Jay, the funny thing was I didn't even know I was being brave those first few trips out. I had just *assumed* these cars were built to be drag raced hard. Should've spent more time searching the forums back then... :read:
GT500 Stock Part Failures
- Thread starter JB_2010GT500
- Start date
Great thread and excellent photos. Your experiences have been quite different than mine, but I have always tried to "hit" my launches quite a bit on the soft side with respect to the OEM pieces limitations.
Only last week did I replace the original non-TSB clutch and 2 piece DS.
I did snap a tooth off the 3.31 ring gear bone stock back in summer of 2009 while at the drag strip though...
Again, thanks for the photo work and documentation!
Only last week did I replace the original non-TSB clutch and 2 piece DS.
I did snap a tooth off the 3.31 ring gear bone stock back in summer of 2009 while at the drag strip though...
Again, thanks for the photo work and documentation!
Interesting! Can you go into any more detail about how that happened? I've always wondered what the other weak links in these cars are (I don't really want to find out the hard way, though). I'm surprised there haven't been more posts about the TR-6060 and stock differential...
To preface, I don't have any photos as I had to play dumb about the whole thing since I did get a warranty replacement. Not much tech here, but a story nonetheless.
Bought the car new in November 2008, drove it for a few weeks until the winter arrived, and then placed it in storage. Once the 2009 driving season started up I decided to try my luck at the strip. Life on the stock Goodyear's was not the best and the factory control arms made for bad behavior on gear changes.
Later I returned with a set of Steeda Stop the Hop Control arms and some borrowed MT Drag Radials, 305/40/18 on 18X10 Roush Trak-Pak wheels if I remember right.
I aired them down to 18 psi, gave them lots of heat in the burnout box, and hit them rather hard off the line.
There may have notes kicking around in my archives, but 5000-ish RPM with side-stepping seems to ring a bell.
On the first attempt there was a loud bang from the rear of the car, but everything launched alright. With a helmet on while making passes and everything else being very low speed in the pits, there was no real noise, I didn't worry too much on it.
Passes that night were in the Mid-12's with 3-4000 DA, 112-115 MPH from memory.
However once I swapped the factory tires/wheels back on, and hit the highway I knew the rear differential was in bad shape. Lots of whine/howl/moan, all driving conditions. The next day, I sanitized the car of any drag racing evidence and rolled into my Ford dealer to see if they would warranty the axle. (Yes, my fault, yes, kind of a low thing to do, but I don't think the axle should have been broken so easily, based on prior experiences with other drag cars running an 8.8")
I got the run around for a bit, they claimed it was fine and normal, once they verified I had the cast iron axle harmonic dampers installed, although they only road tested it for 400 meters. (noted the odometer) Finally I got the service manager with me out on a road test and was able to drown out our conversation with axle noise did they agree something was not right.
The car was waiting for the "GT500 Bearing Kit" for over 5 weeks that summer due to supply issues. The axle was rebuilt with a new set of 3.31 gears (they wouldn't up sell to 3.73's, even if I paid...) but was never as quiet as factory delivered. They refused to do anything about the new deceleration only whine, but at least it was mostly fixed.
I know the car got a new set of 3.31's, a bearing set, and new fluid. While talking to the installing tech, (an old experienced fellow I knew from other visits) I asked what was wrong with the axle and he mentioned the ring gear was damaged, one of the teeth were chipped/broken/ etc, he didn't really give it much attention he said. Warranty replacement straight time job, so he was interested in doing it quickly.
That is about it, like I said, not a lot of tech due to circumstances, but it is my story.
Been lots of changes and improvements since then.
Bought the car new in November 2008, drove it for a few weeks until the winter arrived, and then placed it in storage. Once the 2009 driving season started up I decided to try my luck at the strip. Life on the stock Goodyear's was not the best and the factory control arms made for bad behavior on gear changes.
Later I returned with a set of Steeda Stop the Hop Control arms and some borrowed MT Drag Radials, 305/40/18 on 18X10 Roush Trak-Pak wheels if I remember right.
I aired them down to 18 psi, gave them lots of heat in the burnout box, and hit them rather hard off the line.
There may have notes kicking around in my archives, but 5000-ish RPM with side-stepping seems to ring a bell.
On the first attempt there was a loud bang from the rear of the car, but everything launched alright. With a helmet on while making passes and everything else being very low speed in the pits, there was no real noise, I didn't worry too much on it.
