[OX1]

The rubber on mine is shot, only 10K original miles. Anyone ever replace this on the stock driveshaft (auto trans)?
Does not seem available and even entire DS does not seem available from Ford.

 

[SVOGT302]

Install a 1 PC driveshaft

 

[Cobrajet67]

The rubber on mine is shot, only 10K original miles. Anyone ever replace this on the stock driveshaft (auto trans)?
Does not seem available and even entire DS does not seem available from Ford.

There's many parts shortages going on. Failure at only 10k miles is strange. Perhaps it was a factory defect. You can have your driveshaft taken to a driveline shop to have them fix it. They can replace the carrier. It'll be cheaper than any new Ford or aftermarket driveshaft will be.

 

[Siber Express]

The Carrier bearing and rubber much like the F150 are not serviceable so unless you want to go backwards (previous version is available on FPG) I would just go with the aftermarket aluminum.

 

[Cobrajet67]

The Carrier bearing and rubber much like the F150 are not serviceable so unless you want to go backwards (previous version is available on FPG) I would just go with the aftermarket aluminum.

I've heard this is generally true as well insofar as buying a carrier bearing replacement off the shelf anyway. However, most driveline/driveshaft service companies do unusual repairs and custom work all the time and can even make driveshafts from scratch. They also have parts available to them from their unique industry that the average person doesn't. Imo there's a good chance that a capable shop could replace the bearing. It doesn't hurt to make a few calls to a local shop or two or a shop such as this: Center Support Bearings - Inland Empire Driveline (iedls.com)
Custom Driveshafts – Inland Empire Driveline (iedls.com)
or this one:
Driveshaft Repair and Service – Action Machine Inc

 

[OX1]

Thanks for all the replies.

Made this short vid of the play. Nothing looks ripped, it almost seems like the rubber part shrunk and the entire
rubber section can move in the surrounding bracket. Have a bad vibration over 90.

I have 4 sets of wheels and tires (just bought an entire new set of 19's , to eliminate small front spacer I had with 18's and Brembos), so pretty
confident it's not wheel/tire related. I even replaced one front hub. It was within spec, but not zero runout like the other.
The new hub also had zero runout. Anyway, here is vid.

http://luxjo.supermotors.net/MUSTANG GT/DRIVESHAFT/CARRIER BEARING BUSHING/20220630_150645.mp4

(may have to click on 3 dots on lower right to download vid, Win 10
can be a PIA to start my vids off the server I use, sometimes).

Install a 1 PC driveshaft

Definitely looking into it. Was hoping to cheaply fix this shaft somehow to verify that is the issue with vibration.
Also, "some" have said the 2 piece is the smoothest (hence why Ford uses it) and sometimes a one piece can add vibration.
Obviously, the vibration can't be worse than it is now (hood practically shaking off at 90), but it was smooth
as silk when new, right up until about a year ago.

There's many parts shortages going on. Failure at only 10k miles is strange. Perhaps it was a factory defect. You can have your driveshaft taken to a driveline shop to have them fix it. They can replace the carrier. It'll be cheaper than any new Ford or aftermarket driveshaft will be.

The Carrier bearing and rubber much like the F150 are not serviceable so unless you want to go backwards (previous version is available on FPG) I would just go with the aftermarket aluminum.

I had read here and there that it was not serviceable. I'm going to at least see if I can press it off the shaft.

I've heard this is generally true as well insofar as buying a carrier bearing replacement off the shelf anyway. However, most driveline/driveshaft service companies do unusual repairs and custom work all the time and can even make driveshafts from scratch. They also have parts available to them from their unique industry that the average person doesn't. Imo there's a good chance that a capable shop could replace the bearing. It doesn't hurt to make a few calls to a local shop or two or a shop such as this: Center Support Bearings - Inland Empire Driveline (iedls.com)
Custom Driveshafts – Inland Empire Driveline (iedls.com)
or this one:
Driveshaft Repair and Service – Action Machine Inc

I did stumble on those urethane aftermarket type bearings. I would have no problem fabbing up a completely new bracket.
I am pulling the shaft today. I marked all 3 sections with orange paint before I remove anything.

In my travels hunting around, it sounds like the bolts going to diff are torque to yield. The bolts in center joint look exactly the same
the same as the bolts going to diff flange, so I assume those are torque to yield also?

