Nissan Premium OE vs Value Advantage CV Comparison (Frontier/Pathfinder/Xterra)

A very quick look at the boxing, cosmetic, and external measurements between the Premium CV that comes on these trucks compared to the Value Advantage option offered by Nissan.
This is NOT a break down of either shaft regretfully, so inner measurements were not obtained.

[@RicArmstrong]

How does one know if a CV is going bad? Im getting a strange sound like a "swish" sounds when driving from my left front wheel.

[@blackrocknissan]

Things are so challenging to diagnose online. But to provide some options to explore... What you describe seems like possibly a brake related noise. Possibly brake shield or I have seen the tabs on the metal seats the brake pads set into, get bent and rub against the rotor, but that would be more a squeal. I've not seen that on a Frontier, but I have seen it on other vehicles. The point is do a thorough inspection, starting by safely scotching, then jacking up the vehicle. Remove the wheel. Spin the rotor and see if you can pin down the noise. Remove one piece at a time. Remove the caliper, the pads. Spinning the rotor each time to see if the noise is still there and inspecting for possible causes. This would be a good opportunity to inspect the front end for other wear as well, such as wheel bearings. I have seen failing wheel bearings cause the front wheel to lean in and put constant pressure on one section of the brake pad - not only causing abnormal pad wear, but a "swish" or "scuffing" noise.
CV will make a "popping" noise when they wear and are failing - especially when turning the front wheels.
They could also make a "clanking" noise such as the in my situation where I had a sudden and complete catastrophic failure.
I will be doing another video on this, showing the internal failure of mine. However there are likely other videos that show the inner workings. But they are basically a shaft with a small gear on the end, set inside a housing with larger gear design on the inside. The shaft and housing are held in place together and function to transfer power by ball bearings that fit in the valleys of the shaft and housing "gear". This allows everything to rotate but also move for suspension travel and steering.
When these go bad, they "pop" as the bearings and valleys (grooves) wear, allowing the shaft, bearings, and housing to move more independently of one another and can sometimes bind up. They may even be slopping around inside the housing. "Teeth" of the gears can wear and chip/break so that can add to the issue and contribute to the noise as well. Catastrophic failure is when those components completely come apart, which is what happened for me. All my bearing were spun out from between the gears and the shaft was just banging around inside the housing on both sides as I drove home.