What did you do to your V today?
02-11-2017, 05:38 PM
#1126
TECH Addict
iTrader: (19)
Join Date: Aug 2007
Location: Where the Navy tells me to go
Posts: 2,404
Received 106 Likes
on
88 Posts
- Friday - Reinstalled the driver side rear axle that I had removed last Saturday due to a torn inner CV boot. That's the short version. The long version...
I have the CS "non upgrade" axles, so DSS bars and DSS inner CVs with stock outer CVs. I found the torn CV boot a few weeks back, so I contacted CS and DSS about getting a new CV. My intention was to pull the axle and swap the CV myself (no down-time for the vehicle being the goal). DSS: I need you to pull the axle and let me know how many splines are on the axle bar. Me: I'd rather not, as that means the car will be down for a number of days. This is one of the conversion axles you guys did for Creative Steel, can't you figure out which CV based on that? Creative Steel says I was sold part #XYZ. DSS: There were two different varieties. Measure the axle bars and let me know what you've got. Me: OK, driver side is 32mm, passenger side is 29mm. DSS: You need part #ABC, I'll ship it out.
Got the CV, put the car up on a lift at the auto hobby shop on the local base and got to work pulling the axle. No real issues there, other than the fact the driver side is the harder of the two to get out (tight clearance between the fat inner CV and the rear subframe), so it took another set of hands to accomplish that.
While the axle was out I started to replace the axle seal on the diff and discovered that the parts monkey at the Ford dealer had given me a solid axle seal rather than an IRS axle seal.
Kicked myself for not second checking the part # when I got it home (or, even better, looking up the correct part number and asking for that rather that giving them a chance to **** it up).
Got the old CV joint off the axle bar. DSS had told me the CVs were a bit of an interference fit on the splines, so I'd have to use a socket or piece of pipe or whatever to knock the new one on. I went to position the CV to get it started and it was a hard stop - no engagement at all. I didn't have any real measuring device handy, but comparing with an adjustable wrench, it seemed to me that the axle bar was too fat for the new CV they had sent me. ****!
That was last Saturday. Obviously I wasn't going to resolve anything over the weekend, and the hobby shop is closed Mon/Tue, so I had to just leave the car on the lift until at least Wednesday, probably longer. So much for wanting to have zero down time for the car.
Monday I overnighted the axle to DSS for them to fix. Sent the guy at DSS a pic of the old CV and was told it was a 30-spline, and what they had sent me was a 36. *sigh* Got the axle back Thursday and discovered that DSS, which specializes in axles and driveshafts, apparently doesn't know how to package one properly. When I shipped the axle & CV components to them that **** wasn't going anywhere. They, on the other hand, shipped the axle in a box about 4" too long and provided essentially zero constraint in the longitudinal direction. As a result of the axle sliding back and forth in the box during shipping, the boot clamp on the outer CV (which was the CV that wasn't a problem) got knocked out of position! I was not impressed.
So rather than just going to the hobby shop and reinstalling the axle, I had to find an auto parts place with a suitable universal CV boot clamp, since the clamp was a single use type and was damaged. The one at Advance Auto was too small, but NAPA came through.
My car has been developing a nasty vibration coming from somewhere in the rear. I've checked the wheel bearings a couple times and found no play, so when I found the torn boot on the CV I thought I had found my smoking gun. Unfortunately, after putting everything back together, I went for a spin and the vibration is still there. Soooo....
- Saturday - Put the rear up on jack stands, removed the rear wheels, and let the car idle in 2nd gear. I used a mechanic's stethoscope on all of the bearings and it seems that the driver side wheel bearing is the culprit. Passenger side may be starting to go, too, so I'll just do 'em both. They've never been done since I've had the car, which probably means they're original - 134k miles, including plenty of track time on R-compounds, so I'm impressed they held together this long!
I have the CS "non upgrade" axles, so DSS bars and DSS inner CVs with stock outer CVs. I found the torn CV boot a few weeks back, so I contacted CS and DSS about getting a new CV. My intention was to pull the axle and swap the CV myself (no down-time for the vehicle being the goal). DSS: I need you to pull the axle and let me know how many splines are on the axle bar. Me: I'd rather not, as that means the car will be down for a number of days. This is one of the conversion axles you guys did for Creative Steel, can't you figure out which CV based on that? Creative Steel says I was sold part #XYZ. DSS: There were two different varieties. Measure the axle bars and let me know what you've got. Me: OK, driver side is 32mm, passenger side is 29mm. DSS: You need part #ABC, I'll ship it out.
