Front Drive Shaft Update

[Commodore]

I wonder how can we do a class action lawsuit against Ineos or what's the way force them to admit this is somthing they need to do a recall.

I have been through enough litigation in my life and filing another one next month. That is life as an industrial landlord in Kalifornia. One thing I will say... litigation is a full contact sport for the wealthy. It's a time suck and will keep you awake at night. The best thing would be if NTSB determines this is a safety concern. Look at the GM 6.2L engine recall. That took years to happen and involved 800,000 cars/trucks.

Another one that affected me directly was the famous Porsche M96 intermittent shaft bearing failure. Porsche never did a recall, never admitted it was an issue, but a few years into the production fun of 997 they revised the engine and got rid of the IMS bearing entirely. I suspect this is what Inoes is going to do and the fact that Ineos completely refuses to comment on the issue is sorta the tell on their strategy... Hell the issue is even marked as "solved" in the forums "ask Ineos" section... something smells funny with this one. Ineos will redesign the front driveline and just keep replacing existing customers driveshaft until they are out of warranty. The Porsche IMS bearing was solved by the aftermarket and really isn't an issue now. I know of one aftermarket company working on a Grenadier driveshaft with an oversized CV joint and an adapter to the existing t-case yoke. I only know about it because I contacted the same driveline shop to inquire about this exact solution and he showed me the prototype that he is currently working on for the very well know aftermarket parts vendor. Assuming that it works out like it should, this is most likely be the fix that we will all end up with.

Just have a little patience and I do belive that the aftermarket will solve this.

 

[Tazzieman]

Just have a little patience and I do belive that the aftermarket will solve this.

Correct. If humans can send a dog into space in the 50s, anything is possible.
OK , the dog burned up on re-entry. We are sort of at that stage with driveshafts.
But before long , humans were getting back to earth safely. Hold that thought.

 

[evomind]

I have been through enough litigation in my life and filing another one next month. That is life as an industrial landlord in Kalifornia. One thing I will say... litigation is a full contact sport for the wealthy. It's a time suck and will keep you awake at night. The best thing would be if NTSB determines this is a safety concern. Look at the GM 6.2L engine recall. That took years to happen and involved 800,000 cars/trucks.

Another one that affected me directly was the famous Porsche M96 intermittent shaft bearing failure. Porsche never did a recall, never admitted it was an issue, but a few years into the production fun of 997 they revised the engine and got rid of the IMS bearing entirely. I suspect this is what Inoes is going to do and the fact that Ineos completely refuses to comment on the issue is sorta the tell on their strategy... Hell the issue is even marked as "solved" in the forums "ask Ineos" section... something smells funny with this one. Ineos will redesign the front driveline and just keep replacing existing customers driveshaft until they are out of warranty. The Porsche IMS bearing was solved by the aftermarket and really isn't an issue now. I know of one aftermarket company working on a Grenadier driveshaft with an oversized CV joint and an adapter to the existing t-case yoke. I only know about it because I contacted the same driveline shop to inquire about this exact solution and he showed me the prototype that he is currently working on for the very well know aftermarket parts vendor. Assuming that it works out like it should, this is most likely be the fix that we will all end up with.

Just have a little patience and I do belive that the aftermarket will solve this.

Hello my friend...
But at what cost??

 

[TCMColorado]

Of course it will not be free or low cost, but I would rather spend the money to solve the problem permanently than continue returning to the dealer that is 100 miles away to have them repeatedly replace the front prop shaft. That is the cost of being an early adopter.

 

[Commodore]

Hello my friend...
But at what cost??

I would expect it to be around $1,200 USD but I don't know for certain. The CV is a bit more than a u-joint and then there is the machined adapter. Maybe $1,500 on the top end but it would be a permanent fix and still less money than a cut and turn on the front axle.

Of course I think that Ineos should do the right thing and fix this permanently under warranty. Ultimately, it will cost them more reputationally if these fail every 10-20k on a stock setup. I'm not very hopeful given they won't even acknowledge the issue yet they are likely processing warranty claims every day for this problem.

 

[evomind]

I would expect it to be around $1,200 USD but I don't know for certain. The CV is a bit more than a u-joint and then there is the machined adapter. Maybe $1,500 on the top end but it would be a permanent fix and still less money than a cut and turn on the front axle.

Of course I think that Ineos should do the right thing and fix this permanently under warranty. Ultimately, it will cost them more reputationally if these fail every 10-20k on a stock setup. I'm not very hopeful given they won't even acknowledge the issue yet they are likely processing warranty claims every day for this problem.

Oh...I can do 1500 bucks.
Good enough to lift it a bit and whatnot?
Im in.

 

[Commodore]

Oh...I can do 1500 bucks.
Good enough to lift it a bit and whatnot?
Im in.

I think we should know in the next few months. When I was there last week they where going to make some adjustments to the adapter plate and have another patch machined. That is really the key to the system.