Vibration between 50 & 70 mph

GT Pony · Aug 2, 2016

v8440 said:
I called the dealership (not driving there, it's 30 miles away) and asked about it. They JUST called me back. Here it is: SSM45938

Anyone find a link to the SSM45938 so we can see exactly what it says? Doing a Google search, all I could find is this, but nothing specific to SSM #45938.

"SSM: Special Service Messages, generally an acknowledgement that an issue exists Ford Technical is looking into a possible fix."

OEMRadio · Aug 2, 2016

SSM 45938 - 2015-2017 Mustang Driveline Vibration At Highway Speeds
Some 2015-2017 Mustang vehicles may experience a driveline vibration directly related to a vehicle speed of 70-100Kmh (50-70Mph) and is perceived as a tremor in the floor pan, seat track, or steering wheel and may be heard as a rumble, hum, or boom. Before replacement of any parts be sure to verify the concern with a road test and visually inspect the driveshaft for damage, undercoating, incorrectly seated universal joints, rotate the driveshaft by hand to feel for any binding or end play in the universal joints. If no concern is found check and correctany tire balance issues using Loaded Hunter Road Force® Method. If a concern isstill present balance the driveshaft using the Mastertech® Series MTS 4000 Driveline Balance and NVH Analyzer. Refer to Workshop Manual Sections 100-04,200-04Aand 205-01. Use labor operation 1007D and any appropriate combinations.

APPLICABLE VEHICLES
2015 - 2017 CAR: ZG MUSTANG (S550)

OEMRadio · Aug 2, 2016

Boosty15 · Aug 2, 2016

Awesome. I wonder what Ford will do if that still does not fix said issue? Also I have another appointment at my dealership tomorrow. Ill be sure to point this SSM out to them beforehand to save myself some lounge time ha!

Sick03L · Aug 2, 2016

OEMRadio said:

Ill show this to them once they replace my rear end if that doen not cure my vibration.

Boosty15 · Aug 2, 2016

Sick03L said:
Ill show this to them once they replace my rear end if that doen not cure my vibration.

Yeah id get that free rear end for sure haha!

ABS550 · Aug 5, 2016

Mine too

First post on Mustang6G.

Picked up a new 2015 GT in May 2016. (Manual 3.31) Have put 4000km on it and yes, it has the vibration. (More drone than vibration) :doh: I noticed it on my drive home from the dealership, which is 3 hours from my house.

BTW I know my wheels/tires are not to blame as I started with brand new 19" factory wheels/tires and after a couple of months I traded for a set of 20" factory wheels/tires. They both felt exactly the same.

I have been keeping an eye on this thread and dreading taking the car to my nearby dealer to have the vibration looked at. I decided to do some of my own diagnosis.
My vibration is felt the most at 110 kph or 68 Mph. Which happens to be the speed limit around here. I bought an iPad/iPhone app to see if it would tell me what frequency I was hearing in the car. It was 48Hz. According to my math the driveshaft spins at 47 Hz at 110 Kph.

I got under the car and checked the run-out on the driveshaft which measured 0.020" which is not great, but I believe the tolerance (spec) is 0.040".
I noticed a total of 4 balancing weights on the driveshaft. One near the pumpkin end and three at the other end of the rear half. Seems like a lot, but I don't look at driveshaft balancing weights too often. Perhaps they were all needed to balance the run-out.
I thought I would try a single hose-clamp on the opposite side of the balancing weights, just to see what difference it might make. What a HUGE difference, in a bad way. It clearly made the problem much worse. I then came back and rotated the hose clamp 180 degrees so that it was on the same side as the other 4 balancing weights.
This made the vibration much better than ever.
I am amazed at how much impact a hose clamp has on driveshaft balance. You would think you have added a 5lb weight!

I still plan on playing with it some more to see if I can dial it in with either one clamp or perhaps two.
Thanks to everyone who has contributed to this thread in a positive way, as you have helped me a lot.

I will update when I have more info.

Here are a few pics.

Other 3 weights about two feet back from the pumpkin, installed on the same side of the driveshaft as the single weight shown above.

Not sure if there is any significance to this white mark???
Should it line-up with anything?

This is what my ears and my iPad can hear at 110 Kph.

speedfrk · Aug 5, 2016

When you see where the screw part of the hose clamp lines up on the pinion flange, you can put washers under the bolt head of the closest bolt. That is how they do the final balancing on the car so you don't have a hose clamp on the DS forever with the possibility of it slipping or moving. Doing what you're doing will probably save you a lot of grief over taking it to a dealer...

jgedde · Aug 5, 2016

I CURED MY VIBRATION!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Here's what did it and the method I used:

1) Installed Steeda cradle bushing supports and diff bushings (red). This made it better, but not completely eliminated.
2) Did a DIY on-car balance of my driveshaft. Below I'll explain the background and method for what I did...

As a home shop machinist, I often have need to balance grinding wheels for my surface grinder. The grinding wheel hubs have two movable balance weights that can be used to adjust both the location AND the magnitude of the counterbalance. I used a similar method on my driveshaft using two hose clamps as counterweights.