Got the CV, put the car up on a lift at the auto hobby shop on the local base and got to work pulling the axle. No real issues there, other than the fact the driver side is the harder of the two to get out (tight clearance between the fat inner CV and the rear subframe), so it took another set of hands to accomplish that.
While the axle was out I started to replace the axle seal on the diff and discovered that the parts monkey at the Ford dealer had given me a solid axle seal rather than an IRS axle seal.
Kicked myself for not second checking the part # when I got it home (or, even better, looking up the correct part number and asking for that rather that giving them a chance to **** it up).Got the old CV joint off the axle bar. DSS had told me the CVs were a bit of an interference fit on the splines, so I'd have to use a socket or piece of pipe or whatever to knock the new one on. I went to position the CV to get it started and it was a hard stop - no engagement at all. I didn't have any real measuring device handy, but comparing with an adjustable wrench, it seemed to me that the axle bar was too fat for the new CV they had sent me. ****!
That was last Saturday. Obviously I wasn't going to resolve anything over the weekend, and the hobby shop is closed Mon/Tue, so I had to just leave the car on the lift until at least Wednesday, probably longer. So much for wanting to have zero down time for the car.
Monday I overnighted the axle to DSS for them to fix. Sent the guy at DSS a pic of the old CV and was told it was a 30-spline, and what they had sent me was a 36. *sigh* Got the axle back Thursday and discovered that DSS, which specializes in axles and driveshafts, apparently doesn't know how to package one properly. When I shipped the axle & CV components to them that **** wasn't going anywhere. They, on the other hand, shipped the axle in a box about 4" too long and provided essentially zero constraint in the longitudinal direction. As a result of the axle sliding back and forth in the box during shipping, the boot clamp on the outer CV (which was the CV that wasn't a problem) got knocked out of position! I was not impressed.So rather than just going to the hobby shop and reinstalling the axle, I had to find an auto parts place with a suitable universal CV boot clamp, since the clamp was a single use type and was damaged. The one at Advance Auto was too small, but NAPA came through.
My car has been developing a nasty vibration coming from somewhere in the rear. I've checked the wheel bearings a couple times and found no play, so when I found the torn boot on the CV I thought I had found my smoking gun. Unfortunately, after putting everything back together, I went for a spin and the vibration is still there. Soooo....
- Saturday - Put the rear up on jack stands, removed the rear wheels, and let the car idle in 2nd gear. I used a mechanic's stethoscope on all of the bearings and it seems that the driver side wheel bearing is the culprit. Passenger side may be starting to go, too, so I'll just do 'em both. They've never been done since I've had the car, which probably means they're original - 134k miles, including plenty of track time on R-compounds, so I'm impressed they held together this long!
02-12-2017, 01:49 AM
#1130
02-12-2017, 03:59 AM
#1131
I will take a couple pics, it's one of the safety e clip deals. While there is a little play room I doubt it could support a bigger rod.
Stick the pry bar in the corner till you hit the tap and twist, used a claw hammer to turn the booster lol. I will take that all day long cardigan getting somewhere you can't fit a wrench unless genders are off so it takes hours.
My *** puckered but all my exhaust manifold bolts broke free! Pulled my coils and all the goodies so I can drop in my long tubes and lid my tune. Curious to see how the tune and LT's liven it up. Need to put a vacuum gauge on the motor and see what it pulls at idle. Still only have the pedal feel I'm chasing when the rpms are still up. Wonder if a vacuum can would hold a higher psi than the booster valve. On the flip side a crap tube with the timing messed with will jack up your vacuum as well. My car was allegedly tuned in the past but who knows.......
Stick the pry bar in the corner till you hit the tap and twist, used a claw hammer to turn the booster lol. I will take that all day long cardigan getting somewhere you can't fit a wrench unless genders are off so it takes hours.
My *** puckered but all my exhaust manifold bolts broke free! Pulled my coils and all the goodies so I can drop in my long tubes and lid my tune. Curious to see how the tune and LT's liven it up. Need to put a vacuum gauge on the motor and see what it pulls at idle. Still only have the pedal feel I'm chasing when the rpms are still up. Wonder if a vacuum can would hold a higher psi than the booster valve. On the flip side a crap tube with the timing messed with will jack up your vacuum as well. My car was allegedly tuned in the past but who knows.......
