Drive Shaft Catistrophic Failure

A

autobahn terror

New member
Hello ALL,

Long time Lurker, First time Posting. So...Lets have some fun with this thread. Fairly well modded 2014 PP SHO, with more mods to come, Rolling down the German AutoBahn at 170 MPH, and then..BOOM!!! I thought it was a Blowout, turns out it was the Driveshaft, or as Ford calls it the "propeller shaft", from PTU to Rear Diff.

Still trying to figure out exactly what happened, and what the total amount of damage is, But it isnt as bad as it could have been. Drive Shaft Snapped in half, is the worst part so far, not sure if the PTU is damaged. My Corsa Exhaust took a Beating, so did the under body. My thinking is there are 3 possible reasons for failure:

1: Excessive Speed, 170 MPH is "Flying", to Quote Mike over at EcoPowerParts, and RPMs of the Drive shaft are approaching Ludicrous. If the Carrier Bearing in the "loop", failed, could have cause a drag on the shaft, creating imbalance which tore it in half.

2: PTU failure, This One is a maybe, but since me and Good friend Yanked out the Drive Shaft and Drove the car with out any issues in FWD only "mode", with no Grinding, crunching, or other noticeable hicups other than Excessive Torq steer, I am Fairly Confident its not the PTU, all though, until a new drive shaft is put in wont know for sure.

3: Wind! this one is also unlikely, but plausible. There is a heat Blanket that is located just above the location of the failure, at 170, I believe it possible that the blanket can be pulled into the shaft if a plastic grommet failed, pulled into the spinning shaft and this could cause failure if it got hung up, or cause a drag leading to imbalance...

4: Defect, which is the obvious one, especially when combined with the others listed. My mechanic buddy, says the carrier bearing is the most likely.

NOW, what does this mean for you guys? Probably not much, unless your in Germany with me and hitting the autobahn hard like I do. Unless of course You want the details of the Aftermarket drive shaft I plan on sourcing for your own cars... I am still in the VERY early stages of getting this sorted out, and I will Keep you all posted

http://www.shoforum.com/index.php?threads/drive-shaft-catistrophic-failure.134806/#post-1469301

so far i have found that most mustang guys doing drive line swaps, upgrades, are deleting their carrier bearings. i phoned over to inland empire driveline, and they said they can build it no problem. the issues are i dont have any good measurements to do so. AND... i plan on doing a megan coilover swap soon, which 'could' change the geometry. im looking at doing somthing similar to this MP-06 Custom Aluminum Driveshafts 4" Aluminum shaft to replace the heavy stock two piece shaft. No adapter is required. $746.75 https://www.iedls.com. these guys do some serious work...

need to figure out the shaft rpm at 200mph in 6th gear, overdrive...

Questions??? Comments???
 
Will be interesting how the aluminum DS works out.  Will a competition unit stand up to the thrashing a DD unit gets?  Most driveshaft failures I have heard of on this AWD platform have been due to carrier bearings. 
 
I have been researching a vendor who makes custom carbon fiber drive shafts and plan on incorporating that into/along with a trans build.

Pricey, but they spec them to weight of car, power ratings, etc.

Interesting to see this thread pop up.

Sent from my SM-N920V using Tapatalk

 
exactly right, the bearing isnt the cause thou, more of a safety that was built in, due to shaft length. its just the failure point due to shaft flex at high rpm. i just got off the phone with a lot of high quality shaft building shops, and they all say that the shaft is too long, there is not way to get a custom one done without a carrier. plus, even then, they would not guarantee anything, as the shaft speed at my failure point was in excess of 6500 rpm. as of now, i haven't found a shop that is willing to build a piece even as an expensive one off, mainly due to the fact that they so doesn't use typical yokes and mounting hardware, so they cant balance the shaft on their equipment. and they wont invest the time and money on developing the hardware to do so. inland empire is the only shop that is willing, but i have a feeling that will change once i give them the final measurements and bolt up patterns
 
you two hommies are the guys i was hoping would take notice of this... which vendor are you talking too, ill throw in some development money if it gets the wheels of progress moving faster///
 
Also notice the OEM driveshafts are 2 piece typically (cost saving?).  The aftermarket are single piece.  I would approach the vendor that builds the carbon fiber offerings for Mustangs.  I mean, seriously, how difficult could it be to adapt an existing part to a new application?  I'd think the real hurdle to getting it produced would be the production run (demand/efficiency).

