Recently I changed the front CV Axles in my 08 Saturn Vue. I could not find AC Delco Axles so I went with the Cardone brand. When I pulled the original and compared it to the Cardone, I noticed that the original was about 2 inches longer than the new one. I was careful when I bought it to match it to my exact model and trim. I have already installed the Axles and they appear to work fine but I was wondering if that is going to cause some problems later. Do the CV axles have some length range that could allow it to use a bit shorter Axles?

 

2 inches longer I'm surprised you were able to install it.

 

Yeah. I felt unconfortable installing it. Right now the steering wheel is not returning to center quickly when making a turn. But this may be an alignment issue. I'm waiting to get my alignment done first, then see how the car feels when turning to see if I should get reman OEM instead. BTW, this is the part I bought. Website says it is a fit, but when comapred it was shorter.

https://www.carid.com/2008-saturn-vu...139957328.html

 

I think I'm confused. I thought your earlier post stated The replacements were 2 in longer, not shorter. Please advise

 

Is your car a V-6 or a 4 cylinder? I don't know if it makes any difference, but it MIGHT. IDK, I'm not a mechanic.

 

Shorter...longer....whatever it is it's not the correct axle.

 

The new ones from Cardone are shorter. The original Axles were longer. I don't know how much longer exactly, but they were longer. I already got rid of them now so I can't give an exact measurement. I also thought that maybe the originals were longer from being uncompressed (in an extended state) in the car for so long. I might be wrong.

 

It's 4 Cylinder.

It's kind of strange. Another weird thing - When I bought new inner tie rod ends (I tried different stores), for some reason the inner threads were different (wider) than the original tie rods-even though they were matching the part to my specific car. No matter where I went (O'reilly, Advanced Auto Parts...), the part they matched to my car had the wider inner threads. I ended up having to get a complete remanufactured steering rack assambly with the inner tie rods already attached. Replaced the whole thing.

 

Was there some kind of mid year changeover on the Vue? Maybe try going up or down a year to see if parts come up as the same # for your 08. Once again, I don't know and am frankly just too lazy to check them for you.

 

It's possible. Usually when I match the part Online, it's the same part for several different Model/Brand years. I have a feeling they might have made suttle changes after the brand was killed and then discontinued the original early parts. I could be wrong though. I'm gonna post a pic of the original and new parts when I have a chance.