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A-1 Cardone vs Cardone select difference?

70K views 74 replies 26 participants last post by  Benny Minn 
#1 ·
Looking to get a new front L axle on rockauto and there is an A-1 cardone and a cardone select.

The select one is cheaper and has no core. Otherwise i'd figure the select was a better version.

Also the select one doesnt say reman.

CARDONE SELECT Part # 669281
A-1 CARDONE Part # 609281 Reman.

Any ideas? What the hell?
 
#48 ·
I bought ac Cardone remans from parts geek 7 months ago , kept my oems. The ac cardone reman right outer boot split after 7 months. Got supposedly a oem reman from place called speedy rack in ny for 125.

He showed my the difference between the Chinese stuff and GKN, oem and I have a feeling based on what he showed me the ac Cardones I received were Chinese remans . Let's see how long the left side lasts.

Going to get my oems remaned just not sure who to trust for that.
 
#50 ·
Some places are shipping brand new GKN Lobro axles with dust shield and all. I bought one and it's not a rebuild its brand new. I can tell its new because the hex axle hub is not painted black and has all the GKN details engraved into it.

Joe


Sent from BimmerApp mobile app
 
#54 · (Edited)
I've used a 1/2 dozen or so Cardone rebuilds on our Subarus. Never had a problem. Just saying...
With the xiT, when an axle decides to get grumpy I'll probably take it off and run it down to a local rebuilder in Denver. I try to stay away from Chinese parts on general principles but my last Suby had 289k on it when I sold it and still running fine :)

PS- "My car is now on its 13th axle, 5 of which have been cardone." What are you doing to that car? That is incredible!
 
#55 ·
I'm going to pipe in, if you need to replace one axle/half-shaft in the front, like shocks, you should do both. One place from which I acquire parts sells the EMPIs that were mentioned in another tread, no core charges, and not as expensive as BMW units but a bit more than the Cardone units. Just food for thought.
 
#56 · (Edited)
My experience. I service a stock set up 325xi and 325xit. I replaced the axles on the xi with new non-OEM axles to save money. Then replaced the axles on the xit with reman cardones based on recommendations from this site. Neither set lasted long < 10k as daily drivers. Ouch Both sets developed bad vibrations after a short time. I've since replaced both sets again this time with new OEM axles (if I remember they were GKN's) from a site sponsor and haven't had a problem since. The less expensive non oems looked great going in. One of the remans was still ok but I replaced it anyway. I think the cheap Chinese non OEM axles are polluting the reman inventory. They look very much like an OEM as far as I can tell. GKN are not stamped with a trade mark so it is not possible to tell from a casual inspection what brand it is used. The good news is I can now change a front axle in about a hour.
 
#57 ·
Sorry to resurrect an old thread, but is there any way, aside from replacement, to tell if a front axel is the cause of a vibration?

I ask because I've been fighting a vibration in the steering wheel. I replaced both front axels, one with GKN and the other with a Cardone reman at the same time as new FCABs and FCAs, and an alignment. I've tried with three sets of wheels/tires, had each set rebalanced as well. I even replaced the lower steering column. I still get a vibration in the wheel. The vibration seems to be worse when it's warm outside. Brakes are next, but I'd obviously prefer some clever diagnostics over replacing more parts.

P.S. I bought the Cardone expecting it to tear and click sooner than the GKN, not to vibrate.
 
#61 · (Edited)
I've felt a vibration in the front end for as long as I've owned the car. I think the old CV shafts were also cheaper aftermarket ones. It is most prominent between 55-75mph. Turning or not doesn't seem to alter the sensation. I'm wondering if recording video of the shaft at speed or shaking it by hand while still will show me if it's bad?
 
#62 ·
Benny,

You've certainly done your homework on this problem. I'll restate for simplicity...

The problem is vibration in the steering wheel, especially between 55-75mph and in warmer weather.

You have done this:
  • Replaced both front axels (GKN and Cardone reman)
  • Replaced FCABs and FCAs
  • Alignment
  • Tested with three sets of wheels/tires, each set rebalanced
  • Replaced the lower steering column.

The vibration is still there.

How many miles on the car?
How long have you owned it and mileage when you got it?
Has this vehicle been involved in a collision?
"Lower steering column" - Do you mean to say the you replaced the "u-joint assembly"?
What brand of control arms and CABs did you use?
Did you replace the inner ball joints?

Here are my guesses (in no particular order):
  1. Steering rack
  2. tie rod ends
  3. front wheel bearings
  4. Sway bar end links

I would *not* suspect brakes since you get the vibration without braking.

Front wheel bearings can be tested by grabbing tire at 6 o'clock and 12 and rocking, with wheels off the ground.

Have a helper rock the steering wheel back and forth while you look for any play in the rack and the tie rods.

Look for wear in the sway bar end links.
 