02-12-2017, 05:42 AM
#1132
I feel your pain with these guys AAIIC. DSS mistakes have cost me untold hours of labor and aggrevation simply because of carelessness on their end and there's still vibes i'm chasing maybe because someone at CS or DSS got the driveshaft too long or who ******* knows what else.
If I had this to do all over again I'd probably go v2 cradle swap just to try and prevent the use of this aftermarket crap. But even that's going to require depending on somebody else's skills to get the driveshaft right.
Can I fix these problems...sure I can. Will I? Probably not because I'm sick of messing with. It's easier to sell the car and come on here and bad mouth these people than it is to continually try and involve them in a solution that will keep my car off the road for days on end and see me getting filthy lying flat on my back on the garage floor only to get more, compounded problems and aggrevations like the ones you've pointed out above.
My hats off to you AAIIC....you've got more patience than I do.
If I had this to do all over again I'd probably go v2 cradle swap just to try and prevent the use of this aftermarket crap. But even that's going to require depending on somebody else's skills to get the driveshaft right.
Can I fix these problems...sure I can. Will I? Probably not because I'm sick of messing with. It's easier to sell the car and come on here and bad mouth these people than it is to continually try and involve them in a solution that will keep my car off the road for days on end and see me getting filthy lying flat on my back on the garage floor only to get more, compounded problems and aggrevations like the ones you've pointed out above.
My hats off to you AAIIC....you've got more patience than I do.
Last edited by ls1247; 02-12-2017 at 06:44 AM.
02-12-2017, 07:09 AM
#1133
TECH Addict
iTrader: (19)
Join Date: Aug 2007
Location: Where the Navy tells me to go
Posts: 2,404
Received 106 Likes
on
88 Posts
I still have my factory diff and axles in the basement, the thought of just going back to that has definitely entered my mind on numerous occasions. If my stethoscope test had found a bad bearing in the diff yesterday, I think I would've thrown in the towel on the 8.8" and just gone back to stock.
A couple more pics from Friday. First, the new clamp on the outer CV boot. I'm hoping I got the thing tight enough.
Installing the axle. The driver side rear mounting bolt is out, passenger side rear mounting bolt the nut is removed and the bolt is just acting as a pivot point. Both front mounting bolts to the CS adapter bracket are removed. Screw jack at the rear is pivoting the driver side of the diff up. The snout of the diff is pushed towards the driver side to give the axle a straight shot into the diff, with a punch (visible just to the right of the front screw jack) up into the CS bracket to hold the diff in that twisted position.
A couple more pics from Friday. First, the new clamp on the outer CV boot. I'm hoping I got the thing tight enough.
Installing the axle. The driver side rear mounting bolt is out, passenger side rear mounting bolt the nut is removed and the bolt is just acting as a pivot point. Both front mounting bolts to the CS adapter bracket are removed. Screw jack at the rear is pivoting the driver side of the diff up. The snout of the diff is pushed towards the driver side to give the axle a straight shot into the diff, with a punch (visible just to the right of the front screw jack) up into the CS bracket to hold the diff in that twisted position.
Last edited by AAIIIC; 02-12-2017 at 07:14 AM.
02-12-2017, 08:40 PM
#1135
http://www.bmrsuspension.com/?page=p...500&superpro=0
In my opinion, the TR004 is a better bet, with the TR001 misalignment adapter or custom sleeve.
http://www.bmrsuspension.com/?page=p...486&superpro=0
Last edited by FuzzyLog1c; 02-12-2017 at 08:55 PM.
02-12-2017, 09:15 PM
#1137
02-12-2017, 09:15 PM
#1138
I went with the CS toe rods. They were a much better deal during the black Friday sale than those linked, and they're a direct fit with no sleeve to make. The 95a also matches the trailing arm bushings, which should maintain the same compliance as their movements are in unison. The grease fittings are also in the more ideal placement. IMO, they got the design right. My spirited daily driving use has been much improved. I don't track the car, so heim joints wouldn't make much sense for me.
02-12-2017, 09:20 PM
#1139
You're missing the point. There should be NO movements in the toe rods. You can feel a 0.05 degree difference in rear wheel toe angle, and even 1.25" 4140HT with solid bushings will flex by a few hundredths of a degree under launch loads. That's why polyurethane and rubber are unacceptable. 95A polyurethane bushings can flex by several tenths and rubber can flex by more than a degree.