LSJ ZZP Axle WAY too short??
 

Hello all. First real post here. Here's a quick history of my car.

So I bought this car, a 2007 SS/SC g85, off a friend who had moved to florida and drove it back up north. The only mod the car has is sportlines on SS/TC struts. It needed some TLC but nothing too major. At the begining of this week I was driving on the highway when I accel and got a horrible wobble. After some investigation it turned out to be the passenger side inner CV joint. I could see grease had flung everywhere and this seems to be the symptom of it. I ordered stage 1 ZZP axles and they arrived in two days. Now here's where it gets strange.

So today I install them. I could not find any distinguishing marks on them and I read in a how to on here that they are identical. So I proceed and everything goes well. I read on the ZZP site that they are shipped compressed and might look too short. I get everything back together pull the car out of the garage and make it about 15ft when I feel clunking and hear grinding then stop being able to move. I look under the card and the entire CV axle had seperated at the inner boot. What is going on here? I got the car back into the garage and reinstalled the driver side axle, which was still fine and placed the one remaining ZZP axle in the passenger side but it is WAY extended. I cannot figure out what is going on here. I have attached some pics and if anyone can help me out or point me in the right direction as to what to do next I'd greatly appreciate it.

Attachment 40527

Attachment 40528

:wtf: the last picture is of your new axle??

Yeap thats what happened after about 15ft.

I'd contact zzp. Seems defective

I will call first thing monday. I was racking my brain as to what this would be.

well the good thing is it's not actually broken like the last picture would make it appear. there is nothing holding the axle shaft to the cage. you can get a new clamp from oreillys and slide the boot back on there and clamp it on. but yeah i would call on monday and let them know what's going on.

in case you're unfamiliar with them this should help.

https://www.cobaltss.net/forums/how-...e-boot-291728/

Well the knuckles where shredded. The other thing is when it is together its practically hanging out of the bucket. It appears to be way too short.

the knuckles? bucket? lol what do you mean

I heard someone call it a can today and got mixed up. Basically you can see in the first pic that when it is together it is barely together and the boot is stretched very far. Also there was a pile of metal from a shredded needle bearing under my car after it fell apart

Is this broken here ?
hmmmmmm

Attachment 40514

Looks like casting marks

:spam:


That's the passenger side axle in that picture. So what your seeing is the timing cover. What you circled is the outcropping of the water pump chain tensioner... You goon.

But I can see Needle bearings on the forward control arm mount. Might want to take a good inspection of everything.

Yeah the axle is toast. I talked to the kid I bought the car from and I guess this axle had been replaced before and whatever shop did it ran into the same problem. I swear it seems like its over an inch too short. He's going to call the shop that did the work and get me more info but I'm still confused as to what could be causing this to happen.

if the car is eating axles with this issue, its not the axles that are at fault, you have something else causing it.

has the car ever been in an accident? id have a look at the tire to finder gap at the front and back of that tire, and compare it to the other side, see if it looks unusual. another thing, is the car lowered exessively? looks like a steep axle angle in that pic, this can cause the axle to pull apart. same thing goes for a broken transmission mount. another thing to check is that the motor doesnt look like its shoved over to the driver side, this would be evident looking at the transmission mounts, they should be centered in the bracket on the frame.

Well this is the first time this has happened. I don't know if the car was ever in an accident but I am going to find out. The car is parked on a very uneven driveway right now so I can't tell what the wheel gap is but this wheel does look like its shifted towards the back of the car. The car is on sport lines but I've put over 10k miles on it before this happened. I will check the mounts as soon ad I can

so.. what were the results of this thread because i have an 06 cobalt ss\sc and i also got the zzp-stage 1 axles and tried to install the other day with the same thing happening on both sides.. well the boot didn't come off but the cv was practically out of the cage.. these axles look too short.. so what the hell happened with you?

I am sorry, I just pulled a Stage 1 axle off the shelf and it does appear to be 1 1/2" short. :r: We will replace your axles under warranty... No problem. Please email us and we will get this ball rolling ASAP!
I am very sorry for the inconvenience.

I am not sure why the axles are shorter, the last batch just came in short, I verified our other stage axles and they were all the correct length.

How can we tell before install? I just bought some last month and my buddy has the car and parts to install this week. Please advise...

Measure it. Go to auto parts store ask if they have one in stock and measure that one.

These ship compressed

Mine measured 24" which is the correct length apparently

I have had the same thing happen to my car. I just broke my third axle on Tuesday. This last axle was bought through a GM direct parts dealer. It was the longest axle by far but it still broke right at the inner joint after about a mile and i had to push my car back home. I'm at a loss and wondering if my control arm that was replaced is longer than it was cause i cant figure out why the axles are not long enough. I want my car back!