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Model S Aftermarket CV Axles - Success!

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with the torn cv boot I would expect the joint to be bad. you will have to get the entire axle. several places online to order them.
Agreed with you there, in fact the new axle just arrived yesterday. My question was regarding noise, I've always noticed CV axle boot damage before the axle starts making any of the standard noises and replaced them so I don't have a good sense for what it sounds like. The most common noise seems to be clicking, but I'm hearing more of a "rock in a can" noise. Kind of like a loose catalytic converter heat shield noise (still haven't found where they hid that part yet).
 
Small update, I got my right halfshaft replaced. Unlike what the dealer claimed, no ATF oil was leaked during the process.
Curious how much they charged you, I got a quote for $635, 500 parts and the rest labor and taxes. Based on the labor portion it doesn't seem like it will be a bad job so I opted to order the parts and replace myself. RH axle was ~100 on RockAuto.
 
Curious how much they charged you, I got a quote for $635, 500 parts and the rest labor and taxes. Based on the labor portion it doesn't seem like it will be a bad job so I opted to order the parts and replace myself. RH axle was ~100 on RockAuto.
I got it replaced in Austria through a friends reference to a garage. They charged me 100 bucks for replacing the wheel bearing and the whole halfshaft.
Halfshaft was 200 bucks (Triscan) and wheel bearing was 75 bucks (Meyle).
 
I would also like to comment that blocks of 4x6 lumber are perfectly acceptable for holding up a 6000lb car. I would wager that the 4x6 block of wood I put the car on has a higher load capacity than the typical jack stand, and is less likely to be erroneously deployed. It's a block of wood, there is no mechanism to fail. Looking at you, harbor freight.

Firefighters often use wood cribbing to prop up vehicles to stabilize them to work under them. A single 3.5"x3.5" contact patch on a 4x4 timber can hold 6000lbs. A single 5.5"x5.5" contact patch on a 6" wide block can hold 15,000lbs.
Wood blocks are plenty strong to support the weight of a vehicle.

Wood blocks are stronger than any Jack stand is. I have seen very heavy equipment that weighs much more than a tesla rest on 4”x4” blocks for days and there is no problem. I use Jack stands but also use wood blocks as back up because they can’t fail.
 
Wood blocks are stronger than any Jack stand is. I have seen very heavy equipment that weighs much more than a tesla rest on 4”x4” blocks for days and there is no problem. I use Jack stands but also use wood blocks as back up because they can’t fail.

that's not true. wood can split and i have seen it first hand. is wood better than nothing? yes. would i crawl under a car with just wood? no
 
that's not true. wood can split and i have seen it first hand. is wood better than nothing? yes. would i crawl under a car with just wood? no
Wood is very safe. I worked construction and we set equipment weighing 10 tons on 4”x4” and never had them fail. Even if the wood split some it’s still not going anywhere and will still support the vehicle. i have Jack stands but also use wood if want to leave vehicle up for and extended period of time.

Now if you are piling up a bunch of 2”x4” and they are not stable then that can be a problem. I take a 12” square of 3/4” plywood as a base and then screw a couple of 4x4” blocks together and screw those to the plywood for stability and you could let a vehicle sit on those for years with no problems.

a lot of regular Jack stands are not top quality and they can give out if the vehicle suddenly falls and the Jack stand cannot be put up tight to the vehicle. This has happened many times plus they can kick out or fall over which will not happen with proper wood blocking.
 
Wood is very safe. I worked construction and we set equipment weighing 10 tons on 4”x4” and never had them fail. Even if the wood split some it’s still not going anywhere and will still support the vehicle. i have Jack stands but also use wood if want to leave vehicle up for and extended period of time.

Now if you are piling up a bunch of 2”x4” and they are not stable then that can be a problem. I take a 12” square of 3/4” plywood as a base and then screw a couple of 4x4” blocks together and screw those to the plywood for stability and you could let a vehicle sit on those for years with no problems.

a lot of regular Jack stands are not top quality and they can give out if the vehicle suddenly falls and the Jack stand cannot be put up tight to the vehicle. This has happened many times plus they can kick out or fall over which will not happen with proper wood blocking.

i think the issue is most people are going to throw a few 2x4s under their car.

if your vehicle is suddenly falling onto a jack stand or you are able to knock over or kick out a stand then it's being used incorrectly.
 
i think the issue is most people are going to throw a few 2x4s under their car.

if your vehicle is suddenly falling onto a jack stand or you are able to knock over or kick out a stand then it's being used incorrectly.
I agree that piling up 2x4s is not safe. I just painted my calipers and I use a floor Jack on front lifting point and raise vehicle high enough to get both wheels off the ground, I then use my wood block under the rear lifting point and let off the floor Jack until I get some of the weight on the rear block. Then I also put a Jack stand under suspension in front and rear for added safety.

