Dean Martin's GT4 Mustang

Congratz SCUDO!!!!

Congrats to Kyle Marcelli and Nate Stacy for the win today!

Epiphany- amazing posts!

Epiphany said:

The halfshafts were failing from a boot issue that led to a lack of grease which resulted in a joint failure.

Jack may be getting some time off from his ride in the #59 car. I wish it were otherwise.

Click to expand...

Aren’t the half-shaft issues related to the angle in which they end up running due to where the rear suspension ends up after lowering the car so much? I thought one of the teams posted about this and Dean had some neat way of venting excess heat from within the CV boots to keep the joint happy...

I posted on venting the boots earlier in this thread with photos. Driveline angle has never been suggested (at least from anyone on Dean's team) as being the culprit. I know the Volt team did have a failure not too long ago. Beyond that, the issue appears to have been mitigated.

I can't get this racing series on YoutubeTV so I have to wait for Tob to post all his pictures lol.

Ford pretty much dominated CTMP. 4 of top 5, Even the 15 after the header issue ran the fastest race lap. It seems like most of the issues have or are being worked out. I think Modspace lost a driveshaft earlier this year. Don't sleep on the number 8 team they have been competitive in every race tis year. Those hard ass shifts in a car that weight is no joke. Trying to see if I can make it to Lime Rock. Not sure what may be going on with Jack but I wish the whole team nothing but success.

Austinj427 said:

I can't get this racing series on YoutubeTV so I have to wait for Tob to post all his pictures lol.

Click to expand...

they are live on IMSA TV, Also available on some channels early, but eventually on youtubes official IMSA channel.


PWC uploaded a bunch of GTS and GTS-X races a few weeks ago.

superman07 said:

they are live on IMSA TV, Also available on some channels early, but eventually on youtubes official IMSA channel.


PWC uploaded a bunch of GTS and GTS-X races a few weeks ago.

Click to expand...

Yeah, I saw those in there and I have used the IMSA TV before.

I generally have to record and watch the races later while the lady is doing other stuff.

Watch 15 hours of the 24 hours of Le Mans ONE time and suddenly I am not really allowed to watch racing when she is around.

My wife is about to that point. During CTMP she was doing the mulch. When I went outside all I got was a "don't even talk to me" look. I told her it wasn't my fault she started without me .........

Austinj427 said:

Yeah, I saw those in there and I have used the IMSA TV before.

I generally have to record and watch the races later while the lady is doing other stuff.

Watch 15 hours of the 24 hours of Le Mans ONE time and suddenly I am not really allowed to watch racing when she is around.

Click to expand...

superman07 said:

My wife is about to that point. During CTMP she was doing the mulch. When I went outside all I got was a "don't even talk to me" look. I told her it wasn't my fault she started without me .........

Click to expand...

Lol - I just tell mine that she didn't have it on my calendar... that worked for a while....and then she started using my calendar.

Mountain376 said:

Aren’t the half-shaft issues related to the angle in which they end up running due to where the rear suspension ends up after lowering the car so much? I thought one of the teams posted about this and Dean had some neat way of venting excess heat from within the CV boots to keep the joint happy...

Click to expand...

Heat from drive angle, heat from exhaust.. you'll find heat wrap on the exhaust of the GT4's and even the fp350s has fiberglass wrap on the pipe near the rear end. They have tried several things including venting (which they still may do) but have rectified it supposedly with a new boot.

Epiphany said:

I posted on venting the boots earlier in this thread with photos. Driveline angle has never been suggested (at least from anyone on Dean's team) as being the culprit. I know the Volt team did have a failure not too long ago. Beyond that, the issue appears to have been mitigated.

Click to expand...

Dean mentioned ride height on a friends race car, who had several failures.. which came from experience on the gt350r-c and GT4.

So how does the ride height, and ultimately the halfshaft slope compare to that of the GT4 Mustang?

Love this whole thread

Epiphany said:

Dean actually took the time to talk to me about it in detail. He brought up a couple of important considerations. For one, the GT4 cars deviate from the factory ride height and as such the driveline angles may be generating a bit more heat. And clearances are reduced on the cars such that heat from nearby components (such as the exhaust) can wreak havoc on the joints and boots themselves. Nobody made an official statement but I'm under the impression that Ford Racing (or even Ford corporate for that matter) is helping much. And maybe they can't, I don't know. So for now the team has to get by making sure that the grease can handle temperatures seen on race day, that the boots don't melt, and that they can vent off any pressure buildup. Not the easiest task.

Click to expand...

Trent on the Sebring race:
"Unfortunately, the race unraveled in pretty dramatic fashion on Lap 5. While having a very strong run in the top ten, Alan muttered the words “broken half shaft” on the radio coming out of turn 7. That was it."
https://sportscar365.com/features/commentary/hindman-the-ups-and-downs-of-sebring/

I seem to remember him commenting somewhere about the axle issues and other teams being displeased about it. I'll see if I can find it. Maybe he deleted it (don't blame him as I'm sure he was frustrated; he is a good driver and the Volt team is pretty decent, but has bad luck).


Sportscar365/Mark Rushbrook:
"Ford provided updated half-shafts and a new steel prop-shaft to all of its customer teams, along with other optional updates, prior to the Pirelli World Challenge season-opener at St. Pete."
https://sportscar365.com/imsa/ctscc/ford-multimatics-open-book-policy-with-mustang-gt4-customers/


I wonder what the "update" was? As you said, Epiphany, the cars seem to be doing fine on axles ever since Sebring.

Also, thanks for the pictures an inside updates. Although I am a Camaro owner now, I love following the Mustang's and have to cheer for them, especially the KOHR guys!