I've been looking at replacement front axles and the best options I have found for my manual is the genuine volvo at like $450 or the aftermarket DSS for like $95.

From the research I did when I replaced my front right axle I know a few things:
1. the aftermarket axles are pretty crappy
2. GKN is supposedly the manufacturer of the genuine volvo axles

Back then I was able to find a GKN right axle but for some strange reason GKN makes the front left axle for the automatic c30s (36000550) but not the one for manual c30s (36000546). How different can they be?!

So the other popular option is DSS for only $95, which I am leaning towards, because there's no way it can be 4-5 times worse than the OEM version, right? Does anyone have any experience with DSS axles?

Also, is there any easy suspension maintenance I should consider performing while I am replacing the axle? My car has 110k miles and I figure its due. FWIW, I am a complete rookie repairman, I have only ever replaced two things on cars so I don't know how to diagnose suspension issues nor would I want to undertake anything extensive. How do I diagnose any suspension issues?

Bonus Question: A few months after replacing the right axle and the boots on the left axle my steering wheel would start to shake while braking at higher speeds. Wouldn't happen at lower speeds. This sorta went away after a few weeks though. I assume this may have to do with the axles, but could it be something else? Is there anything else that can be causing this issue that I can take a look at while replacing the axle?

 

The automatic and manual axles are slightly different lengths, which make a huge difference as someone with an S40 in these forums found out not long ago. I would get a set of GKN axles if you need to replace them. For the suspension parts, you don't really have any of the suspension completely apart when you do this job. For mine, pop the nut off the tie rod end and rotate the knuckle to get the axle out. As far as shaky braking, you probably have warped rotors in the front since you feel it in the wheel too, that would need to be machined/replaced to properly fix. Try FCPEuro to find proper axles for your car. You can always call them for really good help.

Your post is very hard to read, idk what you did to the text color but its awful.

 

Thanks. very helpful

I wish this was an option. I can only find the axle for automatic transmissions.

Something that I omitted is that this shakiness happened soon after I replaced the rear pads and rotors as well as the brake fluid. I asked another message board what I did wrong with the brake job that would lead to the shakiness and they said that its an issue with the front wheels so the rear wheel brake job has no influence on the issue. This is why I omitted this information. Do you think the rear brakes may have any infuence on this issue? Why would the front rotors act up so suddenly after the rear ones were replaced?

theyre my go to but unfortunately they only stock the genuine volvo variant for my vehicle....which seem pretty $teep.

Sorry I don't know why that happened. I did cross post this on another message board so I must have copied the font color from there.

 

It looks fine now, must of been something on my computer and loaded the page wrong. You can always try to find some junk yard ones to save cost. I agree the volvo ones are very expensive.

Check out rockauto.com they have very good prices. I am not sure on the exact year and engine on your car so I couldn't see exactly if yours were there, but they do have auto and standard axles listed.

 

I think I may have found the gkn part for a manual driver side cv axle. Strangely it is only sold in Europe, despite the automatic LH axle and both automatic and manual RH axles being available in America.

Initially I used GKN's online catalogue tool to locate the parts they make for my car. I found that the part number is GKN 305778. Searching for that part number shows only European sites and the sites list all the corresponding OEM part numbers, 36000546 being one of them.

Now, I need to figure out if there would be any issue if I bought one of these parts from overseas. Wondering if it even make economic sense.

 

Whats the year make a model on your car?

 

it's a 2009 Volvo c30

 

https://www.ipdusa.com/products/1215...6000546-125498

Not GKN, but IPD has one available, they ship out of oregon or washington. However I do not know much about the Protech brand.

 

Regarding new vs aftermarket, quite often the aftermarket axles are rebuilds of OEM parts. Volvo friendly sites like IPD and FCP will tell you the details about the after market parts.

 

I appreciate the help, Dingus, but I have no trouble finding cheap aftermarket parts. This issue is that I heard that the cheap aftermarket axles are really poor and result in a bad driving experience right out of the box. That's why I'm looking for the GKN axle, which I believe is the original manufacturer of the OEM axle.

 

I would give FCP a call when you can, there's gotta be a reason you can get the right but not the left from them. And you are correct, GKN is OE