Damn........

Specracer · Jul 4, 2006

Yesterday was a beautiful day, have the almost 2 year old with me to go for a spin, as I go for the ramp, blip and let the clutch out, wait a minute that feels strange....... Whoa, crap, I have no drive, grab all gears to see what we got, nothing........ so roll to the top of the ramp, find the safest sopt and that was it. Look in the mirror, got a little smoke, and the oh so pleasant oder of gear oil. DAMN!!!! Pop the hood and there is the half shaft detached from the transaxle! DAMN (have I said this enough) DAMN!!!!!!!! I think Abolfaz has been there and done this as well.

So what is the probelm you ask? Look at image, the 2 retaining bolts that hold the half shaft must have backed out. These are not stressed so I do not think they broke (splines carry the load). I will look more at it when I have more time, and interest...... Hope the image comes up, as I have never posted a picture before......

The good part is that I called my dealer, they were VERY helpful, they called a great tow company that sent out 2 guys that had a lot of experience, and even came quickly. The only bad part is the GT tech is on vacation this week, so I will have to wait until next week to bring it in.

Well as they say, things happen.......

Damn......

FB GT40 · Jul 4, 2006

Sorry you had that happen! :frown

Looking at the photo and considering the critical function of the bolts, they should use 'loc-tite' or a tab washer, or they need to be safety wired.

Hope you up and running soon.

Gordo.

Specracer · Jul 4, 2006

Agreed, I was talking to the service manager and I said that I would wire them........ His comment was he will do what ever Ford will let him.

Andy

lthlvpr · Jul 4, 2006

It seems like I have heard of about 20 people where this exact thing has happened.

It's very surprising that Ford has not generated a recall on this. This can be very dangerous indeed once this failure occurs. Think if you were doing spirited driving on twisties when this occured. Good thing it happened and you can the car were unharmed.

I wouldn't be surprised if someone gets in a serious accident when this happens in the future. Then Ford may be stuck with a gigantic lawsuit.

It seems like the most reasonable, logical, and safest thing to do would be to recall this, have everyone get their cars checked out, bolts replaced and torqued properly.

Any thoughts?

nota4re · Jul 4, 2006

Specracer,

What is the year/VIN of your car? I'd like to think that at some point Ford became aware of this problem and took some corrective action for cars still in production.

fjpikul · Jul 4, 2006

Agree, would like to know year and VIN.

barondw · Jul 4, 2006

Had them wired sometime ago no problem.

Dave

GTF-40 · Jul 4, 2006

backed out or sheared ?

hi, sorry to hear of this problem.

when you know for sure, please advise if the bolts backed out or if they sheared.

if they are backing out, then safety wire should do the trick. also if they are backing out then i would think it would be easy to inspect for in out travel in the meantime to see if the bolts have started to back out.

george

analogdesigner · Jul 4, 2006

Sorry to hear this...

I think that fasteners were over-torqued from the factory. This is not a design or engineering flaw, this is a manufacturing flaw. Insist that the fasteners on BOTH sides be replaced!

Here is the famous link on this topic:
http://www.fordgtforum.com/forums/showthread.php?t=638

I am sorry to hear this, as I am sure the wait alone will be painful.
Jay
www.gtsaver.com

abolfaz · Jul 4, 2006

The fastners actually break. Don't let the dealer only replace one side, make them do both.

Specracer · Jul 5, 2006

Hi All, yes it is an 05 vin 1641.

The dealer has offered to look at the other side as well. It is frustrating, but again what can you do........

It will be back on the road before Detroit!!

Neilda · Jul 5, 2006

Spec, would your dealer be able to tell if these bolts had been over-tightened? There is a specific torque rating. I'm quite curious on this subject (particularly as your GT is close to mine in build date - I'm 05 in the 1500's).

It may be impossible to check the torque of the bolts, I'm not a mechanic - but it's a topic I'm interested in.

Thanks

Neil

Edit - re-reading your original post, these bolts had not sheared but, instead, backed out. Suggesting they were not torqued enough perhaps. From memory, Albo's bolts had sheared/snapped.

Specracer · Jul 5, 2006

I do not know if they are sheared or not. I did not look carefully enough to see if the the threads are clear or the stubs of the bolts are there. I am only speculating that they backed out, because I am having a hard time trying to see where the forces are coming from. All of the driveline forces are taken by the splines on the output shaft. So these are retainers, and must only receive lateral force during suspension travel......

I will report back.......

nota4re · Jul 5, 2006

For those owners who might be so inclined to go outside and look at the subject area of these fastener failures, I'm including a couple of pictures.

The first is a picture of the driver's side halfshaft. (Note that the numbering and left-over blue tape (duh!) is from me marking the bolts for the proper re-torquing sequence after installing the headers. The seperation failure does NOT occur between the two silver-colored plates - which are joined by 6 bolts. Rather, the failure occurs with the black cupped piece immediately above the '4' and the '5' mark seperated from the splined shaft it is bolted to. I guess if you were lucky, you might be able to detect a small, abnormal, speration here and find the failure BEFORE the halfshaft slipped out.

Here's the driver's side pic.

Here's the pass side pic. Notice that I have a little bit of a gap on the pass side. I think (hope) this is normal.

nota4re · Jul 5, 2006

By the way, my car is an '06 VIN 1208. It sure would be great if someone from Ford could stand up and tell us when or if they made a change in the assembly method that might mitigate the occurance of these failed fasteners. I feel bad enough for the guys who already have experienced this problem - and, unfortunately, I'll bet there's more to come.

Mr. Ford exec,

I know that this post and this thread will wind up on your desk within a day or so one way or another. It sure would be a tragedy to see someone get hurt over a problem that you've been made aware of and has occured to at least two members on this board (someone correct me if there are more) as well as to Motor Trend magazine several months ago. Please take care of those people that could be affected and let the remainder of owners know if there were corrections made at a certain VIN number. The decision for Ford to stay silent on the subject is increasingly absurd.

Thank-you.

Neilda · Jul 5, 2006

Nota - that's very useful.

I think I have that gap you pictured on both driver and passenger sides - eeeek! I can't be sure as I'm sitting in my office and the car's at home. However that shiny area (the gap) seems terribly familiar.

I'll check it when I get home.

Fortunately I'm with Roush at the weekend on the Le Mans trip they've organised - they know the GT inside out and can take a look.

I assume the two small bolts referred to in the first picture of this thread cannot be seen without taking the whole wheel off? I'm not quite sure how you get to those.

Specracer · Jul 5, 2006

Actually 6 axle bolts you can see have to be pulled, then I am not sure if there is enough play in the CV joints to be able to swing the half shaft out of the way enough to get at the retaining bolts...... Or the half shaft might have to come out, which is more invloved.

Kirby Vieira · Jul 5, 2006

Thanks for the pics and description!

KJD · Jul 5, 2006

Kendall,

Great post and great pics, many thanks! FWIW, mine has about a 1/16" gap on the driver's side and about a 3/32" gap on the passenger's side. And I'll certainly monitor these now that I have a baseline. Many thanks again and also for the post/pics on your 4-post lift w/ rolling jacks.

Neilda · Jul 6, 2006

Nota - here's mine which is the same as yours, so that should be some comfort. Also note oil stains from vent!

Drivers side:

Damn........

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