate but I figure it would have been higher. larryl 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
larryl Posted January 23, 2020 Report Share Posted January 23, 2020 What have you got to lose? At least you can now compare quality as you have both.... jkeaton 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
2late4u Posted January 24, 2020 Report Share Posted January 24, 2020 as to why one is higher than the other could be brand of the unit and also which side of the journey either way you got a great deal on both of the repairs as far as the labor charges, and the difference in parts can be a wide variance ...OEM mopar cv joint probally would have been at least 200 or more and the labor as much,that said the OEM part will have been a lot better quality as well tho.most aftermarket cv axles even tho they claim as good as oem isn't true,,,,you get what you pay for jkeaton 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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