One Piece Driveshaft

[SigOris]

What I find to seem a little strange is that I just looked under a new 2022 Colorado ZR2 and see they have a one piece aluminum driveshaft of about 4/5 inches in diameter. Wheel base is roughly equivalent. So why all the noise about Ford engineers? What, physics + liability = 180 degree different solution for Chevy? I work with lots of engineers and (no offense to those on the forum here) many of them couldn't remove the damn driveshaft themselves... they sit in simulations and VR worlds and make some of the wildest decisions without an ounce of reality in the decision process. "If the computer says it will do it, we'll darn it, it will!" Then we all end up with products that compromise on quality experience out of fear that someone will eventually experience a 100 year storm. Having experienced this recurring driveshaft/vibration issue for 18 months now, I'm not convinced anyone truly wants to understand this problem except those having to live through it daily. Reminds me of my Fiesta STs that continually overheated because of a simple problem that Ford didn't want to even entertain because the computer said it couldn't happen or wasnt the problem.. they were convinced the radiator was correctly sized based on their calculations....but I could make it overheat on command. Mishimoto designed a radiator and sold many of them, solving the problems for most folks. They replaced multiple engines in mine and bought back one of them only to have it happen again on the "revised" model too. I'm truly frustrated at this truck and I'm at a crossroad of riding out the lease and taking a gamble on getting a MY23, or shifting gears completely to a Bronco or ZR2. Love this truck but hate driving it on the highway. I hope this solution takes care of the problems many are having. It certainly looks promising from the video. Keep us posted!

Chris,

i started my career as technician and went to night school to get my degree. I still bad mouth my fellow engineers especially the new grads who know everything.

Anyhow, in defense of engineering, the people to vent at are the people who take designs to production and change things to reduce cost. I‘ve seen first hand engineering want extra time to test and validate only to be turned. Truth be told there’s poor performers in every occupatio.

Last defense of engineers, the engineers at ATK strongly recommended not launch CHALLENGER and we know the outcome. Management tried to turn it around on the engineers saying they weren’t vocal enough. My source: a coworker’s dad worked at ATK.

pic is for levity

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[JohnnyO]

Using the Tom Woods calculator it seems that at 80 mph, the fastest I'm likely to run the truck, driveshaft speed would be a bit under 3200 rpm.

 

[Big Blue]

Play with fire, someone is going to get burned!

 

[JohnnyO]

Hi Folks, Get your flame throwers warmed up... I will be in my flameproof bunker... It would be wise if you are running a one piece D/S that has a critical speed below max vehicle speed to install a front driveshaft loop. D/S can let go with no warning and the resultant possible pole vault is not desirable at all...

Best,
Phil

Sounds like good advice to me.

Only partly related, but a couple years ago they had a chassis dyno at the Ford Nationals. I was walking by when they started up a Pro Street Fairlane on it. When it got up to speed it spit the driveshaft out and me and a bunch of people ducked for cover. Lucky it didn't fly too far.

 

[MountainGoat]

Hi Folks, Get your flame throwers warmed up... I will be in my flameproof bunker... It would be wise if you are running a one piece D/S that has a critical speed below max vehicle speed to install a front driveshaft loop. D/S can let go with no warning and the resultant possible pole vault is not desirable at all...

Best,
Phil

Maybe Tom Woods can sell one with the driveshaft for an extra $250.

 

[Gary]

I bought this kit, which is in a TSB, for the F-150 slip joint clunk. So far this grease has lasted, on my Ranger, the longest without clunking. I cleaned out the parts of the slip joint with surgical precision and put the new grease in and secured the boot. I gave up with the dealer and did it myself.

I cross referenced the grease in the kit from the Ford part number and it is Tribogel pa6110lcs. I had no luck trying to purchase it directly.

https://www.levittownfordparts.com/sku/9l3z4w602a.html

Was it hard to do?

 

[navsnipe]

Was it hard to do?

It is not difficult if you don't mind getting under your truck and doing some wrenching. A fellow forum member did a great video on how to do it. The grease in the kit I posted the link to supersedes the grease in the video.

 

[NotBudule]

What kind of nifty camera was that taking video under the truck ?

 

[JohnnyO]

Maybe Tom Woods can sell one with the driveshaft for an extra $250.

https://www.summitracing.com/parts/sdm-pce430-1001

 

[quangdog]

Hi Folks, Get your flame throwers warmed up... I will be in my flameproof bunker... It would be wise if you are running a one piece D/S that has a critical speed below max vehicle speed to install a front driveshaft loop. D/S can let go with no warning and the resultant possible pole vault is not desirable at all...

