hopefully

 

Small claims court could be a fall back for some recovery.

It would be interesting to know where the grinding actually occured, Usually you weld weights to the drive shaft (at each or either end) to balance it. You don't trim it like a flywheel.

If it goes to lawsiut, to support his case he should have a metallurgist look at the drive shaft to a) determing actual materials of construction and b) examine quality of construction and c) to determine where it actually broke. Very likely in this case it broke in the area of the rear u-joint. IMO, it was never properly balanced, which would have lead to a fatigue failure sooner or later.

 

That thing was destined to fail from day one. There should not be ANY vibration whatsoever. The turning it 180 deg. trick is common, not bogus as some have mentioned. The shaving for balancing isn't too far out there either if it's only superficial. From the sound of it during the original install (excessive vibrations) there was a lot more involved here than an imbalanced shaft. I think they botched the install. Also of note is that there are crucial steps required when installing a split shaft, specifically preloading the center bearing. Your average shop would probably miss this. Regarding liability, I would say the shop is at fault here. They should know better than to put you back on the road with the car in that condition. If they couldn't get it ironed out they should have put your original shaft back in. Good luck with this one man!

 

Bump!

Any more news?

 

Give me a moment and I'm going to post the update...

 

Hello everyone, I’m finally back, after having taken care of a few issues. Here are the facts at this point. I still do not have the issue resolved with Jaws Gear & Axle. At this point the file is in the hands of a B.A.R. mediator.

The damage: Broken driveshaft of course. Transmission is destroyed, tail shaft is broken, pieces of it missing. And to top it off, the engine block is cracked, about 2 inches in from where it bolts to the transmission, in a complete circle. Also, I paid, according to my invoice, for an aluminum driveshaft. What was installed was a steel driveshaft.

Below is the info from the shop owner after he and the maker of the driveshaft, Driveline of Sacramento, inspected the car. They did not have a transmission or engine specialist with them at the time of their inspections.

Jeffrey A. Wilson (Owner of Jaws Gear & Axle):
“…we removed the driveshaft, had it rebalanced, and attempted to reinstall the driveshaft in the vehicle. As I assisted with the installation of the driveshaft, I noticed the rear drive flange on the driveline was an unordinary tight fit and may be causing the vibration Mr. Mata was complaining about. We checked clearance on the pinion threads and thought they might be interfering with the flange, so we ground down the end of the pinion threads on the differential and marked the pinion with compound grease to verify there was no interference. I asked him if we could keep his vehicle overnight so I could investigate. Upon review of the drive flange, we verified the hole size on the flange was about .003” to .005" smaller than the differential flange. The flange was changed, reinstalled, and Mr. Mata confirmed the vibration was very faint and agreed everything was good and he was pleased with the outcome. After review of the damage, which Mr. Mata was convinced was the fault of the driveline, we find that the driveline was twisted in half in the middle of the tube, not at a slip yoke, not at a u-joint, and not at a weld, thus leading us to [inspect] (should be “suspect”) other components.”

After consulting with the necessary persons I took the vehicle to the following shops for a professional analysis by a transmission shop and Ford Motor Co.

Golden State Transmission:
“On inspection of vehicle found driveline possibly too long for proper operation. Transmission not locked up at this time. Rear housing broken, output shaft bent due to driveline failure. Removed differential cover and found excessive pinion lash. Backlash specs 0.008”- 0.012" in measure. At this time 0.18 – 0.20". Engine block is also damaged, cracked block 2.5" in at the rear.”

Ford Dealership:
“Racked vehicle for inspection – found driveshaft broken at slip yoke. Vehicle has extensive damage to under carriage including broken starter, trans case, output shaft bent but able to rotate. Engine assembly damaged. Starter broken and engine block cracked and starter mount broken. Drive shaft failed either due to improper length or misbuilt. Flange at trans not indexed to old drive shaft . Will need new engine and transmission.

I am just stating the facts, I’ll let everyone else interpret them.

 

****.

Like $12k in damage, easily. Small claims is not in the cards if they don't pay up, you will need a full fledged lawsuit.

 

$18+ range according to Ford.

 

yeah, I never think of things like "labor", since I throw **** in myself :/

**** man, I think you've "got them", but the fight will suck.

 

You can get an entire Shelby GT500 engine assembly and a Tremec TR6060 trans for 18k.

 

I would be really pi$$ed...The shop that installed it and the maker are all at fault...Your car should be fixed as we speak and those two figure out how much each has to pay...

Plus there is also emotional issues if you really want to push it...I did not see anything but, is your car being repaired or is the blame game going around? I would hope those parties involved would step up to the plate and pay for your repairs NOW...

Yea, I am upset...Thank goodness there were no injuries...Take care...

 

Sounds like a whole lot similar conclusions that point to an improper driveshaft. For starters - steel? What the heck. Worse, "it didn't fit so we started to grind the pinion end of the pinion threads"??? What were these guys thinking? If it was so long that they had to grind the pinion shaft to get the flange on, while the rear was hanging, imagine how tightly bound that shaft must have been once the car was put back on the wheels. Holy cow! It's a miracle you make it out of the parking lot. Your driveshaft became a stressed member transferring weight from the rear, through the shaft, through the trans to the block. Amazing. That guy just wasn't thinking. You need a new car from this one.

BTW - Gross negligence here since the guy actually ground parts down to make them fit - and could have killed you. You'll probably end up settling with his insurance and likely will get a new car. They'll be very happy if that's all they lose out of this deal.

 

Good point RobK. His resale value is *gone*. This car will look like **** on Carfax.

My05 take loss of value into account on your damage claim, in addition to the repair costs.

 

I would be VERY surprised if there wasn't a new car in his driveway when this is over. Like I said, if it made it to court the damages could be WAY more than the value of the car itself.

 

Right now the car sits in my garage, waiting... B.A.R. will be in touch with the shop owner in the upcoming days. The shop owner has not contacted me once since I removed the vehicle from his shop. BAR will also be addressing for the first time, the fact that the driveshaft is steel. One of the other driveshaft manufacturers noticed from one of my pictures that it must be steel, and sure enough, it is.

 

How is it going My05? Any updates?

We are all pulling for you!

 

Yes, actually...
B.A.R. has escalated it to a Fraud investigation and will be paying them a visit soon. The Better Business Bureau has forwarded my findings to Jaws Gear & Axle and he will need to respond by next Monday, and it will go to arbitration shortly after. So the process by the departments is moving now... In the upcoming days I should have more information.

I provided BAR and the BBB with a 68-page binder documenting the incident, the BAR rep said it was the best she had seen in her 15 years there!

 

Man I wish you the best on this one.

 

Who is B.A.R.?

 

Bureau of Automotive Repair: They issue licenses to shops, they can fine shops, complaints permanently remain on their records, etc...