Broken drive shaft
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New User
Joined: Jul 2007
Posts: 11
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From: Ellicott City Maryland
Broken drive shaft
I have a 2003 f-350 with 62,000 miles. I took it into my local ford dealer for a small vibration that starts around 45 mph. They told me that my drive shaft was broken and needed to be replaced. my question is. Should this be a warranty job and if the universal joints are life time lubed...Why did this wear-out? What is my recourse? How do I contact a factory rep?
Fleet Mechanic
Joined: Jul 2005
Posts: 1,463
Likes: 103
From: Staten Island, NY
Well, unless you have some type of extended warranty, the standard factory warranty is 3 yr. / 36K so I don't see how its a warranty issue.
Its just a fact of life that u-joints fail. Some sooner than others although 62K does seem a bit early. U-joint life depends on many factors - seals can fail and allow contamination in, shock loading can play havoc with the needle bearings, lifted trucks are tough on u-joints and I've seen greased for life joints come out of the box with very little grease in them.
In addition to decreasing the maintenance requirements, one of the reason most OEM u-joints are non greasable is to eliminate the grease passages that need to be drilled into the cross thus making the joint a little stronger. The down side as you've found out is that there is no way to flush contamination out with fresh grease.
Its just a fact of life that u-joints fail. Some sooner than others although 62K does seem a bit early. U-joint life depends on many factors - seals can fail and allow contamination in, shock loading can play havoc with the needle bearings, lifted trucks are tough on u-joints and I've seen greased for life joints come out of the box with very little grease in them.
In addition to decreasing the maintenance requirements, one of the reason most OEM u-joints are non greasable is to eliminate the grease passages that need to be drilled into the cross thus making the joint a little stronger. The down side as you've found out is that there is no way to flush contamination out with fresh grease.
FTE Leadership Emeritus
Joined: Sep 2000
Posts: 23,174
Likes: 1,678
From: Stephensville WI
Welcome to FTE jceckstein 
If it isn't a U-joint, a decent driveline shop could repair the driveshaft for a lot cheaper than replacing it.
Also, you could get a replacement driveshaft out of a salvage yard, have new U-joints put on it and replace it yourself.