 

[Siber Express]

I've heard this is generally true as well insofar as buying a carrier bearing replacement off the shelf anyway. However, most driveline/driveshaft service companies do unusual repairs and custom work all the time and can even make driveshafts from scratch. They also have parts available to them from their unique industry that the average person doesn't. Imo there's a good chance that a capable shop could replace the bearing. It doesn't hurt to make a few calls to a local shop or two or a shop such as this: Center Support Bearings - Inland Empire Driveline (iedls.com)
Custom Driveshafts – Inland Empire Driveline (iedls.com)
or this one:
Driveshaft Repair and Service – Action Machine Inc

Last person I sent to the driveshaft shop had the driveshaft shop tell me not send anymore there, as he puts it count the pieces between the end universals and that is how many pieces are in the shaft. 1 piece will not work on our cars since it has flanges.
I told someone where to go to get a shaft made, he proceeded to tell them he wanted a 1 piece shaft for his 2012 Mustang V6. He ended up waiting 4 or 5 weeks for AM to get them back in since the driveshaft shop I sent him to was just going to build him another 2 piece shaft. So I am the badguy.
OX1 did say he marked all 3 so there might be some sanity left.
That Rubber is definitely bad OX1, like this one

 

[Cobrajet67]

Last person I sent to the driveshaft shop had the driveshaft shop tell me not send anymore there, as he puts it count the pieces between the end universals and that is how many pieces are in the shaft. 1 piece will not work on our cars since it has flanges.
I told someone where to go to get a shaft made, he proceeded to tell them he wanted a 1 piece shaft for his 2012 Mustang V6. He ended up waiting 4 or 5 weeks for AM to get them back in since the driveshaft shop I sent him to was just going to build him another 2 piece shaft. So I am the badguy.
OX1 did say he marked all 3 so there might be some sanity left.
That Rubber is definitely bad OX1, like this one

Some shops are just more willing or capable than others I suppose. Though that really applies to any kind of shop in automotive service. Theoretically, all it takes to replace that bearing assembly is another of the same diameter and a similar bracket design/dimension that will or can be made to bolt up to the factory mounting holes.
LMR and AM sell many so called "1 piece" shafts for the 2011-14 GT even a Ford Performance one. Technically they're just a more simplified 2 piece. They just delete the need for a carrier bearing and put the telescoping portion near the end instead of near the middle. There are benefits to a conventional 2 piece shaft that use a carrier bearing assuming that the bearing is made well enough to hold up that is. It would seem that the factory Ford bearing was budget engineered a little too much though.
Here's a couple of pics of the factory shaft and the Ford Performance shaft:

 

[OX1]

So As mentioned, I marked all three "joints" with paint before removing.

CB bushing doesn't really look horrible, it just appears it gave up it's original durometer hardness way earlier than it should have.
Kind of surprised I didn't find more info on these failing, since even just the 5.0 S197's are up to 11 years old.

Even pulling sideways as hard as I could, doesn't really reveal any damage.

I kind of hated how ford never painted their diff's over the years, so I painted mine right after I first got it home.

And I guess I painted the yellow dot on diff flange, but it looks like mine was aligned correct from the factory.
Digging around it seems like many were not, even into the S550 cars.

Got the shaft apart near the CB bushing, but there is no nut to remove to get that flange off.
I have to assume it was a pretty tight press fit, even though the center CV looks like it takes
care of telescoping, under suspension travel.

Certainly not a lot of room to get in there to press that flange off, at least not with the typical stand up press arrangement.
I do have a bearing puller setup that could be used with a press, but wondering if a real heavy duty gear puller or even
steering wheel puller might get it off. have to inspect inside of flange more closely, see if that hole in center of flange is
open and you can "push" against the rest of shaft right there.

Found two different bolt kits.

https://lmr.com/item/LRS-434496K/mustang-rear-driveshaft-bolt-kit-4r3z-4b496-aa-05-17

https://lmr.com/item/LRS-34496K/mustang-rear-driveshaft-bolt-kit-15-21?year=2019

Definitely a difference between the pinion flange and center connection bolts.

As I mentioned, a lot of threads I searched on claim these bolts are torque to yield. It does look like I can use the longer pinion bolts in the center section, if required.

Some decent 4 July sales going on. Hope to get Summit to match a price on the new shaft I want. They have 90 day return if un-used.
Going to order a shaft and dig around locally, see if anyone can do anything with pressing off the center flange. If fixing my shaft
does not pan out, then will try the new one.

 

[Cobrajet67]

I just watched your video and the amount of play is crazy for only a 10k mile car. The rubber "bushing" that Ford installed really looks like it was designed to fail. There's so little rubber and so many spaces in it that you could never expect it to last for long. It's also quite narrow for the overly lightweight design that it is.