Use only premium quality hose clamps: US made, Stainless Steel. Unfortunately I don't remember what size I used. But that's easy for you to figure out on your own.

1) Safely raise the back end of the car so the rear wheels can spin freely. Safely is the key word here...
2) Turn traction control off and slowly increase speed until your hear/feel peak vibration. Note the speed at which this occurs.
3) Now, install one of the two hose clamps onto the driveshaft back by the pinion flange.
4) Repeat step 2, the vibration will likely be worse.
5) Turn off the car and loosen the clamp and rotate it about 30 degrees.
6) Repeat steps 4 and 5 until you get minimum vibration at the same speed.
7) Now fine tune the position with very small movements. Once done, you will have located the light side of the driveshaft and the screw assembly on the clamp is acting as a counterweight. If the vibration is gone, you're done: tighten the clamp securely and grab a beer.
8) Now install a second hose clamp next to the first one lined up exactly the same. The screws should both be facing the same way.
9) Using a permanent marker, create a match mark between both hose clamps and the driveshaft. Just draw a straight line crossing the band portion of the clamps and the driveshaft.
10) The next step will be to adjust the amount of counterweight needed to achieve no vibration (assuming two hose clamps are enough). Again run the car on jack stands and note the vibration. If the vibration is gone, you're done: tighten the clamp securely and grab a beer.
11) Loosen both clamps and rotate them slightly in opposite directions so that each is moved by the same amount: this is important. Use the mark on the driveshaft you made in 9 as a reference. The lines on each clamp band should always be symmetrical about the line on the driveshaft.
12) Run the car and note vibration.
13) Repeat steps 11 and 12 rotating each clamp a little at a time until the vibration is eliminated...

Now, don't fret about hose clamps on your driveshaft. They will stay put. Furthermore, if Ford uses their analyzer to do an on car balance, they will use hose clamps. As an added measure, you can always stake them with epoxy...

Cheers!
John

LumenCordis · Aug 5, 2016

I'm glad you were able to fix it really nice work. But no customer should have to take on the role of an engineer to fix their new car that's crap.

shahram72 · Aug 6, 2016

LumenCordis said:
I'm glad you were able to fix it really nice work. But no customer should have to take on the role of an engineer to fix their new car that's crap.

Agreed, but when the manufacturer is unable or unwilling to help the customer it's great that he could fix it. Wish I could do that. My repairs from my accident are complete as of yesterday. Car was done a week ago but I had a drone in the exhaust that was bent and leaking somewhere. A new OEM exhaust fixed that. So after this weekend I'm going to restart the process and get the caar back to the dealer. I need them to keep it though and give me a loaner so I can get to work. They're not going to fix this in one saturday visit, and that's all I can do. I cannot request a day off from work to take my car in. And what's that one day gonna do anyway. I should get a loaner, no? A rental will get expensive quick.

Boosty15 · Aug 6, 2016

I took my EB Premium back to the dealership I purchased it from Wednesday @7:30AM and it is now on day 4 of downtime. I have not received any calls or confirmation from the Dealer as to status on the car and/or parts. I have called at minimum 3 times daily and get one of two people and the only information I can get out of them is that the car is in fact there.....:frusty::frusty::frusty:..... I have left 2 messages with the service manager there and have still not received an email or any kind of contact. If I hear nothing back before 12:00 today I will be calling their Fixed Operations Manager and filing a formal complaint. Then I will begin pushing for a buy back if I'm not sitting in my baby by my next day off (next Wednesday) They were kind enough to put me in a loaner for the time being but the lack of communication and the blatant avoidance has me questioning the process of repair. :rant:

ABS550 · Aug 8, 2016

My vibration / sound is fixed!

jgedde said:
I CURED MY VIBRATION!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Here's what did it and the method I used:

1) Installed Steeda cradle bushing supports and diff bushings (red). This made it better, but not completely eliminated.
2) Did a DIY on-car balance of my driveshaft. Below I'll explain the background and method for what I did...

As a home shop machinist, I often have need to balance grinding wheels for my surface grinder. The grinding wheel hubs have two movable balance weights that can be used to adjust both the location AND the magnitude of the counterbalance. I used a similar method on my driveshaft using two hose clamps as counterweights.

Use only premium quality hose clamps: US made, Stainless Steel. Unfortunately I don't remember what size I used. But that's easy for you to figure out on your own.