The way my wood block is designed it is much safer to let the car down on because it’s nearly impossible to get it to tip over. trying to let that down on a Jack stand can be tough and not near as safe. I only do one side of the car at a time because that is much safer than trying to remove all 4 wheels. I have removed all four at once but I used two floor jacks and two of my wood block stands. Which is still pretty safe but unless I really need all 4 off at the same time I prefer one side at a time.
 
Here are a couple of my wood Jack stands. All the wood is screwed together which makes them very stable and safe and with the plywood base makes them near impossible to tip over. I find it much easier and safer to let my car down on these as opposed to tippy Jack stands and I feel safer if getting under the car with these. But I use these with floor Jack and Jack stands under suspension also if getting under car for added safety.
 

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@Raiders83 It's unlikely that the screws do much more than hold the wood together during storage. Pullout strength for what appears to be a few drywall screws is only going to be on the order of 100lb/inch of depth and shear won't be much more. Even if the screws hold, that plywood will snap like a twig if you were to apply enough force to tip them over with the car on top. Gravity is your friend here, the screws aren't doing much.

That said I use wood jack stands myself, mine are a few ~18" lengths of 2x6 screwed on top of 5.5" sections of 4x4. I actually did the structural calculations for them assuming no screws (just a simply supported beam), derated the wood yield strength to 50%, and assumed half the weight of the car is resting on each one. Even in that scenario the deflection is minimal. I've never gone under the car while it's on them and don't plan to, but I trust them totally for anything where I'm not underneath like brake service, tire rotation, etc. To use them I slide my jack under, lift the car, then slide another pair of 4x4s underneath and let the jack down. The only thing I have to watch out for is the top 2x6 touching the battery, but as long as it's straight and the puck is resting along the back edge (but not over it) there's no contact.

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I did this same job on the passenger side this weekend. I used a slightly different approach since I couldn't get the tie rod nut loosened, but the level of difficulty seems about the same as @SwissPatriotRG reported. Took me about 3 hours in total, I forgot about the IPAs which may have at least made it feel faster. Tools used were mostly my cordless impact, 32mm socket, 21mm socket, T40 bit, a 3lb sledge, and some smaller sizes wrenches/sockets that anyone working on cars will likely have. Frunk removal is necessary to access the inner CV joint.

Video of the sound below. Sounded like a creaking/clicking only when accelerating and turning the wheel, worse when turning left.

1. After getting the car jacked up and wheel off I first broke the axle nut (32mm) loose with my impact, then disconnected the steering linkage (21mm with 12mm hex stud, highlighted) and lower control arms (21mm nut with T40 torx stud, not shown but accessed from below). The impact broke everything free without issue and then I was able to remove the nuts by holding onto the stud and backing the nut off. A 21mm ratcheting open ended wrench would have been useful here, but an adjustable wrench worked just fine. Removing the forward control arm stud was as easy as pulling it out, the rear one required compressing the suspension a little with a second floor jack (see 2nd photo). Be careful to keep the nord-lock washers, they fell off the LCA studs when the nuts were off and I could see them getting lost easily. I hammered on the old axle with the sledge to loosen it up, it was stuck in there pretty good. I couldn't see any evidence of grease in the splines after getting it out, I've read that this isn't uncommon.

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2. Since I couldn't get the tie rod end off I pulled the old axle out from behind the hub instead of the front. To be able to move the hub out of the way I removed the little clip holding the brake line to the lower part of the shock. Then I was able to pull the whole hub assembly towards the front of the car and remove the outer part of the cv axle from the hub. It may have been possible without removing the brake line clip, but I didn't want to risk damaging it.