And I guess I painted the yellow dot on diff flange, but it looks like mine was aligned correct from the factory.
Digging around it seems like many were not, even into the S550 cars.

You've heard that there were driveshafts that weren't aligned form the factory?

 

[OX1]

I just watched your video and the amount of play is crazy for only a 10k mile car. The rubber "bushing" that Ford installed really looks like it was designed to fail. There's so little rubber and so many spaces in it that you could never expect it to last for long. It's also quite narrow for the overly lightweight design that it is.

You've heard that there were driveshafts that weren't aligned form the factory?

Yeah, could have been designed marginal at stock power, and almost doubling it killed it quick. But it was not easy for me to find info about it failing, and there's 1000's of S197's
at my power level or more. On the flip side, there are a decent amount of S197 vibration threads on various boards that even I have answered, it's probably wheels, tires
(and/or balance/out of round tires). No one usually suspects a bad driveshaft, even at 100K. Maybe more people have bad rubber on the CB, than even know about it.
At rest, just looking at mine, it didn't look that bad.

This thread has some discussion about the wrong indexing of pinion flange and driveshaft, straight out of the factory. It is S550's, but I've read almost 100 threads trying
to find other info on my bad driveshaft, and some claimed the S197's came indexed incorrectly, here and there (in some of the vibration threads with the 3.73 gear on S197's).

Vibration between 50 & 70 mph

I have been experiencing rumbling & vibration between 50 & 70 mph, which kind of felt like the wheels were out of balance. After rebalancing them twice, the dealer even tried a different set of wheels & tires - no luck. They now believe that the drive shaft needs replacing - at 1100 miles...

www.mustang6g.com

.

 

[OX1]

Decided to see if I could tighten up that bushing, mainly to confirm 100% that my vibration is the driveshaft, while I'm waiting for the new shaft and/or
researching having this shaft fixed.

There is a tac weld on both brackets.

Ground those off and got brackets off bushing.

Once again, rubber does not look ripped or cracked in any way. I think Ford just made it too soft to being with.

Hard to see, but there is nothing but hollow tube looking down hole inside flange that would need to be pressed off to change CB.
So the idea of using some form of puller is out.

Ended up getting some 1/4" X 3/4" rubber strip from McMaster Carr. Luckily, they have a jersey warehouse about 12 miles down the highway from me.

McMaster-Carr

McMaster-Carr is the complete source for your plant with over 595,000 products. 98% of products ordered ship from stock and deliver same or next day.

www.mcmaster.com

High temp, up to 500F and durometer 50 (so medium hardness)

I was able to "shim" the stock rubber bushing all the way around with this rubber strip.

All together with bolts holding it for now. Running rubber shim all the way around, also ensures shaft is centered in bushing.

Break out the welder and re-tac'd those brackets together

Testing the "play", with virtually all my weight on it (whole 156 lbs )
Seems at least as stiff as the new DS in that video above, and probably stiffer.
Not sure how long it would hold up this way, but it just needs to make one run to see
if vibes go away.

http://luxjo.supermotors.net/MUSTANG%20GT/DRIVESHAFT/CARRIER%20BEARING%20BUSHING/TWO/20220705_170930.mp4

 

[Cobrajet67]

I didn't realize that you were from Jersey too. That's some impressive work that you did there. That looks like it might actually be an almost permanent fix if it turns out to be vibration free. I watched the video and it seems that there's now only a very tiny bit of flex when you pushed down on the bushing. You can barely see it and it looks like it's the right amount that probably should have been designed into the car originally but to last.

The thread with the vibration issues had 252 pages! That's crazy how many people responded to it. I got thru the 1st page lol. This almost seems like class action lawsuit material if these 2 piece driveshafts were under engineered. Just on that 1st page I read that people were saying how their car vibrated even when brand new... This appears to be budget engineering at its worst.

 

[OX1]

I didn't realize that you were from Jersey too. That's some impressive work that you did there. That looks like it might actually be an almost permanent fix if it turns out to be vibration free. I watched the video and it seems that there's now only a very tiny bit of flex when you pushed down on the bushing. You can barely see it and it looks like it's the right amount that probably should have been designed into the car originally but to last.

The thread with the vibration issues had 252 pages! That's crazy how many people responded to it. I got thru the 1st page lol. This almost seems like class action lawsuit material if these 2 piece driveshafts were under engineered. Just on that 1st page I read that people were saying how their car vibrated even when brand new... This appears to be budget engineering at its worst.