Best,
Phil

I am definitely going to figure out a driveshaft loop. Hoping I can re-use the original carrier bearing mount points... or would they be too far back?

 

[quangdog]

What kind of nifty camera was that taking video under the truck ?

GoPro 10. I actually just bought it ... and have been impressed with what such a little thing can do.

 

[P. A. Schilke]

I am definitely going to figure out a driveshaft loop. Hoping I can re-use the original carrier bearing mount points... or would they be too far back?

Hi Kimball,

Think it is too far back.... You want it placed where there is less swing up and down...

Best,
Phil

 

[NotBudule]

... and have been impressed with what such a little thing can do.

Damn ,, I don't want to say "that's what she said" , but somebody should...

 

[Shawn at Tom Wood's]

Hi guys, Shawn Wood from Tom Wood’s here. I wanted to chime in on a couple things being discussed here and clear the air a bit.

• From a previous post: “I've been waiting for them to be in stock. Now that they have them they increased the price more than $100. With shipping it's probably $800. Screw'em. My local shop is a lot cheaper and no shipping cost.”. Yes, the price went up a bit more than was originally planned. This was because we decided on a 4” diameter tube instead of a 3.5” diameter and because the cost of the required spacer for the transfer case flange came in a little higher than expected. Frankly, I know we could charge $1,000 for these and people would pay it but the $699 price is fair. We pay the shipping, so that extra $100 you are mad about is awfully presumptuous. Get one locally, or not at all, I honestly don’t care.
• The genesis of the shaft we are offering was not me trying to create a shaft for a vehicle and then making up a problem to sell the shaft. It was multiple people contacting us, sort of desperate, for a solution to the drive shaft issues they are having with their trucks. If there wasn’t an inherent problem with the stock shafts in these trucks, it would be completely off our radar, and we’d never have developed a shaft for it. We create products to fix problems, we don’t create problems to sell products.
• Critical Speed: Whose critical speed calculations are we using? https://pstds.com/critical-speed-chart https://spicerparts.com/calculators/critical-speed-rpm-calculator http://www.wallaceracing.com/driveshaftspeed.php A few months back a trainer from Spicer was here giving us a presentation, among the things he talked about was critical speed. I asked him about how different materials affect critical speed and he did not know the answer. The critical speed calculator on their website does not specify. I do know however that Spicer only uses CREW tubing. We only use DOM tubing. I don’t know if that affects the results of the critical speed or not, but I would assume that it has some effect, as would the material and grade of steel. I think that there are too many variables to say that the critical speed is always X without knowing and calculating all the other factors. But critical speed is a concern, and that’s why we have info about it and a drive shaft RPM calculator on our website. If a guy thinks he needs to drive his truck 100 mph I really don’t want our drive shaft in that truck because I believe it does become unsafe.
• I know, I know, the engineers at Ford all have God-level intellects and never make mistakes. That’s why everything on every Ford vehicle always works perfectly. I’m of course being sarcastic. There are many, many forum threads focused on the issues that are caused by the stock shafts. Despite all the best engineering in the world something isn’t right. I like to think of predicting vibrations as predicting the weather. There’s lots of science that goes into it but sometimes it rains when it’s supposed to be sunny. Now are you going to grab an umbrella or just stand there and get rained on while saying “But it’s supposed to be sunny!”? Sure, the stock shafts in these trucks are supposed to work well, but sometimes they don’t. I’d rather they did and all the people who just spent $40K on a new truck didn’t need to worry about fixing anything. But the stock shafts often don’t work well. So here I am, the guy selling umbrellas.

Bottom line, we brought this shaft to the market at the request of multiple Ford Ranger owners. It was only made available after a long development process, in which we tested the design and made subtle adjustments along the way to ensure the best possible performance. If Ford engineers were infallible we wouldn’t be having this conversation, but we are having this conversation. There’s something just not right with the stock shafts in these trucks. We’re trying to make something better, not perfect, but more right.

 

[quangdog]

Bottom line, we brought this shaft to the market at the request of multiple Ford Ranger owners. It was only made available after a long development process, in which we tested the design and made subtle adjustments along the way to ensure the best possible performance. If Ford engineers were infallible we wouldn’t be having this conversation, but we are having this conversation. There’s something just not right with the stock shafts in these trucks. We’re trying to make something better, not perfect, but more right.

As a customer who bought one of these shafts, I'll just add this:

• There was a pretty long wait for these shafts to become available - however:
  • The 1 piece shaft solved my start up shudder
  • The shipping was incredibly fast and free
  • I had a question about the install process, which was answered in under 5 minutes with a simple phone call

It should be obvious that I'm a fan of this solution to the inherent problems with the factory 2-piece shaft. Thanks, Shawn!

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