Front Driveshaft of TERROR

[Hoss 350]

I went bird hunting on Saturday, in the rain. I was in the Palouse area of Washington State. Locals will know what I mean when I say that when the Palouse is wet, even locked up 4-wheel drive with boggers ain't gonna keep you moving. It is a silty, clayey mess called loess, and it has no structural qualities once wet.

I backed into some compacted loess to turn around at the end of the road (it was a standard by standard turn around spot) and knew that to get out, I'd need 4x4. I already had the hubs engaged, so I reached down, pulled the lever into 4 hi, and slowly let the clutch out to engage everything.

Suddenly, there was a sickening sound. A THUMP, a BANG! Also, suddenly, the shifter knob for the t-case moved itself back into 2wd, and I realized that I was in BIG trouble.

My first thought was my t-case had crapped out. Turns out, the 4 bolts holding the front driveline to the t-case yoke had come loose. 2 had fallen out, one had sheared, and the driveshaft had rotated around the fourth, causing it to go off-center, spin around, took out my t-case linkage quite efficiently (the reason the lever shot back to 2wd really quickly) and then sat there, off-center, lauging it's butt off at me.

So, I disengaged the hubs, and tried for about 45 minutes to get unstuck in 2wd. By the grace of God himself, I managed to get out (somehow) and drove the old girl home.

I guess new bolts, locktite, and a torque wrench are all on my list of things needed. Oh, and a new linkage for my t-case. I'm sure Ford is REAL proud of that part....

Anyway, I guess the moral is that you all need to check your stuff out before winter hits.

 

[Scarlet_Nape]

Hoss,

Sorry to hear that! Certainly sucks the life out of a good hunting day (get anything?)!!-mad
MAYBE, the MIL will pay for everything to thank you for moving her??

 

[powerboatr]

can i stop now?
wow you sure do have a good run of luck built up
thought those MIL credits would protect you didnt you
good thing it was just a driveshaft

 

[Hoss 350]

can i stop now?

Laugh it up, old man.

wow you sure do have a good run of luck built up

Lets see, in the last 6 months, she's stranded me with a clutch fork gone bad, a flat tire in Anatone, and now this. Oh, I forgot to mention that the bowl drain o-rings started leaking soon after the first cold snap (which also froze up a drain line for the gray water tank on my camper and burst it) so, yeah, I'm thinking I'd bet it all on a good run of bad luck...

thought those MIL credits would protect you didnt you

As my father always used to tell me... "No good deed goes unpunished"

good thing it was just a driveshaft

Yeah, if it was the t-case like I first suspected, I would be very sad right now. Oh well, at least I got a laugh out of you...

 

[powerboatr]

see you feel better already

i suspect my MIL will be out here soon, wish me luck

 

[dpantazis]

hoss-

your truck has done nothing wrong. she is just miffed that you have been spending all of your quality time with your 'other' girlfriends.

she is hurt and disappointed that you did not take her to texas.

then there is the fact that you did not properly perfume or annoint her with elk entrails.

then you pointed her at a mess of loess? its kinda like asking a woman in high heels to walk over a grate! what were you thinking?

so after you fix the driveshaft, get her something nice, and don;t skimp! go ahead and get her the regulated return and maybe some new baubles to go with like LED lightbars or some shiny new chrome. after some quality time, she'll be as happy as can be.

dennis

 

[Scarlet_Nape]

Hoss,

I couldn't agree with Dennis more. It's been over a month since I washed my "girl" and Monday the starter goes out. Karma?!! I don't think so.
She was pissed at me for letting not taking care of her like I should.

 

[Hoss 350]

 

[jopes]

Those 12 point bolts are forever coming loose unless you loctite the snot out of them. I got the same flanges on both of my bronco drivelines and if I drop a driveline out for some work, I put a excessive amount of the high strength stuff on there.

 

[Frankenstien]

So... my question to you is......

How many times did you think to yourself..... "ok... I put the clutch in... torqued the Bell housing... tightened the rear bolts on the drive shart.... did I tighten the carrier bearing?... did I remember to re-tighten the front shaft" crap... well now you know the answer.....


The one thing I do to the drive shaft bolts and others that some times find a away to "self Loosen" after tightening the bolts... if there is any thread exposed on the back side, I take a cold chisel and slightly crush the threads, this will help prevent the bolt from backing out.

And yup... I was over there a couple of weeks ago... saw only a few Chucker... a few partridge... no pheaseant.... Its like they knew when the season opened...