83 half shafts
 

Can no longer find complete axles for my 83 944. Seems every other year is available . Is there any crossover or compatibility with other years? Autozone used to have great prices.

wonder if the autozone joints themselves (from the late model/vanagon axles) would work on the early shaft?

The early shafts are shorter than the later ones ... i upgraded to the later aluminium arms on my 83
as the later parts are more available.I probably might still have the early ones lying around somewhere , but i'm in Canada ...

If you have early shafts, the Vanagon/Syncro joints are a direct swap. The shafts themselves should always be good to go. I was able to find genuine GKN-Loebro joints for around $40 each from a Bus parts supplier a few years ago. Shouldn't need to be touched for a long time. The boots and hardware are still the standard parts which are reasonably cheap. The autozone joints are really hit or miss, I've heard of people busting them in 140hp NAs driving normally around town.

One thing to look out for is that a lot of aftermarket (complete) axles have different spline dimensions. For example, most EMPI axles have their own style which is not a direct swap with OEM.

^^ buy vanagon axle assembly, swap new joints onto 944 shaft, put old 944 joints onto vanagon shaft, return as "core"... LOL

Why not just get the good quality GKN cv joints and put them on the shafts you have. They'll last much longer than the autozone ones...

I had a failed CV joint and the shop had a used Audi half shaft with a CV joint that was direct replacement.

Agreed.