Driveshaft bolt backed out

Andrew33

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I just got towed home and put the car up in the air to find a driveshaft bolt had backed out and was missing. I noticed all of the bolts are loose and a ton of grease and been flung out into the underbody of the car.

Thought on the driveshaft? I’m leaning towards replacing it but I’d like to know what you would do in the same situation. It doesn’t seem to be in bad shape aside form the missing bolt and missing grease.

What should I get if I replace it? Carbon or aluminum? DSS, QA1 or other?

Also on a side note I’ve been searching for some false knock and I think this may be it.
 
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Catmonkey

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I'd upgrade it before I put any money into the two piece. I'm running a carbon fiber shaft and I'm happy with it, but they're going to be twice as much as aluminum. I initially had a DSS and swapped in a 2013 shaft when I swapped to a 2013 transmission. Check the market section too. Seems there is a steady steam of cars are going back to stock for resale.
 

BlksvtCobra01

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I’d upgrade. If you’re not going too new bolt with loctite.


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Robert M

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View attachment 1585788 I just got towed home and put the car up in the air to find a driveshaft bolt had backed out and was missing. I noticed all of the bolts are loose and a ton of grease and been flung out into the underbody of the car.

Thought on the driveshaft? I’m leaning towards replacing it but I’d like to know what you would do in the same situation. It doesn’t seem to be in bad shape aside form the missing bolt and missing grease.

What should I get if I replace it? Carbon or aluminum? DSS, QA1 or other?

Also on a side note I’ve been searching for some false knock and I think this may be it.

You will be the only one who knows if you really need an expensive DS upgrade for your car, you are the one who uses it and knows what power mods are currently on your car or future power mods you plans to install.

If you decide to fix what you have for now, this should be the part number for what you are looking for, and yes, as shown in the picture, they come from Ford with Blue Loctite installed on the threads..................

013.jpg


"If" by chance you feel your oem driveshaft has served you well, until the "bolt back out" issue, and "if" your oem 2-piece shaft is damaged (grease slung all over the bottom side), I have not actively attempted to sell mine, but I have the original 2-piece shaft out of my 2008 that was replaced when Shelby upgraded my car to a 725 Super Snake back in late 2008, early 2009, the shaft has been stored in an A/C garage and has 11 original miles on it.........Just throwing it out there.

R
 
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Catmonkey

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Unless you need aftermarket, why not replace the bolt?
If I had a CV joint that was losing grease and possibly allowing water and debris into the joint, I'd have someone take a real good look at it before putting a bolt in, tightening it down and calling it good. That's what I meant by putting money into it. I suspect these bolts have been loose a while and I would replace them all out of an abundance of caution.

Why was the car towed?
 

Robert M

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If I had a CV joint that was losing grease and possibly allowing water and debris into the joint, I'd have someone take a real good look at it before putting a bolt in, tightening it down and calling it good. That's what I meant by putting money into it. I suspect these bolts have been loose a while and I would replace them all out of an abundance of caution.

Why was the car towed?

^^^^That is what I was thinking also, that grease is coming from somewhere, probably that CV.

R
 

RBB

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If I had a CV joint that was losing grease and possibly allowing water and debris into the joint, I'd have someone take a real good look at it before putting a bolt in, tightening it down and calling it good. That's what I meant by putting money into it. I suspect these bolts have been loose a while and I would replace them all out of an abundance of caution.

Why was the car towed?
Agreed, the CV joint has got to be shot if he found grease everywhere. Might as well upgrade, the stock DS is a heavy pile of junk compared to the aftermarket options.
 

Andrew33

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If I had a CV joint that was losing grease and possibly allowing water and debris into the joint, I'd have someone take a real good look at it before putting a bolt in, tightening it down and calling it good. That's what I meant by putting money into it. I suspect these bolts have been loose a while and I would replace them all out of an abundance of caution.

Why was the car towed?

The washer that is shared between the two bolts was hitting my exhaust every time the shaft turned around. I wasn’t really sure what’s the sound was so i pulled over and towed it home. It was concerning to say the least
 

Catmonkey

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The washer that is shared between the two bolts was hitting my exhaust every time the shaft turned around. I wasn’t really sure what’s the sound was so i pulled over and towed it home. It was concerning to say the least
That's what I assumed, but thought I'd ask. If all the bolts are loose, you're very lucky you didn't sheer them all off during a romp. Let us know if that was the source of your false knock after you get it fixed.
 

Andrew33

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Agreed, the CV joint has got to be shot if he found grease everywhere. Might as well upgrade, the stock DS is a heavy pile of junk compared to the aftermarket options.

