Was the rusty part above the axle, w/ the bushing also painted?

What are the rusty parts on the sides of the "before" image? Were those also painted?

Is the driveshaft also unpainted and rusty?

When I did my Jeep axle I polished it first to remove the casting texture to get a high-gloss finish.

 

Speaking of the rearends. What do those heavy/rusty counter weights in this picture do for the rearend's suspension? Ours came without these installed but the threaded holes are on there. Anyone know the answer on this one? CalStang

P.S. Sending picture of our rear axle on jack stands right after we brought the CalStang home. Note two things. No counter weights and how very dirty it was already with only 52 miles on it!

How you say? Because two young idiot salesmen took it out in the rain for lunch the day it came off of the truck. Because they just wanted to see how it drove out on the wet? That is what dealer demos are for dumb Sh*ts!

After about six hours of detail cleaning and also the black paint applications to the under carriage, it then looked better than new down there and was now ready for the cars shows!!

 

^they are for NVH harmonics and all that jazz. guess it would moan or vibrat or something without them.

 

Thanks fdjizm: The torque and twisting shock load harmonics makes a lot of sense with those factory installed jelly filled upper and lower control arm bushings. Our own diff-housing rotates way too much under load and unload sitiations!

Wondering if I should find a set off of a wreck, then paint and install them? Has anyone removed them to lose some axle weight? If so how did that affect your rear axle rotation feel when loading and unloading the clutch during hard accelration? CalStang

 

2011s are now finally painted.

 

I think they are guessing.
My 2006 GT manual didn't come with weights.
My 2007 V6 auto did.
Does that really make sense?

 

Nice diff cover...where'd you get that?

 

Isn't that Diff cover and a painted axle stock on the '11 GT500s now?

 

Yes. And only GT500s are coming with painted axles.

 

If the axis of rotation of the diff is the axle shafts, then the weights' location won't really help. They would help with vertical motion or rotation about the driveshaft. As I understand it, the cars are tested and the weights are added only as needed.

 

This sure comes up a lot lately. Seems like I just posted this about the weights. Here's the full driveline discussion from a Ford engineer. Always thought it was interesting. He says nothing about 'twisting':

Rear Axle Damping Weights...?

Hey folks, have any of you removed your bolted-on weights from the rear axle? If so, did you notice any difference in whine or vibration...?

I'm thinking it may be a good way to drop a few pounds of unsprung weight (I've read they weigh around 3-5# each), but don't want to do it if it'll create any problems. I can live with a little more axle whine, if that's all they're for.

...guy lower control arm bracket axle masses

They are there to attenuate axle whine. If you currently notice axle whine in your car in the 45-65mph range, it may increase a bit if you remove the masses. They are one part of a fairly extensive package engineered to address axle whine on the s197 platform.


...guy
Clunk is driven by total driveline lash, dominated by the gear sets and clutch tuning/capability. The 3.73 amplifies this a bit compared to the 3.31 and 3.55 axles. The 2-piece driveshaft is not the cause of the clunk noise. The Bullitt will have higher levels of clunk compared to the base GT. The base GT throttle response is a bit softer than the Bullitt's. The increased throttle response makes the clunk a bit easier to get. It is a trade-off - improved performance feel vs clunk.

...guy

The post mentions high speed and 160mph - The Mustang (as it leaves AAI) is speed limited well below that for a reason. Like I said before, I do not know specifics about the dynotech piece, what it does or does not do. I do know about the 2-piece in the factory car. It is a fairly robust piece. Vibration is not an issue unless the centerbearing shims are not installed properly, the shaft has a balance issue or the pinion angle is off. These would be quality issues (that I'm not aware of having in production), not design. The 2-pc has no roll in whether or not you have a random vibration. U-joint angles, run-out (flange or shaft), balance and system modal (resonance) response govern vibration.


....guy 2 piece drive shaft and rust

The 2-piece driveshaft is required to meet internal engineering requirements for safe operation at max vehicle speed. Basically, it is designed to provide a driveline system resonance well above what the speed limiter will allow you to operate at. If you put your driveline into resonance, bad things may happen! I've seen what it does to a car and it isn't pretty.

The driveshaft CV joints are required components on this type of driveshaft when combined with a live axle. If the rear suspension were IRS, simple flex couplings would be used (look at the new Camaro, Challenger, etc...) and would make for a lighter driveshaft.

The driveshaft also has an internal torsional damper (ITD) which is soley there to attenuate axle whine. If package allowed, the ITD would be mounted on the exterior of the driveshaft as a much lighter ring design. Since the equivalent inertia is required out of the smaller diameter part when installed inside the driveshaft, the mass has to increase. So, you get a heavier ITD vs a lightweight ETD.

A single piece steel or aluminum 1-piece would have to be larger in diameter than the current package allows. Basically, you would have contact with the fuel tank at full rear suspension jounce. 1-piece carbon fiber was explored at one time...

Hope this helps.

Oh, and as far as the rust is concerned, we hate it too. All I can say is write lots of letters to Ford asking them to make your Mustang's steel powertrain components (driveshaft, axle, etc...) come painted from the factory because you don't like rusty car parts. Customer feedback is sometimes absolutely necessary to make a change that, to many of us, should seem so obvious and simple. Fill out those customer surveys that you get in the mail. They really matter.


I would not assume an aftermarket piece "solves" a problem. Yes, you can stuff a massive driveshaft into the tunnel but it will not meet standard vehicle engineering requirements. Our requirements take many factors into account, with the biggest one being your personal safety under a wide variety of operating conditions. Our parts are engineered to work in one big system. Aftermarket parts are generally not engineered. By this, I mean that they are designed to fit properly (usually) and improve one or two attributes specific to your application.

For example, if you want a lighter weight driveshaft that gives you less rotating inertia, you can buy this aluminum 1-pc driveshaft. But, that's all you get - lighter weight. Not proven durability, safety (how does the driveshaft react in a rear impact?, clearance to other parts like the fuel tank?), NVH, ride (driveshaft plunge force actually affects your ride quality), etc...

But that's the great part about it being your car. You get to decide what you want your Mustang to be. Just be cautious and think about how these parts may affect the rest of your driving experience, safety and wallet if it breaks or breaks something else in the car.

I've been in your shoes (which is why I became an engineer and worked my way onto the Mustang team!) and know exactly where you are coming from, though. I don't know specifics about the d/s you are referring to but I'm just giving you some things to think about and consider.

Thanks for buying a Bullitt!

 

Yep, stock.

 

it looks sweet, and requires no elbow grease

 

I discovered this product awhile back, they claim you can actually paint over rusty parts with very little prep, I've never tried their product so I can't back up their claims. For those of you with the rusty axles, this may be worth a look.
http://www.rustbullet.com/Products/A...Automotive.asp

 

It took about 30 minutes, a small paint brush and a $7 jug of Rustoleum High Heat Satin Black paint. Mine was pretty clean and had no rust on the axle tubes but the pumpkin and axle weights were glowin' rust orange. It looks much better now.

 

Nice job I might paint mine one day, I fixed the rusty driveshaft though, aluminum 3.5 replacement

 

I just purchased a 2011 GT500 last Saturday. I'll get under there and take a pic to see how she looks under there and post up.

Some of you are saying that you're GT500's have painted rear axles already? Even the weights on each end?