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3. Removing the inner CV was easier than expected. I tapped on the cv joint area with my hammer (left highlighting) to release the axle and then pried it out with a screwdriver. After that it was just a matter of pulling the whole thing out while holding the hub assembly out of the way.

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4. Before installing the new axle, I greased up the splines on both ends with anti-seize. Getting it in was straightforward enough, just had to be careful not to tear the boots while maneuvering it in. To get the inner joint seated I had to use a short pry bar (used my floor jack handle) to hold it up and slide it 3/4 of the way into place. Then some very light pushing on the wheel hub got it seated the rest of the way. A second set of hands would have been useful here. After that I put anti-sieze on the threads of the steering linkage and LCA and re-assembled everything.

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Historically I have had terrible experience with Chinese CVs sold by Rock/ORiley/Autozone/whatever. They'll work in a pinch, but generally fail quickly. Personally, if I'm going to spend all the time tearing the car apart I'll spend the money on an OEM shaft.

Before installing the new axle, I greased up the splines on both ends with anti-seize.
For anybody else who might tackle this job: more specifically, you want to use something like a moly based grease.
 
For anybody else who might tackle this job: more specifically, you want to use something like a moly based grease.
This is what I used, contains moly according to the description. I don't know that it's really required though, the whole idea is to avoid having to hammer it out if it fails again. I haven't found anything really convincing one way or another. Some people say use anti-seize, others moly, others nothing. I've yet to find anyone say they used anti-seize (or anything else) and it was a mistake. Regardless, if you have a source (aside from forum posts) that says anti-seize = bad I'd be happy to hear about it.

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This is what I used, contains moly according to the description. I don't know that it's really required though, the whole idea is to avoid having to hammer it out if it fails again. I haven't found anything really convincing one way or another. Some people say use anti-seize, others moly, others nothing. I've yet to find anyone say they used anti-seize (or anything else) and it was a mistake. Regardless, if you have a source (aside from forum posts) that says anti-seize = bad I'd be happy to hear about it.

View attachment 777797

Yeah, that's totally fine for a CV spline since like you said, the primary purpose is to avoid hammering the shaft out. In theory the splines aren't meshing and unmeshing. I've always used moly for high pressure, high load.
 
So my S90DL was making some clunking noises from the front under hard acceleration and while turning, I got under the car and noticed the CV boot was torn, all the grease slung out, and was certainly the issue cause of the noise.
View attachment 468835
Tesla took the car and diagnosed the same thing, but said CV axles were not covered under the powertrain warranty since it's a wear item (like brakes and tires) and would be $2,500 to fix. I thought that was BS, so I looked around online and saw this company was selling axles for these cars, and for a very reasonable price. TrakMotive Announces New CV Axles For The 2012-18 Tesla Model S | Aftermarket Intel

My other option was a used ebay axle, but I didn't really want to throw in something that might be worn out too.

So rockauto had one of the trakmotive axles for $250, I bought it and put it in. It wasn't too difficult, but I would say the passenger side front axle would be easier as there is more room on that side.

