Front Drive/Prop shaft failure

Shop deals on ebay
Advertise with us
shop deals on amazon
Ford SportTrac Forum

Help Support Ford SportTrac Forum:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.
D

Daniel Wylie

Member
Joined
Feb 8, 2012
Messages
4
Reaction score
0
Location
, PA
Alright i love my trac but am seriously getting fed up with this front driveshaft on this thing. The first OEM shaft lasted to right around 100,000 miles...no big deal i can live with that. The second one which was a reman i got about 30,000 and then removed it completely because it also failed. Drove it for a complete summer (quietest its been since i bought it) without the front drive shaft. Got a new front driveshaft for this winter for free because the reman had a lifetime warranty and put it on around the end of october 2011. Its now only febuary 2012 and its on the verge of failure once again. During this time i have put on at max 10,000 miles and thats a pretty far estimate. Even a remanufactured driveshaft shouldnt fail at under 10,000 miles. There has to be something wrong here and im thinking its the pinion shaft bearing if im calling it right. Developed a very slight pinion seal leak a while ago but ive always kept it up on fluid. Never went down any more than few ounces between oil changes.



Like i said i love this vehicle and its been the most reliable vehicle i have ever owned. It still runs/shifts like brand spankin new and everything is original (motor, trans). I dont wanna send it down the road but im not dropping 600 dollars on an oem prop shaft if its gonna fail after a few months. Looking for a second opinion, maybe some suggestions. Id really like to have my 4wd back year round vibration free.



Sport trac is a 2004 XLT 4X4 with the tow package (4.10 gears) 175,000 miles
 
Also I dont beat this truck. It has all highway miles on it. Its never seen a mudhole and 4x4 is used mainly for the pennsylvania winters ( these tracs dont go so well in snow in 2wd). I just want the thing fixed because its getting harder and harder to pass that ecoboost 4 door f-150 at the ford dealer everyday.
 
I have absolutely no 4wd experience, so take these comments as from a novice.



First, you didn't say how shafts failed, so I may be completely off base.



It sounds like the problem is not the shaft, but either it the front diff. itself, or the transfer case



Since you say that it was a lot noisier when you last had it together than it was when new makes me think the problem is in the front diff. and not the transfer case. but what do I know.



There must be something putting pressure on the shaft when it is installed. Did you have some maintenance done to either the front diff, of the transfer case? Any chance that wrong parts have been used? mis-match of gear sizes or ratio? Just guessing here mind you.



Good luck with it and let us all know what you find out.

 
are you talking drive shaft from tranfer case to front diff or axle shaft frome the front diff to tire ?



has the front diff been worked on? pinion thrust or bearing

any7 issue withh engage or disengage of 4whl are you backing up to assist the diengage process



keep us posted what you learn this is an interesting issue

 
If I understand this correctly your saying that the front driveshaft is making noise. Unless you had a u-joint on the driveshaft that was bad there really isn't any way for the shaft to make noise and even if there were a bad u-joint the only way for it to make noise would be while in use and this only occurs while the vehicle is in 4 wheel drive and the front shaft is under a load.



Is it possible that you have actually been driving around while in 4x4 due to a faulty xfer case encoder motor?



Are you sure that the front differential isn't casuing the noise? (a bad pinion bearing will not casue the driveshaft to go bad)



Does the noise happen only while in 4x4?



What kind of noise is it?
 
No im not talking about the CV axles for each wheel. Im talking about the front drive shaft between the front diff and transfer case.



No differential work has ever been done as long as ive had it. Actually ive never had it in the shop ive performed all my own repairs on it.



No its not stuck in 4wd and disengages without putting it in reverse.



And even though its not under load in 2wd it always spins when your moving.



When it goes bad you can tell for sure. It cracks and pops and binds. It makes some pretty nasty noises. Sounds like someone is banging on it with a hammer haha.



This part is only sold as the entire driveshaft because the end agaisnt the transfer case is not a common u joint. Its looks more like a ball. Im assuming ford did this because the angle was too great for a u-joint. Upon more research ive found that Superlift made a drive shaft for these when they are lifted that uses a double u joint set up (like a cv axle)on the end rather than a ball type thing. It's greasable using an injection needle. I think im going to go this route next.



I got under and looked at it today and found that the rubber boot was ripped (my last one the boot came off completely). Im guessing this let the shaft dry out and get dirt, water, and etc in there. Since it was ripped i figured it wouldnt hurt to pack it full of grease to see if it made the problem better. Pretty much silent and vibration free now. So maybe its just the boots ripping and or lack of grease.



My guess is that these remanufactured driveshafts are not made or balanced as well as the ford unit. My original spicer unit failed and the boot was still intact at over 100,000 miles. I also checked the front yoke and there is no play whatsoever. Its still leaking slightly but its tight. If they had an easy way to be greased i would keep it greased every oil change. Only way i would know is a grease needle and to poke a hole in the rubber boot. Im just afraid with as much as it moves it would tear at the hole even if its just a pinhole.





I wanted to freshen the old girl up this winter with a shackle lift, torsion twist, and some new wheels and tires but i dont know if its gonna happen now.. :-(



 
I have seen the front diffs actually have issues inside them that come and go and people feel its the Drive shaft.



I know you drove it with out the shaft, but maybe the load is causing the problem to show its ugly head.



make sure you hand spin everything and check for play in all directions....



Todd Z
 
Dan I feel your pain buddy. I have a 2001 sport Trac 4X4 and mine ate six driveshafts before I got one that didn't blow up soon after I installed it. Even the one in the truck now is making the noise like a hammer hitting the shaft but it doesn't shake the truck so I left it. I'm sure you are right about grease in the rear "Tulip" style joint just being worn out.

Fellow members if you have had this problem on your Trac you would KNOW exactly what Dan is talking about. My truck sound like there is a tiny Jack hammer going on the driveshaft when it's beside something so the noise is reflected to me. I bought used driveshafts for mine as a new one here in Canada was 1000 bucks.



Well now the sport Trac (which we call Jack) is nothing close to stock and a superlift shaft is on the way. Best of luck Dan all I can offer is my condolences and the reassurance that you are not alone. :grin:

 
Glad im not the only one. Let me know how that superlift shaft is. I just want something that lasts. Its just such a poor design.... and weak. As of now since its been greased its been pretty quiet. I took it on a 150 miles trip last saturday and had no trouble. I think maybe ill just have to keep my next one greased really really well and hope for the best.



Like you said unless your next to something like a wall or another car you cant really hear it too well. But its always there and it vibrates and ruins an otherwise smooth ride. And its odd because sometimes its worse than others but its always from the shaft. You can feel it under you rather than in the wheel.



Thanks for all the help guys!
 

Latest posts

Top