So I've seen a lot of posts lately on failing axles and different brands, so I just wanted to share my personal experience and you can take it how you want.
When removing my transmission for rebuild, I wasn't as careful as I thought I was being when removing the axles and tore apart my inner joint. I got on rockauto and ordered AWPI GM8222.
The part arrived and immediately I thought something was off:
Ignore the crazy mess and parts in the shot, the new axle is the one on the left, and the oem is the one immediately to the right.
I didn't get a shot of their compressed length, but the new axle was almost 1.5 inches shorter! Stretched out it was only .5 inches shorter, but still, that's a big limit in possible movement!
Unfortunately, I decided to put it in anyways and drove for a few months.
Then the shaft started shaking violently and I took it to a mechanic who diagnosed it as the axle.
I then replaced it with another new axle from advanced auto parts for significantly more money. Got that axle and it too was short!
Finally bit the bullet and went with OEM and haven't looked back. I'm not trying to necessarily promote one brand vs the others, but it's hard not to when they can't even manufacture them to the right size!
Hope this helps someone, and feel free to comment and leave your experiences with this or other brands!
