Vibration between 50 & 70 mph

[Enzo]

Quick question if I just opt out for a single piece aluminum would alot of these issues just go away?

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[amilhazes]

Vibration between 50 & 70 mph

Heard back from the dealership today, first follow up regarding the problems I've been experiencing (driveline vibration, front suspension popping/thuds backing up). They asked me to come in and ride with the technicians, as they "are not having any real luck with any of my concerns." Any advice, as it appears my dealership is one of the "unable to replicate customer's concerns ones" I've heard so many things about here on the forum ???

 

[GT Pony]

D) Replacing the driveshaft alone almost never works (See B above - DS and flange are supposed to be a matched set).

I'm not so sure the drive shaft and pinion flange are a matched set. If they were, then everyone who had a new drive shaft ordered by the dealership should have also received a new pinion flange with the new drive shaft. I don't recall reading that ever happened.

I would think the flange is balanced by itself, as is the drive shaft so that those individual parts can be replaced without being a "matched set". The pinon flange has holes drilled in it from balancing, and has a yellow mark on it to show where a drive shaft yellow mark should line up. Not sure if the yellow mark is the heavy or light spot.

 

[Lo Pony]

I'm not so sure the drive shaft and pinion flange are a matched set. If they were, then everyone who had a new drive shaft ordered by the dealership should have also received a new pinion flange with the new drive shaft. I don't recall reading that ever happened.

I would think the flange is balanced by itself, as is the drive shaft so that those individual parts can be replaced without being a "matched set". The pinon flange has holes drilled in it from balancing, and has a yellow mark on it to show where a drive shaft yellow mark should line up. Not sure if the yellow mark is the heavy or light spot.

Sorry - I should have clarified earlier. They are "supposed" to be a matched set in order to rotate smoothly. What is obviously not happening is the "matching".

The issue is not balance per se (that would be too easy), but rather pinion flange runout, where the flange doesn't exhibit perfectly circular rotation, and thus has a little bit of wobble. It's inevitable - mfg. and fit tolerances don't allow for a perfect flange or a straight driveshaft, and the tolerances vary quite a bit. The yellow dots are exactly what you describe - markers for proper alignment. But they are intended to indicate where the imbalances in the shaft are supposed to cancel runout at the flange when they rotate together as an assembly. From my own experience, if you have zero runout, and zero imbalance, then it works perfectly and you have zero vibration. In production, this is almost never achievable.

Your point is well taken. I'm as confused as you as to why Ford doesn't send out differentials and shafts as a set for problem cars.

There used to be a very good NVH guy at Ford that designed and implemented the TSB for the earlier IRS cars - I used to talk to him occasionally and he confirmed that the core of the TSB kits for the 99-03's was a new, matched DS/flange "set" with tighter fit, runout and balance tolerances than they implemented in production. I would even refer 01 and 03 owners to him that had vibrations and wanted it fixed under warranty. Unfortunately, I don't think he's with the company anymore.

What they do (or attempt to do) is to take a differential assembly, and measure the flange runout with a dial indicator at the locating ring where the driveshaft snugs onto the flange. They maybe remove a little weight from part of the flange rim to balance the flange and help offset however much runout. The driveshafts are produced separately, and weighted to include specific amounts of imbalance. They then select a driveshaft with X amount of imbalance to mate with Y flange runout in the hopes that they cancel each other out. The yellow dot on the flange should logically mark the position of max flange runout, and the corresponding mark on the DS "should" mark the light spot that offsets it. In reality, I don't think the dots correspond to anything in particular, or at least I could never figure it what it was.

I will bet that tighter-spec, matching diffs and shafts will be the TSB kit that we end up with. They might include a vibration damper, and a rear diff mount to slightly adjust the pinion angle (same as the 99-03's). We have none of these components on our cars, and that's another reason we have vibrations.

If they are in fact balancing flanges and shafts bolted together as a set, they would have to do it with the flange bolted to the differential. At any rate, someone has got it wrong somewhere in the process. This is a simple problem, but difficult to troubleshoot once it makes it on to the car, as you well know.

 

[Lsumba97]

I am very thankful I found this thread. I bought my 2016 GT about two weeks ago and it now has 850 miles. I felt the vibration almost immediately but I thought it was just because I have been driving a suburban for the past 15 years - I thought I just had to get used to driving a car. But after I drove to Tucson (120mi) a week ago, I realized that maybe there was something wrong. That's when I started searching the internet and found this thread as well a several others.

