Twice a year, nearly every vehicle in Canada goes up in the air with all four wheels off. For a few minutes, a technician has the clearest view of the undercar they will get all year and the customer is already in the waiting room, expecting an invoice.

That makes changeover season the best undercar opportunity on the calendar. The only question is whether the shop treats it as a 30-minute swap, or a 30-minute swap plus a 10-minute inspection.

Canadian roads do the selling for you. Salt and brine, frost heave, potholes and months of cold soak are exactly what shorten the life of drivetrain and chassis components. By changeover, most vehicles on the hoist have just finished a hard season and are about to start another.

What’s worth a look while the wheels are already off:

• CV axle boots. Cracks, splits, weeping grease, or grease slung across the inner fender. A torn boot is a failed axle in waiting far easier to sell now than as a February tow-in.

• Wheel bearings and hubs. Rock the tire at 12 and 6, then 9 and 3. Listen for the growl the customer calls “road noise.” ABS and wheel speed sensor faults often trace back here too.

• Struts and shocks. Fluid film on the housing, corrosion, worn mounts, bottoming. Ride control that is 100,000 km deep is quietly costing that customer tire life including the set you are about to install.

• Steering and suspension. Tie rod ends, ball joints, sway bar links and bushings. Pothole season leaves evidence.

Have the coverage on the shelf when the answer is yes. Those conditions are precisely what cause premature failure in OE-style, standard-duty parts and precisely what GSP North America built its Extreme Duty (XD) line to survive.

GSP XD CV Axles start where standard axles fail, the boot. XD boots are constructed with TPE and CRR for a tougher, temperature-resistant seal, held by step-less ear clamps that keep consistent pressure for a proper seal. Inside, a temperature-resistant grease with higher frictional and abrasion resistance keeps the joint protected from a -30°C cold start to summer highway heat. Components are heat treated for premium strength and extended service life, with precision-machined splines for exact OE fitment.

GSP XD Wheel Hub Assemblies are the wheel-end answer to the same problem. Introduced at AAPEX 2025, each hub is manufactured from high-grade steel using a specialized forging process for superior tensile and torsional strength. An advanced multi-lip sealing system keeps water, dirt and road debris out of the integrated bearings, while a corrosion-resistant coating fights the rust and surface degradation brine exposure guarantees. Installation-ready hardware comes in the box, and every unit is a direct-fit replacement no modifications required.

For vehicles that live on gravel, tow, plow, run lifted, or just cover hard Canadian kilometres, XD is the line to quote. Behind it sits GSP’s full undercar program —Performance Revolution CV axles, knuckle hub and pre-pressed hub assemblies that eliminate the press, ADVANTEDGE Ride Control and Steering and Suspension.

For jobbers and distributors, the same window is a stocking decision. XD axles and hubs move fastest when every bay in the country is running changeovers, and the shop that gets a same-day part is the shop that closes the sale.

Behind the parts is the Garage Support Program, GSP’s hub for training, tech tips and resources that help professionals diagnose faster and install right the first time. 

More than four decades of Quality Driven Performance, on the shelf and under the car.

EXPLORE GSP EXTREME DUTY (XD) →EXPLORE THE GARAGE SUPPORT PROGRAM →