Almost an admission of guilt to the issue.
You're correct. It was a cold weld, which you can see by the granularity of the break pattern. It only had surface penetration into the base metals. And yes, with a good weld, it is likely enough and I'm sure it was analyzed like that. What is clear though, is how low the design margin really is. A pin and clip design would be far, far more robust and would not require a cheap weld.I'm not a pro welder--I did take a couple classes at the local JC after I retired--but, in theory, that weld should have been sufficient (in size, anyway). Ant Anstead, on a recent 'Wheeler Dealer' episode, stated something to the effect that 'an inch of weld should support a ton [of weight].' I think that's a bit of a stretch, but the weld shown here definitely looks 'cold;' probably not done by a skilled welder but by a min. wage kid given a half-hour of instruction. It takes a bit of skill to get proper penetration, even pretty 'stack of dimes' TIG welds may only LOOK good, an ugly bead with good penetration is better by far. Something about the granularity of the metal at the break doesn't look right, either (probably not the highest quality steel).
As for the MT-82 shift forks, that's just plain chintzy. Have a look at the forks in a 55 year-old British sports car:
“A min wage kid with a half hour instruction” is a good description of the kind of things I run into working in manufacturing. Those jobs are not paying enough to get and keep good talent. The old timers didn’t have many other skills beyond their little niche in the shop, but learned what they did very well. Young people these days are like, “Screw it, for that kind of money I can work retail, stay clean and work in a climate controlled building.”I'm not a pro welder--I did take a couple classes at the local JC after I retired--but, in theory, that weld should have been sufficient (in size, anyway). Ant Anstead, on a recent 'Wheeler Dealer' episode, stated something to the effect that 'an inch of weld should support a ton [of weight].' I think that's a bit of a stretch, but the weld shown here definitely looks 'cold;' probably not done by a skilled welder but by a min. wage kid given a half-hour of instruction. It takes a bit of skill to get proper penetration, even pretty 'stack of dimes' TIG welds may only LOOK good, an ugly bead with good penetration is better by far. Something about the granularity of the metal at the break doesn't look right, either (probably not the highest quality steel).
As for the MT-82 shift forks, that's just plain chintzy. Have a look at the forks in a 55 year-old British sports car:
Negative on both counts for my particular parts. It is unknown whether then 2018+ improves this.
"reality is that anytime Ford touches anything it takes twice as long and costs twice as much (if not more"- auto extremist lmao!
Not yet. If it has happened to you, submit a complaint with NHTSA.
I'd rather do any of the other mods/swaps I've done than that:
If there was a safety recall on pedal assemblies, and I was a tech at a dealership with a long line of Mustangs waiting for theirs, I think I'd quit.
. As a final note, is there anything we could lube to minimize the stress on that area? It didn't look possible to spray anything in that bushing with everything in place, but hope to be wrong.