2008 Mazda3 2.0 manual. I've been getting a click/crack/pop from the front left when I'm taking up drive when going between forwards / reverse (and now occasionally going over speed bumps) and I'm almost convinced it's the inner CV joint on the left side. It's had a small hole in the gaiter for a while, and I've been useless and left it. Changing the front wheel bearings last week and I see it's got a big tear at the axle side now - and I've driven through a lot of dust, dirt, sand, sewage water and mud in the last few months. The only other thing the noise could be are subframe mounts (which look ok) or front bush on the LCA (can't really get much movement on it with a big bar). All engine / transmission mounts are new, LCA rear mounts are new, wheel bearings and strut top mounts are new, AR bar endlinks are new, AR bar bushes look in perfect condition.
My options are a Febi CV joint (change just the inner CV and maintain the OE axle/outer CV)-about $90, Cardone reman for about $150, Trakmotive or Cardone new for a similar amount, or an OEM axle for around $350 plus shipping and 30% duties (not an option). In terms of longevity, if we've still got this Mazda in 12 months I'll be surprised.
Easiest is Cardone reman, but I see a lot of varied experiences with their axles. Bearing in mind returns aren't an option (I'm in Peru, and return shipping and export permission and duties will cost more than the damn part). Any recent GRM experience?? WWGRMD?
Cheers....
In reply to paul_s0 :
I wouldn't buy a Cardone anything, ever. (And I used to sell them commercially for almost a decade).
In reply to Javelin :
Fair one, thanks! I'm leaning towards the Febi, at least it's new, and there's a few positive reviews on them
I just replaced the CV's on 88 Accord with new units from Autozone, and while they have a Duralast number, the PN etched into the axles denotes that they are Trakmotives.
they seem really nice, had neoprene boots. I've only got 500 miles on them so far but they took care of my clunking / vibration issues.
Buy the new one. I've had several rebuilt ones where the outer cv wouldn't even fit into the hub in a VW application. They were all cast finish with some rough texture. The new ones usually had a machined surface, and bolted right up.
I will echo Javelin's point. Cardone is junk, period.
I used to build hybrid CV axles for our race car, and when the axles I needed for parts became hard to find in local junkyards, I bought a pair of Cardone remans. When I disassembled them, I found dirt and debris inside the joints on both axles. That turned me off of them for good.
If you're at all comfortable replacing just the CV joint, that's the route I would go.
Cheers folks, always good info - I'll go with the new Febi joint and keep the OE axle/outer. At the same time give myself a kick for not fixing the CV boot sooner!
+1 to "cardone = garbage"
Honsch
Reader
2/18/22 3:33 p.m.
We've been using the Trakmotive one on the race car for years with no joint failures.
In reply to Honsch :
that's great to hear, because Trakmotive makes reasonably priced CV shafts that i'll need for MonZora
EDIT FOR STAMPIE: In 2026
Just to finish this off, I went for the Febi Bilstein (https://shop.febest.eu/catalog.html) tripod joint in the end, keeping the existing shaft /outer CV. All done, no problems thus far, been up to 130kph with no vibrations etc.
Joint was about $35, shipping to Peru about $55 (!) but that's just life here.
I don't remember where I heard it, but I've heard Raxles is an OE quality solution without having to pay the dealership. I think they put new CV joints on OEM axles. They also have a lifetime warranty NMNA.
https://www.raxles.com/
They don't list Mazda as a brand they stock, but they do list an MX-5 as a customer car/testimonial.