Mustang
http://www.americanmuscle.com/dss-cf-driveshaft-1114gt.html
http://www.qa1.net/driveshafts/street-performance-racing-driveshafts/1979-2004-mustang-rev-series-carbon-fiber-driveshafts
 
Oh Yeah Brotha im right there with ya on that, the shops however say they want no part of it, granted, I have not talked to qa1 yet, but their site lists 65" as the max length for a custom shaft. Most other shops I have spoken to also say the same, 60 inches is the "benchmark" limit. The shaft in the SHO i believe is a port over from the F150, (same Parent Part number), was never meant for anything more than daily driving on restrictive roadways. It may take some 1/4 Mile abuse but even then I would not trust it.

Inland Empire Drive line, said they would be willing to do a custom replacement, My guess is they would do it as a stronger 2 piece, with a better carrier bearing. Im still looking, and indeed have not had the time to measure up the distance between the PTU and the Rear Diff to give them some numbers. I am however, 100% sure that the broken shaft I pulled out from my car was over 65" in overall length when whole.

As for demand, cost basis, etc. Unless we all want them, its going to be hard to get a Shop to make one up that is "affordable". I am willing to Pay extra as I plan to continue to cruise the AutoBahn looking for Audi's, BMW's and Porsche's to Terrorize.
 
Ok, So I finally got the car back up on the lift during lunch today for a quick look with a tape measure. Face to Face the shaft is 84 and 3/4 inches, which is, again, most likely way to long for a custom single piece shaft. A custom 2 piece is the only way to go, as for performance of a custom built shaft vs. the stock shaft? NO CLUE

Below is a link to the stock parts

http://www.fordparts.com/Commerce/CatalogResults.aspx?y=2014&m=Ford&mo=Taurus#Search

bpd1151 said:
I have been researching a vendor who makes custom carbon fiber drive shafts and plan on incorporating that into/along with a trans build.

Pricey, but they spec them to weight of car, power ratings, etc.

Interesting to see this thread pop up.

Sent from my SM-N920V using Tapatalk
Click to expand...

BPD, which vendor have you been in contact with if you dont mind me asking?
 
My Comment: YOU are my new hero, and Someone i am trying to Be like,
Meaning I want to do 170 MPH...
Will be replacing the Carrier Bearing Before the Drag Season IS Out...
 
thanks irondoor

Anyone able to get the car on a lift in the near future and take some full length pictures of the stock driveshaft on their car some i can provide them to the vendor i am talking with about a carbon fiber replacement?

Please see the group purchases section and add you name to the list if you are interested in getting a high performance replacement drive shaft...
 
Vortech347 said:
Might be related to the reason Ford put high speed limiters on these cars.
Click to expand...

From what I remember reading, the Police Interceptors have the speed limiter set at 150 mph. The difference in forces between 150 and 170 are pretty high I'm sure, but in the ballpark.
 
Yes, the plan so far is for a 3.8 inch Diameter One piece Carbon Fiber Replacement. Still working out the details, but the very first one for Test fitment would cost $1650, and would include any spacer plates required and direct R&D for precise fit. Once a precise fit is established all other Shafts afterward would not need the spacers and a price quote for final product will be given. Once I get my car back from getting the Exhaust leak dealt with and the Megan Coil-over install finished, I will bring it to a roll over pit to get final measurements with full vehicle weight on the suspension to get a final overall length of the shaft. Should be right around 85 inches long.

I really need to get solid number on Who will want one soon in order to attempt a Group Buy price for the final product. so Far the number is a definite 2 with maybe a third, and that is not enough to convince them to discount a group buy. Please List yourself in the Group Buy Thread for the Custom CF Shaft if interested...
 
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