can you drive a car with out a cv axle

[BradyFitz]

No, you should not drive a car without a CV axle. Attempting to do so is extremely dangerous and will cause immediate, severe damage to your vehicle. The CV axle (Constant Velocity axle) is a critical drivetrain component that transfers power from the transmission to the drive wheels. Without it, the vehicle cannot be powered. If an axle breaks while driving, you'll lose power to the wheels, and transmission fluid will leak out, potentially leading to a complete transmission failure.

The immediate risks are significant. The wheel on the side of the broken axle will have no control, which can make the vehicle difficult or impossible to steer safely. Furthermore, with the axle removed, the wheel may detach from the vehicle, causing a catastrophic accident. Even moving the car a very short distance, like out of a garage, is not recommended as it can damage the wheel bearing and other suspension components.

The only possible exception is for a professional mechanic performing a specific repair that requires briefly rotating the transmission output shaft with the car elevated and off, but this is not "driving" in any sense. For any on-road movement, the car must be towed.

Potential Consequence	Estimated Repair Cost (Beyond Axle Replacement)	Likelihood
Transmission Damage from Fluid Loss	$1,500 - $4,000+	High
Wheel Bearing Failure	$300 - $600	High
Damage to Suspension Components	$500 - $1,500+	Moderate
Wheel Detachment & Accident	Incalculable (Safety Risk)	Low, but catastrophic

The safest and most cost-effective action is to have the vehicle towed to a repair shop. Driving without a CV axle turns a relatively inexpensive repair into a very expensive and dangerous situation.

[StJoy]

Absolutely not. Think of the CV axle as the bone connecting your car's "hip" (the transmission) to its "foot" (the wheel). If that bone is gone, the foot just flops around uselessly. You won't go anywhere, and trying to move it will tear up everything else around it. It's a one-way ticket to a huge repair bill. Just call for a tow truck; it's cheaper than replacing your transmission.

[KarterRose]

I learned this the hard way with my old truck. A CV axle isn't just a part that makes the car go; it's what holds the wheel assembly together on a front-wheel-drive car. If it's broken or removed, the wheel can literally collapse inwards. Even if you think you can just coast down your driveway, the wheel has no support. You risk the wheel falling off and the brake line getting ripped out. It's not worth the risk.

[LaJocelyn]

From a purely mechanical standpoint, the vehicle is incapacitated. The CV joint allows for power transfer while accommodating suspension movement. Its absence means no torque reaches the drive wheels. More critically, on many modern cars, the axle also serves to keep the wheel hub assembly correctly positioned. Driving without it compromises the entire steering and suspension geometry on that corner of the vehicle, leading to immediate and unsafe handling.