i never did price out the axle without the hubs.i dont know what the price difference is to be honest but i did find the whole axle assembly with diffballs,rings and hubs to be more than reasonable so i just bought them for our new car.there are a few nice axles out such as niftech,riemen,and IRS.i just found that the quality of the IRS was real good and the price was even better.
here is a pic of our final production car.it is before the anodizing because i just sent the aluminum parts out today.i also left my damper tubes off
overall i am very happy with it