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Wed May 11, 2016 8:42 am

As part of my restoration, I'm replacing the rear axles. I've seen various qualities and prices for replacement assemblies.

My question is this ... If I plan on street and highway driving only, is a "lower quality" axle adequate? As an example, there's an assembly on Amazon that claims to be a fit for $48.00 each, shipped. I think it's technically a Super Beetle axle but not sure.

thoughts?

Wed May 11, 2016 9:18 am

My advice is to stick with what you already have, and just replace the worn pieces.

Things use different CV joints than Beetles or Busses, although the CV boots are the same as on Busses.

If your CV Joints and boots are serviceable, just clean and re-grease them. It's a messy job, but worth the effort.

Good luck, Mondshine

Wed May 11, 2016 5:20 pm

ok got it.

how about a few more "i'm clueless" questions-

- what's a stub axle? is that the axle going through the wheel that the main axle connects to?

- what's the difference in a IRS and non-IRS axle assembly? i thought they were all IRS

thanks

Wed May 11, 2016 5:52 pm

You need to get a workshop manual.
Take a look at this photo:

It's a lousy photo, but right in the center you see the transaxle drain plug. On either side of that, you see the inner CV joints. You can also see the outer CV joints, which are bolted to the stub axles. The stub axles have a flange which is bolted to the outer CV joints. They pass through the rear wheel bearings in the diagonal arms, and have a splined section to engage the splines on the rear brake drums, to make the car go.

Swing axle Things are unusual (in the US) but can be recognized as the entire wheel end pivots (swings) from the transaxle.
Photo from the gallery:

These cars are a lot of fun to work on, so have fun.
Good luck, Mondshine