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I found something yall might want to check when and if you decide to do your own bearing swap, separate the shaft on your own for a stock replacement etc.
I had a perfect storm of craziness on the highway that is a typical day of driving in the middle east, on my way home from work thankfully I made it just fine and dandy.
My drive shaft however was not so lucky....
What happened I am still not quite sure of, the car in front of me hit something that bounced under my car, hit the floor board, then bounced again and hit my exhaust. Whatever it was it was moving with enough force to cause the upper part of my carrier bearing support metal to break where it is welded into the mounting bracket. You can see the very clean break here.
To VDCs credit this failure had absolutely nothing to do with their product in any way, this was what may have been a hair line crack that I missed on my inspection of the shaft originally or as a result of the added vibes from a failed harmonic balance / crank pulley that was replaced that morning with a new OEM part.
The VDC bearing actually survived the trip home for another 50 or so miles, then a brief test drive in my parking lot and a quick cruise to the auto repair shop where I yanked the shaft and re welded the bearing carrier/mount and was able to park the car safely.
I also lost 2 exhaust hangers and the brace that separated the pipes keeping them off the diff towards the back.
Hopefully Lindsay Cadillac will have one in stock and can ship internationally to me soon
I am not mad, just puzzled as I have seen some drive shaft failures, but never one quite like this and as such I wanted to share it with yall so you have another place to inspect when and if you choose to roll your own. Heck for all I know there maybe others who have a crack that you can check and may never have thought to look there.
Piecing it back together was a fun afternoon and I don't get to fab many things up anymore as my job in aviation maintenance is more parts monkey and less primitive pete that it used to be.
So on with the show.
(PS if anyone has a GOOD used shaft and can send it DHL to Dubai, UAE and is interested in working out something so I can save a few bucks shoot me a PM)
Pics or it didn't happen lol so on with the show.
Here is a shot of the impacted area, I apologize for my lack of photo skills as its an older phone and I was mid working on it at this point.
A little clearer.
Check this area where the loop of the carrier bearing is secured to the base of the mount.
And for those wondering if VDC makes a top notch bearing, YES THEY DO! This thing made it 50 miles at + or - 65 mph which is the only speed it was smooth at after it let loose, jack hammering the bottom of my car the entire way, then I drove said car to the shop about another 20 min 2 days later on Sat and for all its damage, its relatively unphased beyond partially coming unbonded as shown in pic 2.
pic 1.
pic 2.
Here is a shot of my exhaust damage. Found out I have offroad pipes, and it passes emissions here which is fairly strict honestly. So thank goodness for small miracles.
And here is a shot of the fabbed up repair that got the car off the lift and into a corner of the shop.
Yes I did test drive the temp fix, and I won't be driving it much more than that, but for moving it around the shop its solid enough.
I am going to a slip-yoke shaft and have everything else stock that I haven't listed for sale yet. Shaft, carrier, guibos, etc. 100K car but obvious all this stuff was replaced later in life with new OEM components. All tight with no vibrations at the speeds I drove it before I took it apart..0-130MPH. How much PIA is it to ship over there and how much is it worth to you? Only catch is I am flying out tomorrow morning for work and won't be back until Thursday night.
I am going to a slip-yoke shaft and have everything else stock that I haven't listed for sale yet. Shaft, carrier, guibos, etc. 100K car but obvious all this stuff was replaced later in life with new OEM components. All tight with no vibrations at the speeds I drove it before I took it apart..0-130MPH. How much PIA is it to ship over there and how much is it worth to you? Only catch is I am flying out tomorrow morning for work and won't be back until Thursday night.
Shipping is via DHL so pretty easy.
Shoot me a PM with a price for your shaft assembly with giubo and hardware if possible. I'm still waiting on a quote from 3 dealers stateside also.
I'll happily eat the shipping. As for waiting until the end of the week my insurance is reimbursing me the cost so its going to be a few days no matter what I do.
Honestly don't know what a fair price is. Anyone else care to comment on what I mentioned above? All in very good shape and obviously OEM replaced in the last couple years.
