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never in my life have I ever seen anything like this. Thank God it happened pulling away from a stop at an intersection rather than at speed on the highway. The driveshaft let go with enough force to bash in the muffler and get the attention of the cops across the street who heard it and came over to lend a hand.
took out the bits today and you can see where the wall of the shaft got down to the thickness of paper. We’ve talked before about how Ford doesn’t spend the $0.50 to paint the driveshafts, even on the brand new trucks.
you must live in rust belt of the NE of Midwest? If one lives in a snow area that the state uses salt and chemicals, then one does need to do some preventative maintenance and not blame Ford for no painting of the shaft.
When my truck was brand new it had surface rust on the driveshafts. If I didn’t spray it with fluid film or another product it would be in horrible shape by now. It’s unfortunate but when you buy one of these trucks you need to take steps to prevent rust underneath. My opinion is Ford should do a better job with rust prevention on these trucks and cars they sell. My wife’s last car a Toyota Corolla had absolutely no rust when she sold it after 10 years of use. She bought a brand new Ford Escape and when I did the first oil change I noticed some light rust that I blasted with fluid film.
you must live in rust belt of the NE of Midwest? If one lives in a snow area that the state uses salt and chemicals, then one does need to do some preventative maintenance and not blame Ford for no painting of the shaft.
no, we’re going to go ahead and blame Ford for this one. It’s insane not to paint a critical drivetrain component that’s essentially made of sheet metal. There is literally zero possible counter argument for it.
“Gee, you must live where there’s road salt” is about as defensible an argument as “Gee no wonder your truck overheated because you live in the south.”
Ford has no qualms selling these trucks up here, but they can’t be bothered to build them for up here. It would have cost another $50 to use effective coating materials on the entire truck, but no: they give BS e-coat primer on the body metal, and naked exposed steel on the stuff that can actually do real damage.
Generally no paint on driveshafts, the paint does not go on evenly and will screw up the balance. Welded on balance, so no way to do it in the reverse order.
That said, there are electrically applied coatings which would reduce corrosion. But the cost goes up.
Just a guess, but the driveshaft is likely not the only rust on your truck. How are the cab corners? Floorboards? Bed rails? Rear fender wells?
The Spicer sourced driveshafts on Toyotas are painted. Granted not very well, but it's usually the frame that rusts out on them before the driveshaft goes.
Yeah, Ford probably should've used better coatings, but they only expect these vehicles to have a 10 year life span, nothing's built to last anymore. Saying it's class action worthy is ridiculous. The original buyer had the opportunity to fully inspect the truck , so they know what they were getting. It's the owners responsibility to keep up on maintenance.
Yeah, Ford probably should've used better coatings, but they only expect these vehicles to have a 10 year life span, nothing's built to last anymore. Saying it's class action worthy is ridiculous. The original buyer had the opportunity to fully inspect the truck , so they know what they were getting. It's the owners responsibility to keep up on maintenance.
Yep, early Mustangs rusted out floorboards because they did not paint under the front cowl vents. Those rusted through and water got to floorboards and those rusted through. They did not expect those cars to last very long and who would have thought they would be as valuable as they are today. They may have saved $20. on each car but the restorers are making a fortune rebuilding them. One market created another.
That could have gotten ugly if you were out on interstate trying to pass someone. Odd you can go to salvage yards and find 50 year old drive shafts that just have surface rust. Maybe shafts are made from inferior materials now.
That could have gotten ugly if you were out on interstate trying to pass someone. Odd you can go to salvage yards and find 50 year old drive shafts that just have surface rust. Maybe shafts are made from inferior materials now.
Majority of steel was better 50 years ago. New steel will always be better than recycled steel, which makes it worse than the parent metal. There's always minor degradation from contaminates. I'd be willing to bet most new vehicles are majority recycled steel. Plus the fact everything was built thicker and heavier in the past.
At one point i owned a 78 Pontiac Bonneville and a 94 Chevy Caprice, both were built on the same chassis/ suspension from 78-96. The 78 had a heavier frame with less lightening holes and mostly just had surface rust underneath where the 94, a 16 yr newer vehicle had to be junked because the floors and rear frame rotted out. I knew the history on both cars, the 94 was washed religiously, the 78 I literally had to shovel mud and sand out of the quarter panel drops, it was just better materials.
Also, could it be Ford trying to save weight to meet more stringent fuel standards? I know they take paint weight into account in some racing and aviation.
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