The process for the front CV axles are like this:
  1. Put the car in jack mode, jack it up and take the wheel off. I used some big chunks of wood for jack stands because my jack stands are at my shop. You shouldn't need to be under the car here, all the work is done from the side or the frunk.View attachment 468836
  2. Remove the axle nut. This would have been easy with an impact gun, as mine was very loose. The nord-lock washer was surprisingly easy to overcome with a breaker bar. If yours is tighter, pop the center cap out of the wheel, reinstall the wheel, lower the car back on the ground and use a breaker bar to remove the nut. This is a 32mm nut, but a 1-1/4" socket fit on it just fine.View attachment 468837
  3. Remove the steering tie rod nut, both lower control arm nuts, and the lower sway bar end link nuts. You'll need e torx bits for the control arms, allen wrench for the sway bar end link, and 21mm and 15mm wrenches. Of if you're like me and don't have a 21mm box wrench, a regular adjustable crescent wrench. A 1/2" impact gun will break all these nuts loose and it's easy to remove them with the torx/allen and box wrench combo after that.
  4. When all the nuts are off, push the control arms and links down to get the studs out of the spindle. The spindle should be all loose and floppy on the upper control arm so you can pull it away. You should be able to push the CV axle out of the hub now by pulling the floppy spindle towards you and pushing the threaded end of the cv out of the hub. You don't have to remove the brake caliper or rotor or anything. Move the spindle out of the way towards the rear of the car, maybe a bungie or ratchet strap would help here.View attachment 468834
  5. Remove the lower strut bolt from the lower control arm. You will need to be able to swing the strut out of the way a bit to get the end of the axle out of the hole. These are 21mm iirc.
  6. Remove the frunk pan. This is tricky, the carpety bit comes out first, but be sure not to break the connectors going to the light and hostage escape button. There are a couple of nuts and bolts holding the plastic frunk pan in the car. Once these are out, there are metal clips around the perimeter that can be wiggled around until they clear the plastic trim around the frunk area. Get creative moving the frunk pan around, or you could just remove all the plastic trim surrounding the frunk pan. I left mine in because some dealership asshat broke/lost most of the clips holding that stuff on and I didn't want to break any more.
  7. This is the tricky bit, and you're going to have to get super creative here. The driver side axle has almost no room to get a prybar or any kind of normal tool in there to pry the axle out of the differential. On the driver side, you'll have to pull off the velcro on the noise insulation covering the drive unit and move it out of the way. The only real spot to pry is under that bracket in the picture. The passenger side looks much easier as the axle is on a jackshaft. These axles, like most axles, have a little metal spring circlip that retains the axle in the diff, and they need a little prying to get the axle to pop out. You may need to rotate the axle here to get the clip in it's happy place to pop out. This is 100% the hardest part of the job. I ended up using the end of a wrench with a crescent wrench added to the end for extra leverage to get in that spot to pop it out. When it finally did come out, a tiny amount of oil came out of the hole and made a small mess on the floor (good thing I have epoxy floors). Maybe a couple oz of fluid leaked out, enough to be absorbed by a small rag, and not enough to cause any damage to the differential, but you could always do a flush now and put the right amount in the diff. If you jack your car up more than I did you could probably get away without losing any fluid at all. View attachment 468833 View attachment 468832
  8. Pull the old axle out of the hole, move the dangling strut around to get the CV end out of there. Slide the new axle into the old hole and wiggle it until it finds the matching splines and starts sliding in. The circlip is going to be a problem here too as you'll have to use the axle as a slide hammer to get the circlip to slip past the splines. The axle should go in fairly easily with gentle tapping with the axle shaft. Don't yank the axle shaft out too far as you'll pull the CV apart inside the rubber boot and have to jam it back together like I did. When the axle is fully seated, you should be able to reach in there and feel the axle able to slide in and out of the differential maybe a few mm before hitting the stops. If it's still tight feeling, the circlip probably isn't fully inserted and seated. Your prybar arrangement from step 7 should not be able to easily move the new axle back out of the differential. Keep rotating the axle and slide hammering it in until it clicks in place and can't be pulled back out (again, don't use the axle to pull on it, you'll pull the CV apart in the boot).View attachment 468831
  9. Reverse the steps to put it back together. Take some time to look around the frunk to see if anything is out of place or broken. I found some neat blue painters tape on the subframe that I'm not sure why it was there. I took a whole bunch more stuff off that I ended up not needing to because I thought I could get to the axle prying spot from the bottom. That's why my skidplate shields are off in the pictures.

I didn't use the washer from the new axle, I used the old nord lock washer that was on there. I tightened up everything with a weak air impact gun and finished it up with a 1/2" breaker bar. I'm not sure what the torque values are, but I tightened up everything to at least as tight as they were to take off. These are big fasteners and you aren't going to hurt anything putting a breaker bar on them. Axle nut is supposed to be like 180ft lbs, so I just used my body weight on the breaker bar to tighten the nut (it's a bit more than a foot). It was much easier to get off, maybe 60 ft lbs, so it might be worth it to go around and check your other axle nuts.

The new axle is nice and quiet again! So hopefully problem solved for 1/10 the price. This took me about 2 hours, but I was drinking IPAs and using the tools I have at home rather than the tools I have at my shop, so it could be done faster. The removing of unnecessary parts and struggling with the old axle was the hardest part. This is about a 5/10 difficulty.

An excellent write up!.. I should forward this to Tesla Van Nuys SvC, as this is what drive shaft replacement by them looked like the next day:
 

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