I can get pics Friday. Possibly Thurs evening if my flight doesn't get in too late.
$75-125 is the going rate we pay. Sometimes shipping included. That bonding broken area really shouldnt matter.. but if it becomes and issue let me know. We did have a shaft come in with that bracket completely broke like the OP's. Welded it and it was fine.
I think I know what caused it. When OP originally did the carrier swap, he had the CV joint clocked incorrectly and it caused a bind. I'm almost certain that strain flexed the carrier bracket to cause stress crack.
I think I know what caused it. When OP originally did the carrier swap, he had the CV joint clocked incorrectly and it caused a bind. I'm almost certain that strain flexed the carrier bracket to cause stress crack.
This could very well be the case. When the binding occurred it was also caught straight away and dealt with. I had a look at everything before I reassembled it and it all looked good at the time.
I might also have overlooked an existing crack in the carrier plate as the original had gone at least 15 k miles in its state before I bought the car.
It was most defiantly an impact that was the last leg for the carrier plate. The same debris also took out my exhaust near the back where it splits around the diff.
At no point was I taking a dig at your product, it survived far more than I could have ever hoped for, if I buy a used shaft, I will definitely be ordering another unit from you guys and swapping it out for peace of mind.
You guys make a top notch bearing, the bonding failure I pointed out was after quite a bit of abuse on my part after the impact.
Its not a design defect at all, and I pointed it out to show that even after a ton of abuse it still works as designed, which is a beautiful thing in my opinion.
The fact that the bearing looked as good as it did is what spurred me into even attempting the repair.
And for the record its still holding up even with my temp repair! Tomorrow I have no option but to drive it a few miles to get a copy of the police report so I can get everything covered by my insurance company.
I can't think of anything else that could have taken that abuse like your bearing did, which is a pretty powerful statement as I'm not any particular brands poster boy.
I took no ill will from your posts we are glad it held up so good. You should be fine to keep using the whole setup.
I'm going to replace it as piece of mind.
I also have a cool concept if I can make it work, for a 2 PC replacement now that I have had a chance to educate myself further and will be using this shaft and my car as a test bed for the concept.
So no matter what I need a second known good configuration to proof my idea.
It happened, so I deal with it in the only way I know how which is to play with stuff till it fails. 1/2 of the bond with the poly is holding.
I feel confident with the bearing to take what I can give it, but would prefer a second shaft if for all else to swap back to if my idea fails.
Again you guys make a great product and thanks to you I know that I will put the new one on perfectly.
Thanks again for everything and the amazing customer service!
Sorry man; work killed last week and over the weekend. Made it to the shop to pick up the shaft and guibo. See pics attached. Like everything else under this car, it looks like a recent replacement. So I think it's toward the highest end of the value spectrum but posting publically to be fair as this is the only unit I've seen in person. Taking the guibo off the trans reminded me of how tight the trans is...you should buy the whole setup!
Not even a wipe-down; most of the dust is probably from sitting around the dirty *** shop.
being in LA isnt that sac relig to treat your tigers flag like that? watch your back some crazy LSU fans may be hunting your ***.
Ha! Normally, yes. That's actually the tent top to the pop-up deal I started working this project with to keep the rain off of it. As Louisiana weather would have it, wind came and blew it three houses over, snapping the WIRES I had tied to heavy bricks, and ruining the frame and tearing the top...scratching the car, too. Ironically, I rent some shop space, dismantle the engine, and while out helping some flooded family, a roof leak develops and rains on the crank. So cleaned it up best I could and like an actual good tigers fan kept the tent top even with no use. Well, it's now leak insurance on my build table. And just happened to be my chosen spot to snap a few pics last night.
So let's say this treatment was better than the trash can.
The guys at the packing store were about to offer me a job...brought it in already zip-tied to a PVC 1x4. If it doesn't make it, then it simply wasn't meant to be.
08-21-2016, 09:24 AM
Carrier bearing mount failure. 
pic 1.
pic 2.