I am taking the car in tomorrow am and I plan on taking this thread with me. I'm anxious as to what I'm going to face with the dealership - sounds like it could be anything from denial to a quick diagnosis and expedient fix. Very nervous!

I guess I have a question about how severe the vibration is for others. The vibe that I'm feeling isn't huge, it's almost like a vibration from cranking the bass on your stereo - just not thumping, but constant between 50-70mph. Is that what others are experiencing or is it more severe. I'd hate to be complaining about a problem that really isn't that severe. It is VERY annoying though.

I will post tomorrow once I hear something from the dealership.

 

[Lo Pony]

I am very thankful I found this thread. I bought my 2016 GT about two weeks ago and it now has 850 miles. I felt the vibration almost immediately but I thought it was just because I have been driving a suburban for the past 15 years - I thought I just had to get used to driving a car. But after I drove to Tucson (120mi) a week ago, I realized that maybe there was something wrong. That's when I started searching the internet and found this thread as well a several others.

I am taking the car in tomorrow am and I plan on taking this thread with me. I'm anxious as to what I'm going to face with the dealership - sounds like it could be anything from denial to a quick diagnosis and expedient fix. Very nervous!

I guess I have a question about how severe the vibration is for others. The vibe that I'm feeling isn't huge, it's almost like a vibration from cranking the bass on your stereo - just not thumping, but constant between 50-70mph. Is that what others are experiencing or is it more severe. I'd hate to be complaining about a problem that really isn't that severe. It is VERY annoying though.

I will post tomorrow once I hear something from the dealership.

Sounds like you've got it. The denial stems from a mismatch of parts and no solution yet for how to address it.

 

[Jim05]

Order a 17. When I won my arbitration on a 15 EcoBoost and Ford couldn't locate a 15 GT with options I wanted I Special Ordered on 16. Why the hell do you want another 15? At least get a 16.


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That's kind of where I was I thinking as well. I have a perfectly good beater truck to commute in, and the wait gave me an excuse to address a couple issues and upgrades with it.

Jim, when did you take delivery of your '15? How long did you have it before it went in the shop?

Congrats that they decided to replace it. If they have to buy back a few lemons due to this issue I would think that addressing it would be a very high priority.

It had the vibration on the test drive (May 2015), and I took it in at 1000 miles. Like many others -- and like most vehicles -- I assumed it was a tire.

 

[amilhazes]

So, starting to live the nightmare I've read so much about from you all. Received Second contact from dealer. They advised they're having trouble identifying a vibration, but I guess feel that the shaking steering wheel and vibrations in the floor and pedals for which I brought her in for are being causing by my Roush exhaust. Any input ? I've driven dozens of vehicles with loud performance exhaust, none of which cause the steering wheel to shake. There is a major difference between drone resonance, and a damn shaking at a very specific speed window. Please help !!!

 

[69mach1-395]

Steering wheel shake is not driveline related...

 

[jdoug]

Maybe try a different dealer. Couldn't hurt if there's one anywhere near you.

 

[5 O UFO]

I definitely understand the strong feelings regarding this topic. I had to deal with it as well and I was pretty angry too. That said, let's keep this on topic without the insults please.

 

[amilhazes]

Steering wheel shake is not driveline related...

Maybe. But it's also not normal. And NOT from my Roush exhaust. So dunno what their excuse is for "can't find anything wrong"

 

[ultimate warrior]

Maybe. But it's also not normal. And NOT from my Roush exhaust. So dunno what their excuse is for "can't find anything wrong"

the excuse is "we dont have a TSB or a clear path to fix this, we dont want to work on it, we're ford techs. what do you think this is, a (insert Lexus/Mercedes/Infiniti/Acura/Honda/Toyota) dealership"

 

[Enzo]

the excuse is "we dont have a TSB or a clear path to fix this, we dont want to work on it, we're ford techs. what do you think this is, a (insert Lexus/Mercedes/Infiniti/Acura/Honda/Toyota) dealership"

Lol funny you mention that. That's the biggest factor for a lot of return customers and also quality control.

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[amilhazes]

the excuse is "we dont have a TSB or a clear path to fix this, we dont want to work on it, we're ford techs. what do you think this is, a (insert Lexus/Mercedes/Infiniti/Acura/Honda/Toyota) dealership"

Don't get me wrong. I f'n love my 2015 GT. I actually have separation anxiety right now because I miss her so bad. The car is amazing. Ford just needs to help their f'n devoted customers who stand by the Pony. As I'm sure even Optimus would say right now, "Calling all Ford CS reps. Calling all Ford CS reps. We need your help! Now Rollout."

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