CV axle (non-OEM) replacement causing vibrations while accel @ speed

Did not see a specific thread about vibrating new replacement CV axle, so figured I'd post.

Noticed right outer CV boot was leaking and dealer quoted ~$400 for just replacing the boot, which seemed a bit unreasonable. Used local mechanic that had good reviews to do the right CV axle replacement this morning with aftermarket part ($200 job). Definitely was hearing clicking when turning for a few months now, especially on U-turns on the old part, so figured it was worthwhile to replace it.

Symptoms of vibration are noticed when accelerating around 65 MPH or so, almost as if engine is struggling to accelerate. No DTCs seen yet. Noticeable in driver's floorboard when it happens, disappears when acceleration stops. Issue does not seem to happen at low speeds at all (< 40~50 MPH)

FWIW, had a cylinder 3 misfire that was fixed by replacing ignition coil and also replaced spark plugs then. and also a Coolant Flow Control Valve Position Sensor Stuck DTC that was fixed by replacing that part. 288k miles, '04 Prius.

The vibration I sensed this morning is different than just the engine bucking as it was when the ignition coil was bad and arcing, and was not present before today. Most likely will call mechanic tomorrow and ask them to take a look again, but wanted to get opinions on this.

Questions:

1) Is it possible this aftermarket front right CV axle part is no good given the vibration?
2a) Would vibration be a 'feature' of non-OEM part? I did not see the part that was installed, but saw different parts online did not have the dampener at the middle, whereas the OEM one does.
2b) Is vibration because of a mismatch between OEM CV part on the left and non-OEM on the right?

 

Read up on this a bit earlier and kinda convinced it looks like a bad part based on other non-Prius forum discussing aftermarket CV axles.

Thank you for the insights. =) I will call the mechanic tomorrow morning and get that checked as soon as I can get it in, and will update this later on with how it went.

 

Update on this, went on short test drive with mechanic who noticed the issue as he was driving along with me. He wasn't completely sold it was axle, but told me to keep an eye and call again as they could replace part under warranty. He had tightened lug nuts (two were a bit loose) because of a clunk/knock type sound that was heard upon braking at times. Later I Isolated that to be reproducible 100%, accelerate to 20-25 MPH, brake about 10+ MPH, immediately after acceleration, a clunk type sound is heard... lug nuts were not the issue though.

In regards to the vibration issue, I have seen that it is also prevalent at lower speeds, sometimes around 15-25 MPH, but with less intensity. Looking at OBD values, it seems to happen when throttle is around 35-37%, engine load around 60%, the strongest around 40-60 MPH, but vibration goes away above or below that acceleration threshold.

Called mechanic today and will bring it on Wednesday have the part replaced, and hopefully the replacement part will not have these 2 issues.

 

Didn't even think of that, just saw this now. Axle was replaced with another non-OEM one this morning, but same exact symptoms, so I guess that's not that issue at all. Transaxle fluid was replaced with 4 new quarts while they had it on the lift, so I feel a bit better about it at least that it's not that it leaked enough to cause any issues. I'll take a look at the wheels later to see if there are any obvious signs of adhesive where a weight could have been.

Did see a possible concern for the clunk type noise, one side of the metal supports (the wing like-metal bars at either side) on the front exhaust pipe that mate with the rubber mounts completely detached off the pipe side and is also warped, something must've hit the undercarriage pretty hard at one point and basically it's only attached on one side at the moment.

Picture of '06 pipe (not mine) attached to show what I'm talking about.

The other alternative could be that the 2" hitch crossbar that was added ages ago is contacting the tailpipe on occasion. This is probably coastaletech's hitch, but it's been quite a while, so don't recall. There used to be a hose clamp to avoid that in the past when the car was still on its first muffler, but didn't see it on today, dealer might have raised the muffler without it when replacement was put on. Seems odd it the clunk would just start suddenly after replacing axle, though. Any ideas welcome

 

The right front axle assembly was replaced, not just the boot. Did the transaxle fluid out of caution since it had probably been at least 100k since it was changed, so figured it was about time. I remember I did a good amount of routine maintenance around the 130k-ish mark, replacing ATF WS being one of them.