Mostly they die because the boot fails and allows the 90 weight gear oil (M-B Factory) or special grease (aftermarket & shop rebuilt) to leak out and eventually the balls begin to make noise .
In either case, the original homeokinetic axles cannot be service at ho,e because the boots are crimped on at the wider joint end and no, using pliers in your driveway isn't a good idea .
I've managed to find an undamaged replacement axle that requires (and comes with if you buy new Chinese) inner stub flanges, it was time consuming but re warding to clean out and re boot .
My problem now is : I drove too long with the boot ripped so now I have a *slight* vibration I can feel whenever I'm accelerating .
If it were a later typ axle I could remove and re boot it and flip it to the other side / direction of load and it'd prolly be fine until I'm dead .
There used to be lots and lots of little shops that rebuilt CV drive axles, all are gone now .
Cardone's $144.00 _each_ price has me hoping to find a wreck or impound with decent used axles, living on a fixed budget it do able but requires patience .
I'm also getting so beat up I'm not sure I want to install replacement axles my self, it requires dropping the pumpkin to change to the newer style axles .
-Nate
.