If your vehicle has recently begun to make grinding noises, you may have a damaged axle assembly. This sort of damage is common to vehicles that go off-road or regularly travel difficult roads. The axle assembly is a combination of an axle shaft, a CV (constant velocity) -joint or two and maybe a U-joint. It functions to transmit rotational force from the transmission to the wheels and is commonly found on front and 4-wheel drive vehicles, trucks, and high-end rear-wheel drive European imports. The transfer should be seamless, and to accomplish this, all the moving parts are very carefully greased and packed away from the elements. The rubber gasket that forms a seal around the CV-joint is called a boot and must be tough to keep abrasive dirt and dust from contaminating the joints. Should you have the tools for the job, flushing contaminants from the joints is messy work with a high chance of failure. Often times it is not only a terrible pain to correctly change a cracked joint boot, but the damage may already be done to the joints from even a brief exposure to road contaminants. Even if there is no noise when turning yet, you can be sure the life of the joints has been dramatically decreased. Purchasing the entire axle assembly is not only about the same price as having individual components replaced, but you can be assured that all the components are in fine, new condition. Car-stuff.com carries high quality OEM and performance axle assemblies that can be installed quickly without having to worry about seals.