#63 ·
Benny,
How many miles on the car?
How long have you owned it and mileage when you got it?
Has this vehicle been involved in a collision?
"Lower steering column" - Do you mean to say the you replaced the "u-joint assembly"?
What brand of control arms and CABs did you use?
Did you replace the inner ball joints?

Here are my guesses (in no particular order):
  1. Steering rack
  2. tie rod ends
  3. front wheel bearings
  4. Sway bar end links

I would *not* suspect brakes since you get the vibration without braking.

Front wheel bearings can be tested by grabbing tire at 6 o'clock and 12 and rocking, with wheels off the ground.

Have a helper rock the steering wheel back and forth while you look for any play in the rack and the tie rods.

Look for wear in the sway bar end links.
Thanks for your thorough thoughts on the matter. I appreciate you talking it through with me.

I bought the car with 178,000mi, now have 188,000mi. And yes, I bought it expecting to replace lots of stuff. I've found no report and no signs of a collision.

By lower steering column, I mean the double jointed steering coupler, with flex disk, that attaches to the rack.

The sway bar links and and inner balljoints are also new (MeyleHD and GenuineBMW respectively). The FCAs and FCABs are Lemforder.

I've ruled out the wheel bearings with the rocking test already, and I know what bad wheel bearings sound like. I could probably do a more thorough test with the rack. The tie rods seem OK…boots are intact….I can't feel any play by hand, and there are no clunks and no involuntary steering corrections happening, but I guess I can't rule them out completely since they're old.

All that said, I feel like it's more of a drivetrain related issue. So that's why I'm curious about tactics for isolating and diagnosing different drivetrain components, namely the front shafts. It would be awesome if I could just disconnect one axel or half-axel at a time, but sadly not with the xi.
 
#66 ·
Here's an update for you, latitude39. I rechecked every front-end component for wear. The rack and tie-rod ends seem fine. Bearings are good. By hand, I could get the A1 Cardone CV joint to move in and out a couple of millimeters. the GKN on the other side had no play. I couldn't get it to move by pushing up/down/front/back, nor did it seem lose if I tried to turn the shaft. It just moves in and out, but only the center shaft. That is, the chunks of axel on each end feel solidly attached to the differential and hub. So, looks like I've got my answer. You can test it easily by hand with the wheel off.
 
#67 ·
...By hand, I could get the A1 Cardone CV joint to move in and out a couple of millimeters. the GKN on the other side had no play. I couldn't get it to move by pushing up/down/front/back, nor did it seem lose if I tried to turn the shaft. It just moves in and out, but only the center shaft. That is, the chunks of axel on each end feel solidly attached to the differential and hub. So, looks like I've got my answer.
What I hear you saying is that the outer joint (CV joint) of the Cardone axle seems to be the culprit. Right? Then it's just a simple half-shaft replacement, throwing out the A1 Cardone.

GKN is a good choice. My right, front GKN has given 40k trouble-free miles.
 
#73 ·
I'm glad to hear you've made progress toward a vibration-free E46. Did you ever feel the heat on the hub after a long drive? Just curious.

My limited experience with u-joints is that they should move freely and have zero play between the joints when the axle is rocked gently back and forth.

You said, "original shaft was only slightly looser." Looser in what way? A free-moving joint is desirable. It's the play in the bearings that's a concern.

Let us know your results with the heavier gear lube. Now I'm curious about how much lash is in my differentials. I've never had a problem...and I *have* noticed some lash in mine but I've ignored it since there are no symptoms.
 
#74 ·
Yes, I occasionally felt each hub for heat with no discernible difference from wheel to wheel. Early in the winter, I checked the caliper piston seals for holes, and tried to ensure that all moving surfaces were clean and moved freely. I had already established that the rotors were slightly warped (uneven pad material) using a Chassis Ear microphone, but I continued to drive it as is all winter because the vibrations in general are less noticeable when it's cold outside. It wasn't until a couple of weeks ago that all the symptoms of a seized piston appeared: pulling left, extra-strong shimmy, high heat from just the one wheel, burning metal smell….all that fun stuff.

By "looser", I meant that the U-joint on the front driveshaft had a tiny amount of play in the bearing when twisted. Also, the front guibo (manual transmission) had some hairline cracks forming.

I'll let you know about the oil.
 
#75 · (Edited)
OK. It was a busy summer, so apologies for the late update, latitude39. I swapped out the 2-year-old M1 75w-90 diff oil for some cheap heavier Castrol 85w-140. Surprisingly it has actually quieted the clunk in the rear down quite a bit. I can't say if it's entirely because of the thickness or because the oil swap loosened some gunk allowing better lubrication. (The M1 oil did look pretty dirty.) I also haven't noticed any change in driveability, though I'm sure there's a fractional hit to my fuel economy.

It's still not perfect, and there's still some bearing whine / rumble at freeway speed, so I will be replacing the whole diff with a lower-mileage unit in a couple weeks. But, I think it was a worthwhile mini-experiment, and hopefully others might benefit from the knowledge that thicker gear oil can quiet things down.
 
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