The drivetrain in your vehicle consists of a group of parts that play a vital role in your car’s ability to deliver power to your wheels. One of the most important components of your car’s drivetrain is the CV axle. If you have a CV axle that has gone bad in your drivetrain, your car as a whole is going to struggle to send enough power to your wheels, which can result in all kinds of complications. It’s why you need to know the CV axle cost so that you can spring into action and replace it as soon as you notice issues with it. Learn more about the importance of your car’s CV axle below before finding out what the CV axle cost will be when you need to have CV axle replacement done.
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What Is a CV Axle?
Prior to touching on how the CV axle works and what the CV axle cost will be to replace it, we want to make sure that you understand what a CV axle actually is. So let’s begin there. Your car’s CV axle is a component located within your drivetrain that is responsible for taking power from your transmission and relaying it to your wheels. CV axles are most often found in cars featuring front-wheel-drive systems, but it has also become more common to find them in all-wheel-drive and even rear-wheel-drive vehicles in some cases.
The CV axle in your vehicle isn’t something that you’re going to see very often. In fact, you’re probably not even going to bother figuring out where it is until the first time that you experience a problem with it. But as we mentioned, it’s a very important part since it’s in charge of transferring power from your transmission to your wheels. Without it, you’re going to have a tough time getting your car to move forward like it usually does.
How Does a CV Axle Work?
Now that you’re a little bit more familiar with what the CV axle in your car is, let’s move on to talking about how it works. It’s a relatively complicated process, so we’re not going to get too deep into it since it’ll likely leave your head spinning. But generally speaking, your car’s CV axle has a pair of joints at each end of it as well as a short shaft that is designed to move around and accommodate all of the different angles that it’ll have to face when you’re out on the road. Your CV axle is connected to your transmission on one end and to the hub of your wheels on the other so that it’s able to take power from your transmission and move it in the direction of your wheels accordingly.
Your CV axle is also made to work in tandem with your car’s suspension so that it can travel over bumpy roads without you having to worry about it breaking down on you. You do need to be at least a little bit careful about how you drive your car, though, since driving in certain conditions all the time can do damage to your CV axle and force you to have to face the CV axle cost sooner than you may have expected.
How Often Will You Need to Replace a CV Axle?
In theory, a CV axle should be able to last you for as long as you have your car. More often than not, vehicle owners are able to get away with not ever having to replace their CV axles. But at the same time, it’s not out of the ordinary for a CV axle to fail. There is a CV joint boot within your CV axle that can crack or tear over time, and when that happens, it’ll sometimes lead to the joint wearing down on you altogether.
If the CV joint boots within a CV axle give out on you, you might be able to get away with replacing them as opposed to replacing your entire CV axle. But as you’ll find out in a few minutes, the process of replacing these boots is very time-consuming and calls for a mechanic to disassemble the whole CV axle. It’s why many vehicle owners choose to replace the CV axle as a whole rather than just replacing the boots on it. It increases the CV axle cost but also ensures that they don’t run into any other problems with their CV axle in the near future.
What Are the Signs of a Bad CV Axle?
By now, you know all about how important the CV axle in your car is. But what you might not know is how to tell whether or not you could have a bad CV axle on your hands. It’s important for you to find out the signs of a bad CV axle so that you’ll know how to spot it when it starts to give you fits. Check out a few of these signs below:
- You hear loud clicking sounds coming from the direction of your CV axle, especially when you’re making turns in your vehicle
- You see grease showing up on the edges of your car’s tires with that grease likely coming from a cracked or torn boot in your CV axle that is leaking grease
- You feel your car vibrating when you’ve driving it and the vibrations appear to increase as you drive your car faster
As you can see, it’s not all that difficult to spot trouble with your CV axle. From hearing strange sounds to feeling vibrations when you drive, you’re going to be able to tell that there is some kind of issue with your car when you have a bad CV axle in it. It’ll be up to you to pay the CV axle cost to get it fixed.
Should You Drive Your Car With a Bad CV Axle?
When problems with your car’s CV axle first start to pop up, you should still be able to drive your vehicle. You’re going to see some of the signs of a bad CV axle that we just mentioned, but it’s not going to prohibit you from driving your car. That being said, once your CV axle begins to go bad, there is no turning things around. You’re going to continue to see more signs of a bad CV axle as its condition deteriorates.
