2005 Camry
I was looking at CV axles, and was wondering what is this part and what is it’s function? It appears to be some joint or something, almost like the axle is in two and the joints joins them together.
I’ve seen them typically without whatever that thing is, similar to this, which is similar to what is in my car at the moment, which I believe is OEM.
I’ve also noticed the length difference.
The one with the unknown part is 37 4/5"
The one similar to what is in my car is 37 5/6"
So the one with the unknown piece is 1/30" shorter, interesting.
Looks like most of the axles for this car, have a slightly different compressed length, but are all about the same, so I guess it probably isn’t something significant?
The XD at the end of the part number stands for Xtreme Duty for extreme weather, the boots, clamps and grease are supposed to provide superior performance in extreme cold, heat, and rugged conditions that can cause premature failure in standard axles…
The rubber thing in the center of the axle shaft (green arrow) is basically a vibration damper used to help reduce or control driveline vibrations… It is probably needed to help with the extra weight of the XD parts on the axle…
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And the difference in length is almost exactly 1 mm. I have never seen lengths listed in fifths and sixths of an inch. Odd.
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Which on an aftermarket axle that has significant amounts of plunge and extend means it is close enough! (as we know, some posters can be a bit OCD about these things so while it may be stating the obvious… it still needs to be said! 
)
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It would be an interesting experiment to compare the drive-quality with that donut of rubber material on vs off. (Not suggesting this actually be done, might be unsafe, but just as a thought experiment) My guess, you’d notice some difference in the amount of vibrations felt at the steering wheel , esp when turning.
Was at junkyard today and I actually saw this style axle laying in main “road”. I stepped right over it.
No
you won’t
On one of my previous cars, I replaced the factory cv halfshaft, which had a damper, with one which didn’t have a damper
no discernible difference
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Didn’t we have a question a few years ago about a CV axle breaking because of corrosion under one of those?
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I believe you are correct
