Front Drive Shaft Update

[landmannnn]

Maybe it just needs somebody to design a better universal joint?

Not having a mechanical engeering background, how hard can it be to redesign something 100 years old?

 

[C-Mack]

Front axle redesign is the only real fix… is there even enough room for IA to angle the pinion up before the diff snout/flange and cv-joint interfere with components above at full compression/articulation? Seems like the engine mount and some other bits are close by.

Too bad IA will never do a retro-active fix for existing vehicles but certainly willing to be wrong and surprised by them. Come on IA please do what you know is right for your customers. It won’t make immediate financial sense but it will if you take the long term view however long that may be.

 

[Ovrland Bill]

Seems like to me they need to save the t/case, and front diff. But completely adjust the front diff and pinon angle. Still what a big job for dealers, all of which may not have a certified welder. In the end the liability could mean a new front end completely, but that would be even more expensive. I really don't see an option beyond this, and since they are still cranking them out, they need to solve this on the assembly line to stop the bleeding asap. They of course claim dana screwed up the design, but this will become a war of lawyers in court with no real winner I am afraid. They might keep this under 200M, a chunk of change, but manageable. When I get mine back I will start mine own NHTSA complaint, since I don't have the drive shaft here and cant take photos. If we get a couple of dozen to file a complaint things may happen. It does not take many serious safety complaints. We have to emphasize that most will fail after day to day use, and how the danger from a driveshaft coming apart on the highway could lead to injury, and that for most of us we discovered it driving and had to pull over. Ineos will check the under 1% box when replying. But NHTSA knows that will always be the response.

Oh, save receipts for those that have to replace their own shaft like me!

Having not had a problem with the front driveshaft (yet), what would I be reporting to the U.S. NHTSA at this time?

 

[NQ94]

Does Carraro have a high pinion (amboid) front diff housing? Changing and the pinion angle and using high pinion diff housing would come close to eliminating the issue.

 

[Mountain4x4]

Only those with failures can file a complaint, however if anyone drives or uses there truck, its coming. Not sure Carraro would even talk to us, seems like an INEOS thing.

https://www.nhtsa.gov/report-a-safety-problem#/vehicle

 

[Dokatd]

Finally got around to using temp indicator paint on a T-case joint. Used 450° for the joint itself and 300° for the boot and the boot casing.

After some extended driving at higher speeds neither paint indicated over temp.

450° is when the joint grease would be fine to break down and 300° is when the rubber of the boot would start to fail.

These are higher end temps, but combined with my previous checks with an IR gun I don't see that heat is an immediate issue.

 

[Sonoranrover]

Finally got around to using temp indicator paint on a T-case joint. Used 450° for the joint itself and 300° for the boot and the boot casing.

After some extended driving at higher speeds neither paint indicated over temp.

450° is when the joint grease would be fine to break down and 300° is when the rubber of the boot would start to fail.

These are higher end temps, but combined with my previous checks with an IR gun I don't see that heat is an immediate issue.

 

[scottg]

Re-posting stuff I should have posted here, but you know how conversations go, you're in middle of them and then you realize, oops, wrong crowd ... this from another thread:

Post in thread 'So, knowing what you know, would you buy it again?'

Today at 12:30 AM

From what I understand adjusting the steering stops would void warranty based off my reading. I won’t comment on the steering stabilizer, but hear by many it’s well worth the trade off.

For the boot, from what I understand, it would be pinching or leaking. Here is a new video by Ronny Dahl with his QM showing exactly where on the boot the driveshaft failures are, as he is carrying a spare driveshaft on his adventures. The video time for the drive shaft explanation is 13:22

Video Link

Hope this helps!

Thanks, Slov, and others in various threads for the explanations and...

• scottg

 

[Dokatd]

View attachment 7913898

Good call, how many miles do you have on that sticker?

 

[Sonoranrover]

Good call, how many miles do you have on that sticker?

7k

 

[Dokatd]

7k

Pretty definitive. We are just not seeing the high temps some thought. The joints do get pretty hot when fresh and new, but clearly they stabilize after break in.

I'm sticking with the boots extruding/pinching themselves at full or close to full suspension extension.

Slap a pair of limit straps about 1" shorter than the stock shocks and I bet you could go merrily down the road for an extremely long time.

Won't be as great off road but at least it's not going to blow up.

 

[Tazzieman]

Slap a pair of limit straps about 1" shorter than the stock shocks and I bet you could go merrily down the road for an extremely long time.

Won't be as great off road but at least it's not going to bl

A good explanation; we can stop speculating now