Eventually, this is going to give you no choice but to pay the CV axle cost to get it replaced. If you don’t do this, your CV joints are going to begin to break down on you further and fall apart, which could do a ton of damage to both your steering system and your suspension system. And in extreme cases, you might even lose control of your car when your CV axle goes out completely.
For all these reasons, you shouldn’t get into the habit of driving around in a car with a bad CV axle. While it might not be the worst thing in the world at first, it’s only going to be a matter of time before your bad CV axle breaks apart and causes serious complications. It could put you, your passengers, and other drivers out on the road at risk, which is why having your CV axle replaced should be your only logical option.
Who Can Replace a CV Axle for You?
When you decide that you need to have a bad CV axle in your car replaced, you shouldn’t trust just anyone to handle CV axle replacement for you. Even if they’re willing to offer the lowest CV axle cost to you, you shouldn’t ever toss the keys to your car to an inexperienced mechanic that doesn’t know what they’re doing.
As we briefly touched on earlier, working on a CV axle is going to call for a mechanic to remove the entire CV axle assembly from your vehicle. This is a difficult job to carry out and one that should only be performed by an ASE-certified mechanic with a wealth of experience. They’ll be able to remove your old CV axle from your car in no time prior to replacing it with a new one. It’ll get you back out on the road in a hurry and guarantee that your new CV axle is going to last for the foreseeable future.
Is Replacing a CV Axle Yourself a Good Idea?
Have you spent years now working on cars inside and out? If you have, you might have what it takes to work on a bad CV axle and replace it. You can save yourself a lot of money on the CV axle cost when you’re able to replace a bad one on your own without any assistance from an ASE-certified mechanic.
But with that in mind, you should also be aware of the fact that you could inadvertently do a lot of damage to your vehicle if you replace a CV axle and don’t know exactly what you’re doing. From getting to your old CV axle and removing it to picking out the right CV axle for your car and installing it, it’s a big job that has been known to frustrate even the most seasoned mechanics out there. You should seriously consider leaving it up to the professionals if you’re not 100 percent sure about what you’re doing.
How Much Does a CV Axle Cost?
The good news when it comes to replacing a CV axle is that it’ll usually be a job that an experienced mechanic can get done in just a couple of hours, if that. This helps to keep the new CV axle cost lower than it would be otherwise. But even still, you’re going to have to pay a pretty penny to replace the CV axle in your vehicle. On average, it costs car owners somewhere between $900 and $1,200—with between $760 and $1,030 of that going to parts and between $140 and $180 of it going to labor.
This is obviously a lot of money for you to pay for a new CV axle. But as we’ve tried to emphasize a few times now, the CV axle cost is pretty much non-negotiable. If you put off replacing a bad CV axle for too long, it’s going to force you to pay even more money to fix things like your steering system and your suspension system. This helps explain why it’s a job you need to schedule sooner than later despite the high CV axle cost.
Is the CV Axle Replacement Cost Worth It?
If you have a newer car with a bad CV axle in it, you’re almost always going to find that the CV axle cost will be well worth it. Replacing your bad CV axle is going to be the only way to keep your car safe while it’s out on the road. You shouldn’t even think about skimping on a new CV axle if you’re going to be driving your vehicle around for at least a few more years.
Those with older cars, though, might want to think twice before paying to replace a bad CV axle. Your bad CV axle might just be the first of many problems to come, which is why the CV axle cost might not be worth it to you. You could be better off selling your old car rather than doing a CV axle replacement that could run you well over $1,000.
How Can You Get Rid of a Car With a Bad CV Axle?
Do you have an older car with a bad CV axle that you don’t want to take the time to fix? We don’t blame you one bit. The CV axle cost is out of a lot of people’s price range. So instead of fixing your CV axle, you should consider cutting ties with your car and selling it. Junk car buyers will pay you cash for it, bad CV axle and all.
Skip paying the CV axle cost by calling on Cash Cars Buyer to make you an offer for your car. We’ll pay you top dollar for almost any kind of car, even if it’s in need of something like a new CV axle. Contact us today to get more information on how much your old car might be worth.