My vehicle is a 1995 Toyota T-100 Extra-Cab 4WD 3.4L Automatic.

Both my CV axle boots are shot and have been so for a while since this and every forum says to replace instead of repair so I just kept driving on them for the last year till I found time to replace.

Per everyone's recommendation at this forum (if you decide not to go OEM) I ordered the Cardone Select 1/2 shaft which is an all new manufactured axle (unlike their older A1 Cardone 1/2 shaft which is a rebuilt and known to have quality issues).

Also per this forums recommendations I ordered from RockAuto (due to their low prices).

Instead of receiving two Cardone select 1/2 shafts I received only one, the other being an "INTERPARTS" 1/2 shaft (doing Google it turns out they are a chinese outfit with three factories that makes knockoff vehicle replacement parts).
http://interparts.com/

I know nothing about this outfit (INTERPARTS) but if they are recommended by folks here then I will just keep it even though the two 1/2 shafts will look a bit different.

Appearances wise the Interparts 1/2 shaft looks to have higher quality machining of the metal, like the splines are cleaner. It is gun blued instead of the poor quality phosphate finish of the Cardone (does not really matter as I will paint since Cardone are known to rust quickly where axle is exposed). The Interparts shaft came in a non-descript brown box with no markings and no instructions or warranty card. The rubber boot on the Interparts does not seem to flex as cleanly as the Cardone. They both seem to turn/flex with the same stiffness and roughness

Unfortunately the most import part (internals/bearings) is not accessible to check on where the quality really counts most.

QUESTIONS:
[color:"red"] QUESTIONS: [/color]
[color:"blue"] Anyone ever heard of these folks before and seen any recommendations for them?
How do they compare to the Cardone select 1/2 shaft (which is recommended by many folks at this forum)?
Anyone have first hand experience using these shafts?
If you had this situation would you go through the hassle of a return to get the matched set of Cardone 1/2 axles?
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On another note.......

......Both companies shipped these shafts loose without packing in their boxes. Not a problem for the tough metal axle, but the poor dust shields which they both mounted on the shaft got smashed up and is worthless. Anyone know where to get new ones? I will try Rock Auto, but they do not list them, and will probably want me to ship them back, and the replacement ones will probably be smashed also since I don't expect it to be packaged any differently.

Probably not much help to you now, but...

FWIW, the ones I've bought were EMPI from NAPA and I didn't have any problems. These were while working on other people's trucks though since I've still got the originals in mine (manual hubs make them live a long time).

Thanks for your input Erik....

....would love ot hear from more folks.

Shouldn't the shafts be much different in length, since the diff is offset to the passenger side? Why have two of the same shafts?

T100 Transfer box has an extension on one side so CV shafts on both sides are exactly the same.

Thanks for your input as on alot of cars and 4x4's the left and right are different lengths.

Thought I would update.



Contacted Cardone to see if they are rebranding "INTERPARTS" as their own for resale. They said no and that the other CV axle "INTERPARTS' was not theirs.



Rock Auto responded:
What we can do for you is pay to have the incorrect part returned, as we don't even sell Interparts at RockAuto (This would void any warranty).

So off to Fedex this other axle goes. Rock Auto was kind enought to RMA with return shipping and said the replacement will soon be on its way.



They also will be replacing the dust shields that were bent up so I won't have to send the whole axle back. There are several threads at the forums about these dust shields being bent up due to shipping and they way they packaged them (attached to axle)