Things that can break your vehicle's axle include poor maintenance; an auto accident; hitting curbs, potholes, or bumps too hard; and overloading your vehicle beyond its weight-bearing capacity.
The answer to this question is relatively simple. If your car shocks are becoming worn, hitting any bump or pothole in the road could cause damage to your car axles. Because the axle is constantly rotating and flexing to accommodate different road conditions, it can wear out and fail, resulting in a broken axle.
Bad or damaged engine mounts will cause the cv axle to keep breaking, overloading vehicles beyond its capacity and stress the axles with large bumps and potholes also will damage the cv joint too. Another way drivers can put their CV parts at greater risk is by adding lift kits to their vehicle.
If one of your axles is broken, do not drive the car. It's not safe. If you notice a bumping, clicking or grinding noise when going into turns, your axle isn't broken yet, but it's only a matter of time. It's most likely a failing CV joint.
6 Signs Your Axle Is About to Fail and Break (Symptoms and Signs)
Is axle damage expensive?
On average, replacing one is around $880, and $959 for an axle shaft. Repairing a front axle is about $550-$740, with the rear one approaching $480-$550. Luckily you won't have to do this often, and the replacement should last you for a while.
What happens if your bent axle finally breaks? If you're lucky, your car simply won't move out of the driveway; if you're unlucky, the wheel bearings will seize while you're on the road, and the tire and entire wheel will fall off, leaving you with an out-of-control vehicle. Don't take that risk!
As cars age, axles become more brittle and/or rusty, reducing their strength. Road conditions. Again, because axles carry the weight of the vehicle, excessive stress and force caused by bumps in the road or potholes can cause axles to break.
CV axle boots last for quite some time (80,000 miles) and are not items needing periodic replacement. But you absolutely should inspect them at least once a year, or even more often on cars with high mileage. They are most affected by prolonged off-road driving or heavy use in transportation-industry conditions.
Car axles are fairly resilient, but when they're under pressure, you'll feel it in the gas pedal. When an axle is bent or damaged, your vehicle might begin to strain. You'll put it into gear and notice right away that power isn't getting transferred to the wheels (i.e. it's slow to get going).
As a rotating part, the axles require regular maintenance and repair to stay in good working order. If you do not have your bearings replaced in time, you might need to have your axles serviced, as well. Both front and rear axle repair consists of full replacement of those parts.
Vibration While Driving. Because the CV Axle joints are located right next to the vehicle's wheels, any damage to them can directly affect your driving. If you suddenly feel as though your vehicle is vibrating more than normal, it can mean that you have a damaged halfshaft.
Even though axles are built to be tough, an overloaded vehicle can sometimes crack or break an axle. Bad carrier bearings or bad potholes are other common causes of axle problems.
What happens if your CV axle breaks while driving?
If you drive a car with a damaged CV, the joint will disintegrate further, making driving impossible. You'll not be able to control the vehicle and may get involved in an accident.
The only available repair of this - is to put a new axle, that means it will be like a new wheel (if you do not have other problems in your wheel). If you going to replace the axle, examine the bearings cup if it have any deformation. If it have, in most cases the wheel must be replaces.
On average, a single axle replacement costs between $300 and $1,500, depending on the type of vehicle and labor hours. The cost of parts ranges between $760 and $1,030, while labor cost is between $170.00 and $180.
CV joints and boots can be replaced individually, but most professional technicians and even do-it-yourselfers prefer to replace the whole halfshaft assembly with a remanufactured shaft.
Replacing a single axle, parts, and labor together can cost between $300 and over $1500, depending on the car. This rate can be multiplied by the number of axles you need replacing.
The answer to this question is relatively simple. If your car shocks are becoming worn, hitting any bump or pothole in the road could cause damage to your car axles. Because the axle is constantly rotating and flexing to accommodate different road conditions, it can wear out and fail, resulting in a broken axle.
Bad vehicle vibrations after a collision with a bad pothole, unexpected curb, or other objects may indicate axle damage. Vibrations may be accompanied by an unusual rumbling noise underneath the vehicle, strange tire wobbling, or sluggish driving and steering, which may indicate a bent axle.
Labor rates vary from shop to shop but normally it will take 1.5-3 hours to replace a cv axle. The total labor cost will depend on how many axles you are getting replaced. If you have an all-wheel-drive car and are replacing all four axles, the labor time can be 12 hours or more.
Another sign of a broken axle is unusual sounds. You may hear clunking or sputtering sounds, and you will hear this noise when your wheels begin to turn. In some cases, you may also hear when your axle breaks. You will hear a loud clunk.
In most cases, cars have two axles to rotate the wheels. Larger vehicles that carry more passengers and have more wheels may have more axles. It's easy to identify the number of axles that your car or any other vehicle has. Just look at your car from the side, then count the pairs of tires.
If you discover that your axle is bent, assessing just how bad the bend is will help you decide if repair is needed immediately. With a slight axle bend, continuing to drive is generally still safe. Even with a slight bend in the axle, you may begin to notice vibration while driving.
