Rep Power: 266

I don't trust autozone axles nor any of their products so I had buyers remorse after buying these things. I was planning on installing them after tomorrow with my D15B7 trany, but after reading how people need to replace them every 3 months due to torn boots (at least) it's not even an option anymore. Now I don't have a single autozone part in my car since I like OEM, and I plan to keep it that way. Napa axles suck too.

It's either OEM, a good new aftermarket replacement, or nothing. Cost is a big factor, but quality/reliability is even a bigger factor.

 
Rep Power: 266

I'm thinking about buying used OEM axles off of ebay. I'll check my junkyard too...

 
Rep Power: 246

Yeah i was going to say check your local junkyard, as for autozone/napa parts, they usually have warranties on them. I've never had a problem with their products.

 
Rep Power: 266

I know they have a warranty, and some people are changing them every 3 months like I said. Also, some are experiencing major vibration issues.

Called my junk yard but only 1 side is available for $35. They've got them for 20 a piece on ebay, so I may go with them.

 
Rep Power: 276

I have an advanced auto parts axle I beat the **** out of my car every day never had any problems with the axle or the boots about $65 at advanced oem axles are about $400 new

 
Rep Power: 266

I've got a good idea. I'm thinking I will buy used axles, and before I do the install I'll replace the boots with new ones. Anything else I should replace on there? What kind of grease is recommended? I wonder if honda sells grease...

 
Rep Power: 266

Does anyone know where I can get a ball joint tool like this?

 
Rep Power: 0

Advance or Vatozone.

 
Rep Power: 266

Nah, I'm going to do it right the first time. If I choose to sell the car, I will put on cheap used OEM. If I choose to keep it, I will invest in Raxles. I've only read good things about thier products. (119 for each driveshaft).

 
Rep Power: 266

What am I thinking? I already know how to remove the ball joint:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ISY8bGof3bQ

 
Rep Power: 276

^doesn't work a lot of the time especially if the ball joint has never been popped.


http://www.roverparts.com/Parts/W116.cfm
this tool has worked for me every single time I got it from here it's expensive but it seriously heavy duty comes with a life time warranty in case it breaks which most of them don't and most of them break all the time. One of the best tools I have.

The ball joints get stuck a lot some times really bad. I actually had to cut off the lower control arm on curiousG's car with the cut off tool in order to get the ball joint free. I have never ran into one that bad before and I did not have my favorite tool cause somebody borrowed it. I had to take the control arm and the knuckle off the car and into the garage I put a nut on the threaded part of the ball joint so I didn't tear up or bind the threads I hit it so hard with the hammer that I managed to knock the ball joint out of the knuckle (which is pressed in) but not out of the control arm. Luckily we were replacing the control arm anyway. But damm it made an hour full suspension swap end up taking like 8 hours and then we didn't have time to get to the backs till a couple days later.

 
Rep Power: 266

Yeah well where am I going to get one of those? I've gone to the parts stores and asked if they loan them out, and they stare at me like I just told them that I'm from the future and I need a replacement anti-gravity device. And then they say, "all we have is the fork tool." And I'm thinking... that's like not having anything at all. That is a tool that shouldn't even be on the shelves.

And also, how am I going to get the ball back into the socket when I'm reassembling? Will the weight of the car pop it back in? And should I replace the rubber seals on the ball? What kind of grease?

 
Rep Power: 237

Autozone Axles without a doubt....OEM is great, but not when the Autozone ones come with a lifetime warranty. It's easy to swap out, so I'd rather replace it ever few years then pay OEM prices. IMO, used OEM is more risky than reman. (Like Autozone). My first set of reman. lasted about 2 years, and the car was beat on BIG time by the previous owner (with 50% more HP than stock also)

A lot of guys with built motors are running Autozon axles because when they blow you just go back and get another. With a stock motor, you'd be fine for quite a while.

 
Rep Power: 266

See I just don't get that. How the hell can autozone just give out free axles? With their lifetime warranty, they are asking people to abuse their axles. Makes no sense.

Any way, the least I would do is new Napa axles with the lifetime warranty. I saw a pic of the Autozone axles in comparison to OEM, and they were longer, out of spec.

 
Rep Power: 266

Well, if you guys ever have to invest in axles but you don't want to spend 400-500 on a set, raxles is the place to get them. They are higher quality than OEM. I Wish I could afford them but oh well. (they go fro 119 for both sides)

http://www.team-trinity.com/viewtopi...&view=previous

 
Rep Power: 276

the forks do work sometimes but they usually tear the **** out of the boot your right they shouldn't be on the shelves.

The ball in the ball joint doesn't actually come out. the joint will stay in the knuckle. the part that goes into the lower control is just a tapered piece of metal to get it all back together you just stick the tapered piece back into the control arm and screw the nut down on it to the recommended torque and thats all it takes. There will be enough weight and pressure from the car and the nut once it is all bolted down to seat the joint back together.

