Your Mercury axle assembly plays an important role in the handling of your vehicle. An essential part of your vehicle's drive train, it is never a good idea to procrastinate in changing your Mercury axle assembly once it becomes apparent that it needs to be replaced. Your drive train is made up of several parts. Among these are -- depending on whether your Mercury is a front or rear wheel drive and has a manual or automatic transmission -- the constant velocity joints, the clutch or torque converter, the differential, universal joints, drive shaft, transmission, and, of course, a Mercury axle assembly. For all of these parts to work at peak performance in unison, they all need to be in good working order, including your Mercury axle assembly. When it is approaching time to install a new Mercury axle assembly in your vehicle, you are likely to notice handling difficulties. A stuttering or vibration while accelerating during a turn is one common handling problem. The vibrating sensations typically associated with axle problems are often accompanied by a distinct clunking or popping noise, especially when the vehicle is going in reverse. Although this is sometimes due to damage to the constant velocity joints, for many makes and models it is more economical in terms of both time and money to replace the entire Mercury axle assembly. That is because it can be more labor intensive to do just the constant velocity joints, and replacing the Mercury axle assembly ensures that everything fits together just as it should for the highest degree of performance and safety.