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Today I swapped out the passenger side axle shaft in my C5Z because the boot tore on the original. Everything went fairly well, not a difficult task. I also replaced the seal on the differential and the outer tie rod end because it was toast. I ordered OEM AC Delco for the axle shaft and the part number I received matches the parts catalog, ‘10311201’.
I feel like the boot (closest to the differential) on the new axle shaft looks too compressed compared to the other side and I’m worried about damage to it from driving. I did drive the car and it seems fine but it doesn’t look 100% right. I re-did the job and it came out the exact same way. I laid both shafts down side by side and they appear to have slight variances to them, but I didn’t measure. And yes, the new shaft is fully seated in the differential.
Has anyone come across this before? Something I should be worried about? Hopefully someone can chime in...
I also uploaded a picture of the driver side original axle shaft for comparison, it’s the dirty one of course.
I dont know if you can buy a replacement clamp like that,, but I would just try to slide the clamp down on the shaft a little bit. It might be loose enough.
I dont know if you can buy a replacement clamp like that,, but I would just try to slide the clamp down on the shaft a little bit. It might be loose enough.
Maybe, but that shouldn’t be necessary with a brand new AC Delco part. It’s not like I went cheap and picked up something at Autozone. It just doesn’t seem like the inner boot should look this way, nothing is binding or not seating properly.
Last edited by 10thumper; Apr 23, 2019 at 12:05 PM.
I wouldn't worry, probably just comes down to a slight change in design. I replaced that same axle with a 2008 C6Z axle and it also had a slightly different appearance.
Don't see the issue tbh, if its AC Delco I wouldn't worry about it.
I replaced the boots. If you place the old and new axles next to each other with the inner cv joints at the same extension, the boots should look similar. If you have the inner cv joint extended or compressed then the boot will look different which is normal. The boot clamps around the shaft should be directly over the wide axle grooves so they don't move out of position, if a wide groove is exposed then the boot is clamped too far to the end of the shaft causing the boot to look pushed in. The bottom picture looks like the new inner cv joint is extended while the old inner cv joint is compressed. If the old and new axles are the same length and clamped over the grooves they should be fine.
Thanks for the help! I'll measure the compressed lengths to be sure (easy to remove the shaft). Maybe the old shaft was just worn and that's why the new looks more compressed since the inner joint is like a plunger.
OEM Axle Shaft Replacement Possible Issue