The big thing is when you pop it whether it be from slamming it with a hammer or using the ball joint tool you need to make sure you have a nut on the end of the threads of the ball joint so you don't mess anything up. I go and take the nut off and turn it around backwards and stick it on and spin it up so the bottom of the nut is perfectly flush with the threaded part of the ball joint and then if the car is on a lift or jacked up high enough just hit it with a hammer till it pops my tie rods take about 1-2 wacks and the ball joint on the lower control arm takes about 3-6 wacks and then pops. if it still does not work heat it up with some map gas

 
Rep Power: 266

Sounds good, but... I feel like I should at least clean the ball joint and regrease, but I don't know what grease to use. And where did you get your joint remover tool?

 
Rep Power: 276

If you regrease it you have to pull the rubber boot off and pack it with grease which is a pain in the *** and not worth it. If the boot is not torn the grease inside the boot won't go bad. I have a can of bearing grease that was purchased for a blue 1965 mustang when that mustang was about two years old. that can of grease is a lot older than me and I still use it and it works great. if you have to just get bearing grease it is also know as cup grease or black grease or all purpose grease if you can't find a can of it get a tube of it every auto parts store sells tubes of grease for grease guns and just open up the tube. But it is extremely messy and if you repack the boot prepare to get grease all over the place.

As for the ball joint remover tool I got it from atlantic british same place that the link is for
http://www.roverparts.com/Parts/W116.cfm
I needed parts for my disco saw that in the catalog and I had been looking for a heavy duty one for a while and just bought it probably one of the better tools I have bought at least for the honda's.

 
Rep Power: 237

The time you saw out of spec axles, they were probably the wrong axles...I compared mine to OEM and they were exactly the same. NAPA is exactly the same as Autozone I believe...I think they are remanufactured. Only they cost more...

They definitely replace them for free though...On Honda-Tech I always read about free replacements given! I don't get it either though...I guess most uses aren't for performance.

 
Rep Power: 266

The 14mm nut I put on there is swagged at the bottom, and it's stuck to the threads. The ball joint seperator I used dug in on the bottom. And because the joint is out, the threads are free spinning. I need to keep the threads from spinning. I tried a little map gas but I don't want to ruin the heat treating. Any ideas? *****...

 
Rep Power: 276

get some needle nose pliers preferably the big ones lift the boot up and grab the metal shaft try to hold it tight and then work on undoing the nut. worse comes to worse stick a nut splitter on the side of the nut and crack it

 
Rep Power: 266

Thanks mate. I got it off with a power driver.

 
Rep Power: 266

Well, I ended up getting some napa axles. I wasn't going to but the guy, for some reason, offered me wholesale price. So each new axle was 60 instead of 91. Lifetime warranty and all that. I couldn't refuse.

 
Rep Power: 266

You were right about the joints bomberman. I had to buy one of those tools from napa. The tool is a POS though, made in korea. When you tighten the bolt, it wants to drift to the left and right. Also the jaw had to be grinded down because it was too thick to fit under the joint. I also had to clamp it with vice grips to keep the bolt from drifting off.

I'm so taking it back!

 
Rep Power: 276

^yeah the only one that I have found that was decent is that really expensive one for land rovers and it still takes some finagling to get it in place though.

hey why did undo the lower ball joint did you have to replace the lower control arm?

 
Rep Power: 266

No, you have to remove it to remove axles. But I also removed the tranny.

 
Rep Power: 255

i didnt read the whole thread but there is nothing wrong with autozone axles. i have been running them just fine since forever. my buddies 380whp integra uses autozone axles as well. your sig says stock dx so im sure autozone axles will not cause you any problems.

 
Rep Power: 276

You don't need to remove the lower ball joint to remove the axles or the transmission you can just remove the upper ball joint which is a lot easier to remove. the only reason to remove the lower one is to replace the lower control arm.

 
Rep Power: 266

The lower control arm prevents the rotor from moving away from the axle. If the rotor is not free, the axle cannot be hammered out. The upper ball joint doesn't even come into play because the fork just unbolts and you don't even need to touch that joint.

 
Rep Power: 276

the fork on the shock is not actually connected to the upper control arm(which has the upper ball joint) if you unbolt the upper ball joint flip the nut upside down screw it on a bit take one good wack with the hammer the ball joint pops right out and the upper control arm is free. just grab the upper control arm and pull it forward and it will move the rotor and knuckle far enough to get the axle out. You will actually have more room to get the axle out if you do the upper joint cause the lower arm will swing down and away. I did it on a buddy's 6th gen honda civic hatchback a couple of months ago so I could drop his trans and build a him custom gear setup for his b-series trans.

He was running out of gear on the track(road course) LoL!