There is no doubt that 3-4 rags worth of a bearing type grease was in a perfect circle around that middle CV joint. Well a perfect half circle to say the least.

A very concerning amount.


It appears DSS carbon would be the way to go if I decide to replace it. I’d prefer to just put a bolt in it and have it work perfect. The car definitely felt gritty is the best way I could describe it before this happened
 

Andrew33

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That's what I assumed, but thought I'd ask. If all the bolts are loose, you're very lucky you didn't sheer them all off during a romp. Let us know if that was the source of your false knock after you get it fixed.


All the bolts are loose. Very lucky I agree. Ive had my drive shaft out 2-3 times but ive never touched those middle bolts. Luckily I drive like an old grandpa
 

RBB

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There is no doubt that 3-4 rags worth of a bearing type grease was in a perfect circle around that middle CV joint. Well a perfect half circle to say the least.

A very concerning amount.


It appears DSS carbon would be the way to go if I decide to replace it. I’d prefer to just put a bolt in it and have it work perfect. The car definitely felt gritty is the best way I could describe it before this happened
That's a good choice, you'll be happy with it. I've been running mine for 4+ years, plenty of 1/4 passes and over 800rwhp. It's been solid, no complaints.
 

HillbillyHotRod

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If you want something a little less costly i have been using a DSS aluminum one piece for over 4 years with no problems. This is with 700 to the wheels.
 

Andrew33

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You will be the only one who knows if you really need an expensive DS upgrade for your car, you are the one who uses it and knows what power mods are currently on your car or future power mods you plans to install.

If you decide to fix what you have for now, this should be the part number for what you are looking for, and yes, as shown in the picture, they come from Ford with Blue Loctite installed on the threads..................

View attachment 1585821

"If" by chance you feel your oem driveshaft has served you well, until the "bolt back out" issue, and "if" your oem 2-piece shaft is damaged (grease slung all over the bottom side), I have not actively attempted to sell mine, but I have the original 2-piece shaft out of my 2008 that was replaced when Shelby upgraded my car to a 725 Super Snake back in late 2008, early 2009, the shaft has been stored in an A/C garage and has 11 original miles on it.........Just throwing it out there.

R

I grabbed some of those bolts and going to throw it back in and limp around a bit to see how it feels. My only concern is the lack of grease in the cv and if it’s been damaged inside where I can’t see.
 

Catmonkey

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At least take it to a driveshaft shop and let them put some grease it at a bare minimum. If they tell you the CV is shot, I'd start looking for a replacement.
 

fullboogie

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If I had a CV joint that was losing grease and possibly allowing water and debris into the joint, I'd have someone take a real good look at it before putting a bolt in, tightening it down and calling it good. That's what I meant by putting money into it. I suspect these bolts have been loose a while and I would replace them all out of an abundance of caution.

Why was the car towed?

I have to admit that I did not see the part about slinging grease. My bad, and good advice you gave.
 

Andrew33

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At least take it to a driveshaft shop and let them put some grease it at a bare minimum. If they tell you the CV is shot, I'd start looking for a replacement.

It’s heading to a driveshaft shop to be inspected. I’m going to see what shape it’s in and then go from there. They said they would inspect it for no charge and it’d take about a hour of shop time to regrease, balance and do whatever else they need. The shop happens to have aluminum gt500 driveshafts from spicer available as well. He recommended that I don’t use a CF shaft and get an aluminum one instead.

I still kind of want a CF driveshaft. His reasoning was that a CF shaft is will be ruined if something hits it while driving and an aluminum one would be fine.
 

RedVenom48

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It’s heading to a driveshaft shop to be inspected. I’m going to see what shape it’s in and then go from there. They said they would inspect it for no charge and it’d take about a hour of shop time to regrease, balance and do whatever else they need. The shop happens to have aluminum gt500 driveshafts from spicer available as well. He recommended that I don’t use a CF shaft and get an aluminum one instead.

I still kind of want a CF driveshaft. His reasoning was that a CF shaft is will be ruined if something hits it while driving and an aluminum one would be fine.
You cant go wrong with CF or Aluminum. I was very anti-CF because I didnt like the idea of a piece of road debris kicking up and possibly destroying the shaft.

However, the overwhelming evidence points to there being no real issue running CF. You will gain a huge benefit with our cars being stick. Hitting a hard launch with a CF shaft with have small amount of torsional flex and reducing the shock load to the gears and axles.

If I had to go back and revisit my Aluminum DSS purchase, I probably would have gone CF. Happy with my Alum shaft, but the CF is proven and gives an advantage over Alum.
 

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