I am looking for suggestion'* as to which which CV Axle you all think is the best, I plan to go new, I do not want re-manufactured ones, money may be tight, but I want the best I can get so I have less chance of having to replace it again any time soon.

I see a few brands, just not sure which is best, I am leaning towards EMPI.
I see Cardone, EMPI, DTA, and FEQ.
I need a left/driver side one for my 96' Park Ave, I have a wobble that I get and I have replaced everything that could cause it, even rotated the tires, I do need an alignment, but I am almost positive my inner CV Axel is either bent, or failing somehow.
If it is not the CV Axel, the only other thing is my control arms bushings, or my ball joints, everything else is new, except for the struts, which I plan to replace when I can afford to, they are worn a bit, but I don't think they are contributing to my wobble, or the little bit of play I've had in the driver side before, and after replacing the wheel bearing, and the inner/outer tie rod.

I have installed two Cardone axles in my Bravada, and they were flawless. Cardone has a nice write-up on their web=site about their re-manufacturing process and it was impressive.

I looked at the A1Cardone'*, and the Cardone Select, the Select/New axles are only around 7.00 cheaper from the places I looked, I'm looking at this one right now.


When I go to do my driver side axle, are there any tips that may help me when removing it?
I am doing the ball joints, so when I go to remove the axle I can just remove the ball joint, and then be able to move the arm enough to get the axle out?

I have done a CV Axle in a Subaru Outback, and another car or two when younger, but it has been a while.
Isn't there a clip somewhere that holds the inner part of the shaft to the transmission housing?
I should be able to pull it without a slide hammer right, maybe just a light weight pry-bar?
When I replaced my wheel hub I noticed the outer splines were rusted pretty bad, that made separating that old hub a pain, I am hoping the inner splines have not gotten any rust on them, and I am hoping my wheel hub comes off easily, I do not have a puller, but I recently put the hub on, and I used plenty of anti-seize.


Thanks for the help Michael.

I have another question that relates to the reason I am thinking this axle may be going bad.


It only feels like it is coming from one wheel, in my case the left front wheel.
I thought maybe I had caliper issues, because I did have a partly sticking pin, so I replaced the brakes, rotors, and put new AC Delco caliper pins in, I lubed all brake pad contact points, and the calipers, then torqued to spec.
had the tires rotated and balanced.
I found I had a partially bad driver side inner tie rod, and a bad passenger side inner tie rod, so I put new inner and outer on each side, then greased them, I counted threads and got them as close as I could.
I am still working on getting it to get the alignment done, I have not drove much at all since I replaced those, and I know the alignment is off, but I really don't think that is causing the wobble as it was there before I removed the tie rods, it did get a bit better when I replaced the tie rods, but the wobble was still there.
My control arm bushings look ok, but I have not inspected for play.
The wobble is felt in the steering wheel fairly bad, and there is a little loose play in it when I turn it left, then back right, the steering is much tighter when I turn the wheel from right, then back to left.
A long time ago I hit a huge pothole, but with the passenger side wheel, it a bolt or two in the rack and pinion, I had to pay a place like 50.00 to replace the bolt, and another 50.00 to align it.
Speed does not really matter, nor does it matter if I am accelerating, or coasting.
I have not replaced the front struts, and I can tell they are a bit worn, but they still bounce back up and settle pretty quickly, so I don't think it is the struts, I do however plan to replace them when i can afford to.

If there was a problem with an axle or CV joint, the problem would change under different conditions. Like acceleration or deceleration. Steering left or right. It is unlikely that an axle shaft is bent. The shafts arent subjected to forces that would tend to bend them.

If you have play in the steering wheel and it takes more effort to turn one way then the other, your main suspect should be the rack and pinion. Especially if you hit somthing hard enough to break a bolt.

If you can feel it at low speeds like 10-20 mph then look closely at the wheels/tires. Hitting a pothole hard can damage the belts in a tire. I had a problem once where somehow the tire had become out of round. The guy at the alignment shop showed me with a gauge that it was egg shaped by 3/8 of an inch.


Since you need an alignment, my suggestion is to take it to an alignment shop. Most will do a full suspension/steering check for free in hopes to sell you their services. When they tell you what is defective, take it home and fix it. It is how i troubleshoot problems that are not obvious, but i also pay that shop for the alignment after repairs are done. Fair is fair.

My disclaimer: I am not a buick guru, or a GM master anything. I just have 15 years of buying cheap older hoopties and getting them back on the road. Suspension/steering problems are one of the main reasons high mileage cars sell so cheap.

Thanks for the response.
The vibration does vary a bit depending on my speed, but I can still feel it when I am around 30 MPH, if I let go of the wheel I can watch the steering wheel moving from the wobbling.

What could go bad or wear with the rack that could cause a wobbling?
I did hit a bad pot hole years back, but it was on the other side, and I had a shop fix it, and it did not wobble.

I would think it was a tire, or rim, because it feels exactly like that, but I watched the guy rotate my tires, and the problem did not follow the rim/tire, nor did it change.

I'll get the alignment soon, and I'll mention the problem to them, hopefully I do not find I need to replace the rack after getting an alignment, I suppose if I needed a new one they'd let me know before doing the alignment..

Did some more examining/thinking, I see my front tire has gotten worn a lot, looks like it has had a good bit of +Caster, that along with the toe possibly being out from not getting the alignment yet could be causing that death wobble..
So my plans are to still replace ball joints since I already have them, and then I'll have it aligned and see how it is after that.

Any chance my wobble may be from my crappy Walmart/Goodyear Viva 2'*.

I read they were discontinued a while back, and that they are known to have the belt slip, and become wobbly, first at highway speeds, then also at slower speeds, what the people report that dealt with this issue reported bad tires as the issue, and with some even after a balance, and rotation, some still wobbled, because more than one tire was bad.

That was the problem with my boneville. Bad tires. They looked like new, but somthing inside was bad and they were egg shaped. I could feel the wobble at <5mph I dont remember what brand tho. I just had the shop replace them and no problems since.

And based on what you read, id say you are going to have to open your wallet and do the same thing. Sorry.

Thanks for the response, I wish I had thought the tires could still be bad even though Walmart balanced & rotated them, because if I had thought that was causing the wobble problem sooner, the tires would have enough tread depth all over for them to replace them under the protection plan.

I am saving up for one of these two, not sure which one I really want yet.

Hankook Mileage Plus II Tire P205/70R15, All Season Tire, Hankook Mileage Tire, Passenger Car Tire


Michelin HydroEdge Tire P205/70R15 95T: Tires Result Shelf : Walmart.com