1) Safely raise the back end of the car so the rear wheels can spin freely. Safely is the key word here...
2) Turn traction control off and slowly increase speed until your hear/feel peak vibration. Note the speed at which this occurs.
3) Now, install one of the two hose clamps onto the driveshaft back by the pinion flange.
4) Repeat step 2, the vibration will likely be worse.
5) Turn off the car and loosen the clamp and rotate it about 30 degrees.
6) Repeat steps 4 and 5 until you get minimum vibration at the same speed.
7) Now fine tune the position with very small movements. Once done, you will have located the light side of the driveshaft and the screw assembly on the clamp is acting as a counterweight. If the vibration is gone, you're done: tighten the clamp securely and grab a beer.
8) Now install a second hose clamp next to the first one lined up exactly the same. The screws should both be facing the same way.
9) Using a permanent marker, create a match mark between both hose clamps and the driveshaft. Just draw a straight line crossing the band portion of the clamps and the driveshaft.
10) The next step will be to adjust the amount of counterweight needed to achieve no vibration (assuming two hose clamps are enough). Again run the car on jack stands and note the vibration. If the vibration is gone, you're done: tighten the clamp securely and grab a beer.
11) Loosen both clamps and rotate them slightly in opposite directions so that each is moved by the same amount: this is important. Use the mark on the driveshaft you made in 9 as a reference. The lines on each clamp band should always be symmetrical about the line on the driveshaft.
12) Run the car and note vibration.
13) Repeat steps 11 and 12 rotating each clamp a little at a time until the vibration is eliminated...

Now, don't fret about hose clamps on your driveshaft. They will stay put. Furthermore, if Ford uses their analyzer to do an on car balance, they will use hose clamps. As an added measure, you can always stake them with epoxy...

Cheers!
John

Thanks for this great set of instructions John!

I did exactly the same type of procedure you described and my vibration and droning sound are gone. Completely!

I will add a few things here that I encountered along the way, in case anyone else feels like doing this balance at home. (hopefully the dealers are up to speed on the matter now.)

During one of my jack-stand runs, I may have forgotten to turn off the traction control. This started bringing on my ABS and was not going to allow me to run on the stand. It seemed like most every warning light was on, as the car gets very confused when the front wheels are not turning but the rears are turning very quickly, for a longish period of time. Eventually I figured out I had to pull the ABS fuse for the balance of the testing. Lots of warning lights on the dash, but once I started driving the car after my testing, all the lights reset themselves to normal. :thumbsup:

The sound and vibration is much more noticeable when on the jack-stands. I did have some padding between the stands and the car, but there is very little damping and it really amplifies the sound and makes it easier to sense.

I spent more than a few hours trying one clamp and then two and then spreading them and then back to one again. I went around in circles a few times just to make sure I had done the best job possible. It seemed like when I was finally done, the improvement on the jack-stands was about 90% better. But, when I road tested, it was 100 % better.
No detectable sound or vibration to my ear, at all. I retested using my sound app on the iPad and the volume had decreased dramatically. The unbalanced driveshaft (at 110 Kph or 68Mph) was making a 48Hz sound at -46dB to -43dB volume. (see my earlier post)

After balancing, the volume went down to -51dB which means the sound was 6 times quieter.

Below are the pictures of the balancing and the sound.

With this one hose clamp the balance was improved, but not the best. I marked a line down the driveshaft as a reference for where the weight center needed to be.

This is what the final balance looked like with two clamps spread equally apart from the reference line.

Here is the sound map showing that the volume of the sound had decreased to -51dB which I could not hear or feel at all.

I would suggest that this information be used as background information / knowledge. This is not the easiest or safest DIY project for inexperienced owners. Hopefully being armed with all this information, you will be knowledgeable and the dealers can get this job done for you.

Cheers, Blake.

shahram72 · Aug 8, 2016

If you guys can do this than surely a driveline shop can do it as well. Now that my car is back as of Friday, tomorrow I'm going to call again to let them try it again. If they can't fix it, I will ask a driveline shop about it. I already spoke to an auto shop that works on older performance cars and they said they can probably fix it if it's an imbalance issue, but I'm betting my shaft is wobbling again the way it feels. It feels as bad as it did before they replaced the driveshaft. Right now I don't want anyone but Ford touching it.

Boosty15 · Aug 9, 2016

Good or Bad news?!

Well, my car has been at the dealership for a full week as of this morning, I have finally been given the call saying my car is "Done" When I pressed for some details on what exactly was "Done" to my car while its been away. The man put me on hold for 6 minutes to again tell me it was "Done"

HAHAHAH...:frusty::frusty::frusty:....Ford has a way of testing peoples resolves.

REGARDLESS....I will be sitting in those sexy Recaros once more :hail:

My car went in for 2 major issues one being the vibration and the other being the back up sensors in the bumper. I had a couple minor issues they were to look at such as mirror assemblies, rattles in the dash, broken vents, random paint blobs on the outside of car, ect....

Anywho...ill let you all know the outcome ofmy week long stay at :ford:

Vibration between 50 & 70 mph

Do you experience vibration and rumbling between 50 and 70 mph?

No

Yes - V8/MT

Yes - V8/AT

Yes - V6/MT

Yes - V6/AT

Yes - EB/MT

Yes - EB/AT

GT Pony

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OEMRadio

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OEMRadio

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Boosty15

Young Padawan

Sick03L

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Boosty15

Young Padawan

ABS550

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speedfrk

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jgedde

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LumenCordis

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shahram72

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Boosty15

Young Padawan

ABS550

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shahram72

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Boosty15

Young Padawan