I been having a vibration on the highway and checked everything according to my previous thread. Everything including the suspension is new. The last thing to check is the front driveshaft since mine is an X model. Whivh I did by the way. And the results are below:

I dont really know if the driveshaft is suppose to have any play at the U joint? I can move it slightly with my hand and hear a click or clank noise when I push on it in the video below. However I do not hear any clicks when driving or any noises. Anyone know if that front driveshaft should have any tolerance for play in it like in the video? I feel slight movement at the U joint area and notice slight amount of thick pasty grease coming out the joint area.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LpCy2Vs9uvw&feature=youtu.be

I need to get this fixed asap if it is an issue.

 

Was it Mustang5L5 who had his shaft fail and punch a hole in the transfer case? End of car. Search it out; I'd say don't take a chance -- replace that sucker.

 

Yep, Fire shoot Mustang a PM and chat with him about his issues. He'll be a good resource for you.

 

Before mine failed, It showed the symtoms of a busted CV axle. In fact, I was literally a day or so away from jacking the car up to troubleshoot the axles.

But it would click as a turned, and if I had the wheel cut hard to either side and backed up, I would get a big clunk.

Hard to see in the video where the play in your driveshaft is, but this is where mine failed.



Unfortunately, I didn't get to inspect it before it snapped off at 80MPH, but when it did, it damaged the differential and transmission bellhousing on the way out.

I actually don't think yours is in danger of failing like that, but any play in the universal, I would just replace it. I do know one other member on here did find a universal on the verge of failing, but don't remember who it was to add them to the convo to describe what the failing part looked like.


IIRC, a reman front entire propeller shaft was around $250 or so from some vendors on ebay.



EDIT: Looks like another case of front propeller shaft failure on the first page of this forum. That's at least 3 cases I know of. Suggests to me that front propeller failures on the AWD cars could be considered common and should be someone everyone checks on their cars

https://g35driver.com/forums/g35-sed...l-turning.html

 

Pics of my sloppy front drive shaft are in this thread: https://g35driver.com/forums/g35-sed...ml#post7077575. I got it replaced before it failed but it looked really bad and am probably lucky it didn't fail as I drove it normally for several weeks with clicks going in and out of reverse and weird bird chirp sounds at highway speeds. The slop was very obvious when I finally crawled under the car to inspect it. I wanted to replace it myself but it looked too tough to remove the cat to get at it. Cost me $330 for the reman shaft online and $200 for a shop to replace it. Good luck.

 

Thanks you guys are the best! I suspect you are right about how it should not have any play.


I guess I will replace it because over the summer I do A LOT of road trips. Changing it out will give me a piece of mind.

Here is my question though. I have not come across any remanufactured front driveshafts for these cars. I checked eBay, Rockauto, and other driveshaft websites. The only thing I have found is aftermarket brands such as this:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/FRONT-Drive-...tY68Ei&vxp=mtr

I'm not sure if I can trust that $179 eBay driveshaft. It does have a 1 year warranty. But I fear it not being able to handle the torque the OEM driveshaft can and end up snapping or something. Who knows where these are made.

The other option is the a Dorman driveshaft for $325:

http://www.rockauto.com/en/moreinfo....432547&jsn=329

Jbarnett250, this is the driveshaft you bought. However, I do not see anywhere that says its a remanufactured shaft? Whether it is or isn't, it seems Dorman would be a more trusted brand. I can't justify spending $600 on an OEM driveshaft

 

Maybe you can replace just the U Joints? I don't have an X and my AWD is an Audi. They use a CV axle like driveshaft with no u joints. The u joint might have a zerk fitting on it for a grease gun. Does the X have a center support bearing? On my Audi it's a large rubber bushing the keeps the driveshaft in place.

i wouldn't buy a Dorman part at all. I'd check eBay for a used driveshaft from a salvaged car.
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​​​​​​Check raxles.com. I know they specialize in CV axles, but I think I saw a driveshaft section.

 

I guess mine was a new Dorman axle. Don't know why I thought it was a reman. It's been fine so far. I bought a u-joint that is supposed to work on the oem shaft. The oem u-joint is not made to be greased or replaced though. It's peened into the yoke so you have to be able to get it out in order to replace it. But my u-joint was so far gone that it damaged the yoke too so I couldn't use the replacement u-joint. I'd be happy to sell the new-in-box u-joint for half the $25 or so I paid for it if you can use it. But if you drive with the shaft clicking like that very long you'll probably end up with a damaged shaft that will have to be replaced.

 

Curious. Do you mean you wouldn't buy Dorman because of quality, or that you figure a salvaged unit would be just as good and be less expensive? Just wondering; hard to parse the meaning from what you wrote.

 

Yea, I wouldn't trust a Dorman product for something like a driveshaft. Besides, you can get a used OEM for a lot cheaper. I replaced my driveshaft on my Audi with a used part and haven't had problems. 100 vs 1000+ was a no brainer.

 

Just replaced mine 2 days ago. 785 for an OEM as the mechanic recommended NOT using a cheaper unit, just because of flex / not being balanced correctly. Labor wasn't terrible, was out the door for 1000.00. Will post pictures here in a second.

 

I had had the same clunking and almost a snapping noise when I would turn under throttle. Thought it was an axle or CV, lifted it up and saw this and I knew it didn't look right.

 

I'd throw the cheap one in and not lose sleep. Given the age of the car, they are probably outsourcing the driveshaft manufacturer to the same vendor anyway.


I always thought that shaft was undersized anyway, but it only sees load and low speed and mostly coasts at higher speeds.

 

That sounds like a bad idea buying a used OEM driveshaft considering most have no way of verifying the mileage. And this is a very common issue with the X models, the used one has a chance of failure or could already be worn.

Did you guys have vibrations on the highway with these failing besides just noises?

 

I never had much vibration, mine just went from being fine, to one day pulling into a parking spot and it felt like something was binding in the front wheel, it took quite a bit of throttle to get it to move. I stopped right there and called the tow truck.