Hello, I bought a da last weekend and it needs a new axle on the driver side. I bought one and installed it and as soon as I went down the road it snapped. I exchanged it and got another one but this one looks too short and the boots look to be too stretched out. I'm afraid if I try to drive it will snap also. I measured and it looks like I need an axle that is 26 inches and the two I have gotten were both 24 inches long.

I don't know what to do. It's not making sense to me. It still has the stock transmission in the car. I was told that the gsr axles fit but they're the same size as the others. I don't understand why they aren't fitting right.

 

The inner CV joint slides in and out (outer rotates around only, no axial movement). As such, the free length of the axle is set merely by where the inner CV boot's smaller band is tightened around the axle shaft. Whoever rebuilt that axle got it too short.

While you could probably safely run that axle (the actual tripod rollers in the joint cup will be in the same place even though the boot is stretched out), that boot could tear prematurely with extended use. My brother had an axle like this on his del Sol that he drove for a couple of years with no problems.

I would probably take it back anyway and get a brand new axle from Advance Auto Parts. I'm using them on our Corolla and they seem to be pretty good. Just take a tape measure and compare the length of the axle to make sure it's within 1/2" or so of the specified length.

Another alternative is to just cut that band loose on the inner boot, set the free length, then install and tighten a new axle boot clamp. Be careful to not let any grease leak out of the boot.