Thanks!!! I thought about that too. If it works, do I leave it. The only thing I would need to do to keep it permanent,
is extend edges of both brackets so main bushing does not squeeze itself out, now that "OD" of bushing is kind
of pushed away from being seated, directly in metal brackets.

I'll be really pissed if it's now vibration free, but I decide to use new one piece shaft, and then I get some vibes
(which many claim to get at least a little when going one piece).

And yes, insane how many people had vibration issues with S550's, especially when they first came out.
I posted up in that thread about my bushing, in case it's happening on those cars too. They still use a 2 piece shaft.
even with IRS.

 

[crjackson]

You’re doing a great job with this. Please do post up the final result of the 2-piece shaft.

 

[OX1]

You’re doing a great job with this. Please do post up the final result of the 2-piece shaft.

Thanks. Got it all back in. Only got in about 10 miles highway miles, one exit down and back. 1000 times better
at up through insane speeds.

Hard to say if it is as good as I thought it was stock, as I think this vibration has
been around a long time, just gradually getting worse. It was one of the reasons I
upgraded to 19" Laguna Seca Ford "sponsored" wheels and Mich PS4S tires (in front anyway).
in the quest to get rid of minor, but annoying vibrations (and get rid of small spacers in front with 18"
Chinese Bullits).

But "stock" was also with stock 235 A/S's, before rear control arms ( while rubber, are still stiffer),
before homemade rear seat delete (that is literally made of cardboard and thin fabric)
and X-pipe. So I will never get back to stock NVH level's, I know.

Anyway, highly acceptable as is. Now do I leave it or install the new one that was
crazy expensive? I'm kind of concerned about that rubber breaking down further and or
squeezing itself out somehow. If I was stockish HP, I'd certainly leave it as is though.

I went for the lightest (and hopefully best made) due to tons of threads
of people adding vibration going one piece (and yes tons that claim no vibes added, but it's
closer to 50/50 if I had to take a stab as responses I've read). Even the instructions on this QA1 shaft claim it could happen.

And after reading 82 pages of that S550 thread, it seems the stock shaft and pinion flange are mated together
at the factory, for balance and/or out of roundness. So do I risk losing that aspect with another shaft?
Certainly big money for this thing, but it looks dam good. Doesn't hurt that it's 25 odd lbs lighter also.

Different thickness shim/washers in all 3 places for balance.

 

[Cobrajet67]

Glad to hear that the fix to the stock carrier actually worked. The work that you did was innovative and it's awesome that it cured the vibration. What a terrible position Ford has left Mustang owners in by making such a bad factory design that can't be normally serviced. At least someone else that finds themselves in your position can use the step by step process that you outlined to fix their vibration issue too.
Being that you spent so much $ on the aftermarket driveshaft I would probably put it in and just save the stock repaired one just in case you get some kind of a failure with the new one.

 

[crjackson]

For those interested in a bolt-on fix, that doesn't require DS removal or welding. There's this ... It's a little pricey but I'd rather go this route.

Ford S197 Mustang Driveshaft Center Support Bearing Carrier Upgrade — JXB Performance

Performance driveshaft carrier upgrade keeps your driveshaft perfectly aligned, reduces drivetrain slop, and doesn't sag or crack over time. 2-piece design doesn't require removal of the driveshaft and installs easily without any special tools.

www.jxbperformance.com

 

[Cobrajet67]

For those interested in a bolt-on fix, that doesn't require DS removal or welding. There's this ... It's a little pricey but I'd rather go this route.

Ford S197 Mustang Driveshaft Center Support Bearing Carrier Upgrade — JXB Performance

Performance driveshaft carrier upgrade keeps your driveshaft perfectly aligned, reduces drivetrain slop, and doesn't sag or crack over time. 2-piece design doesn't require removal of the driveshaft and installs easily without any special tools.

www.jxbperformance.com

Awesome find! That's a wonderful new product to have available. This now means people don't have to discard their stock driveshafts and take the risk on a new aftermarket one or have to modify the carrier bearing bushing and mount to stop vibration.
This thread is still very useful for anyone that might want to save the $250 and do it themselves like OX1 successfully did.

 

[AlloyPony]

So is the factory carrier not available anymore? What's the deal with this $250 one? My car has 105k on the clock now and the 11 year old carrier bearing is still great as far as I can tell. If/when it ever fails I'd likely just slap another OE one in there. Unless OE isn't available anymore, or OE actually cost more than this aftermarket option.