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First off, I love my new shifter since installing it 3 weeks ago, but I've had an issue with it since the beginning. The driveshaft hits the bottom of the shifter over big bumps on the road, and last night with 2 other friends in the car, it would scrape the shifter over small stuff AND **** near constantly at WOT!
My car is lowered with Roush springs installed by the previous owner and still has the factory struts/shocks. Should I replace those with a different setup? These springs are a bit softer than the SR springs I had in a previous mustang anyways, with probably the same 1.5" drop.
You might want to check what else might be hitting. Some modeling clay on the bottom,top and sides of the shifter box or even magic marker or paint can help to pin it down. It's hard for me to see how the drive shaft could contact the shifter box assuming you still have the stock two piece shaft. The front part of the driveshaft is pretty well fixed in position. There isn't any slip yoke used where it enters the transmission, just a simple flange. The rear of the front part of the driveshaft is secured by the carrier bearing. The rear part of the shaft does move with the rear end, but the movement is between the rear end and the carrier bearing. The race spec MGW shifter is solidly mounted to the transmission so any movement of the transmission will also cause the shifter to move with it along with the front part of the driveshaft. Since they move in unison I have a hard time seeing how bumps would cause the driveshaft and the shifter to come in contact. IMO the Race Spec MGW's greartest virtue in addition to the high quality of it's parts and machining is the fact that it isn't a semi divorced shifter like the factory set up and the other aftermarket shifters. This keeps the shift linkage in proper alignment even when the transmission moves under heavy load. Good luck finding and solving your problem.
My car has the factory 1 piece which supposedly replaces the 2 piece setup on the previous 11-12 year models. And I assure you, it really is hitting the shifter box. I checked it already.
And here's mine under the shifter. Notice the polished ring.
I know I have it installed correctly, MGW built these kits to be fool-proof as in nothing needing to be adjusted in regards to the mounting position. Everything on it lined up perfectly during installation and I had no trouble lining up any of the bolts
Have you called MGW? That would probably be my next step. Also, if you cannot see exactly what is hitting the DS, you might use a small mirror and see if you can figure that out, as that will likely be their first question.
I have not seen other threads on this issue, so it seems to not be a common problem (I would think it is a safe assumption that a good number of MGW buyers have lowered their cars), which is good news, as I suspect something is wrong with your particular set-up (whether that is an installation problem or some sort of defective part, that's the next piece of the puzzle).
First, if you want to lower your car you probably should change your shocks too. Depending on the spring rate of the new springs the previous owner may have worn out the OEM shocks. It's sort of likely actually because without a revised spring rate you'd scrape everywhere.
My guess is the shocks are worn causing excessive upward travel of the rear of the car.
So I'm not sure new shocks would fix it, but it's not unreasonable to think it might.
Check your pinion angle...You likely need an adjustable upper control arm to bring the rear back into spec with your lowering springs. Essentially what's happening is as you lower the car, the pinion begins to angle up into the driveshaft tunnel. the driveshaft is getting driven up into the tunnel far enough to make contact with your new shift bracket which hangs down further than the stock one.
Check your pinion angle...You likely need an adjustable upper control arm to bring the rear back into spec with your lowering springs. Essentially what's happening is as you lower the car, the pinion begins to angle up into the driveshaft tunnel. the driveshaft is getting driven up into the tunnel far enough to make contact with your new shift bracket which hangs down further than the stock one.
Check your pinion angle...You likely need an adjustable upper control arm to bring the rear back into spec with your lowering springs. Essentially what's happening is as you lower the car, the pinion begins to angle up into the driveshaft tunnel. the driveshaft is getting driven up into the tunnel far enough to make contact with your new shift bracket which hangs down further than the stock one.
John
After doing some research on pinion angle and a video of what the axle does with the factory UCA (it's scary how much it moves) I'm going to replace the upper (with an adjustable UCA) and lower control arms at the same time of installing new springs and struts/shocks. Hopefully this will keep the DS from hitting the shifter.
Slip joint in the middle a 1 piece shaft does not make it a 2 piece. Why some Mustangs 2011+ came with the 2 piece and others didn't, I don't know. I just know what my car has after being under it a few times now.
But enough of that. I too hope it's minor that the upgrades I mentioned in my previous post can fix.
That is one of the problems with a 1 piece Drive shaft. Lowering the car makes it worse. One PDS will move around the transmission and the 2 PDS will not. I am not sure if MGW or the others Took This into Account. Does it hit allot? Is it hitting the bolts or the brace?
Why does your DS look so different? Mine looks like the other one in the picture.
So I'm fixing to order a bunch of suspension goodies hoping that it'll fix this little issue. If it doesn't, my last hope will be a 1 piece 3.5" driveshaft.
Koni Sports for 05-10 models and GT500 strut mounts
Eibach Sportlines
BMR adjustable UCA and non-adjustable LCA's
I keep wanting to get the Koni STR.T's due to cost, but worried that I'd end up with strut/shocks that might be underwhelming for what I want. I only want to mess with the suspension once for a long time so might as well get the best stuff on the market.
Check the for sale section. You might be able to pick up a good set of hardware for a descent price on this forum.
If I try to play the "be patient" game with buying something used, I'm gonna end up spending the money I have on something else lol!
So I have everything on order, probably arriving Friday, then I'll install everything next Monday.
Koni Yellows for 05-10 Mustangs
GT500 strut mounts
H&R Super Sport springs
BMR adjustable UCA and non-adj LCA and BMR UCA Mount
Ford Racing jounce bumper kit
BTW, today I was really tempted to buy a Kobalt 20v 1/2" impact wrench. Are these any good? We already have a pneumatic impact wrench but it's old and it sucks and does our compressor.
If I try to play the "be patient" game with buying something used, I'm gonna end up spending the money I have on something else lol!
So I have everything on order, probably arriving Friday, then I'll install everything next Monday.
Koni Yellows for 05-10 Mustangs
GT500 strut mounts
H&R Super Sport springs
BMR adjustable UCA and non-adj LCA and BMR UCA Mount
Ford Racing jounce bumper kit
BTW, today I was really tempted to buy a Kobalt 20v 1/2" impact wrench. Are these any good? We already have a pneumatic impact wrench but it's old and it sucks and does our compressor.
Nice buddy! We're going to have almost the exact same setup. I'm running the 11-14 yellows and new factory mounts though, instead of the 05-10 versions.
Welp, I'm happy to say the problem is cured with the upgrades especially with the upper control arm. I started with setting the pinion angle at -3 degrees just to be sure the driveshaft is not going to hit the shifter. So far no contact, even over the roughest of bumps. I'll lift the car up again later today to get it at -2 degrees.
7/12/15, 08:37 AM