Passes that night were in the Mid-12's with 3-4000 DA, 112-115 MPH from memory.
However once I swapped the factory tires/wheels back on, and hit the highway I knew the rear differential was in bad shape. Lots of whine/howl/moan, all driving conditions. The next day, I sanitized the car of any drag racing evidence and rolled into my Ford dealer to see if they would warranty the axle. (Yes, my fault, yes, kind of a low thing to do, but I don't think the axle should have been broken so easily, based on prior experiences with other drag cars running an 8.8")
I got the run around for a bit, they claimed it was fine and normal, once they verified I had the cast iron axle harmonic dampers installed, although they only road tested it for 400 meters. (noted the odometer) Finally I got the service manager with me out on a road test and was able to drown out our conversation with axle noise did they agree something was not right.
The car was waiting for the "GT500 Bearing Kit" for over 5 weeks that summer due to supply issues. The axle was rebuilt with a new set of 3.31 gears (they wouldn't up sell to 3.73's, even if I paid...) but was never as quiet as factory delivered. They refused to do anything about the new deceleration only whine, but at least it was mostly fixed.
I know the car got a new set of 3.31's, a bearing set, and new fluid. While talking to the installing tech, (an old experienced fellow I knew from other visits) I asked what was wrong with the axle and he mentioned the ring gear was damaged, one of the teeth were chipped/broken/ etc, he didn't really give it much attention he said. Warranty replacement straight time job, so he was interested in doing it quickly.
That is about it, like I said, not a lot of tech due to circumstances, but it is my story.
Been lots of changes and improvements since then.
Thanks for sharing Darren. I wouldn't feel too bad about the stealership thing. We've all been taken advantage of at one time or another by a stealership. I know what you mean, my "Ford Racing" complete rear end with the 3.73s was noisier than the factory 3.55 rear end from day 1.
Up until I read this thread, I really had no idea how weak the stock driveshaft was. I knew it weighed 40+lbs, so I figured all that mass made it strong. To think you can twist the driveshaft that easily, on a stock car, makes my next rear tire choice easier, no drag radials. I'll live with the spinning until I can upgrade the driveshaft, but now it seems like the rear is suspect too! I'm surprised there aren't more driveshaft complaints here. The ratio of 2nd gear grind to driveshaft issue posts is like 1000:1. With how many people have gone to the track on drag radials, I'm surprised more haven't broken their driveshaft. The only other post I remember vividly is someone in Sweden twisted theirs, and the picture looked just like the above.
My guess is that there are lots of people who drag race these cars but don't belong to forums. And there are perhaps people that just don't post their experiences for one reason or another. So there's a wealth of knowledge that we'll never see. As far as the 1-2 grind, there seems to be a post once per week. I have the problem too, but as long as I slow down my shifts, it doesn't seem to be an issue.
I can't believe for the money ford charged they put that junk DS in these cars until 2013
Exactly how I see it as well.
And I can't believe that after a two year run they abandoned the CF shaft.
I knew mine was a weak link, I just couldn't make myself trust anything with a steady bearing in the middle. So I sacrificed my launches to keep the thing alive for over 74 successful drag passes. I would run a DR, either a MT or 555R, and launch at 4400 RPM, slipping the clutch, while feeding the throttle in. This would generally net a 1.7 60' time, from there depending on DA I would run, 11.6-11.22 and trap from 125-132 MPH.
That was with 3.31's, Stock exhaust, TVS @ 17 psi, CJ 65mm TB and a nearly maxed out JLT 110mm CAI.
I haven't been back to the track since doing 3.73's LT's, 3" off exhaust, and a Lund tune.
That was with 3.31's, Stock exhaust, TVS @ 17 psi, CJ 65mm TB and a nearly maxed out JLT 110mm CAI.
I haven't been back to the track since doing 3.73's LT's, 3" off exhaust, and a Lund tune.
More Info
Here's a follow-up with some more info. First, here are some videos of the UCA (5/2014) and axle tube failing (7/2014). Was fortunate to have inside and outside camera footage on both occasions:
[video=youtube;8IsE0gjtoOE]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8IsE0gjtoOE[/video]
[video=youtube;y8PBN6P-xDE]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y8PBN6P-xDE[/video]
Also, got my hands dirty and took some pictures of the stock clutch. It held up while Bill tuned it on the dyno. But, when I took the car out for some aggressive street pulls (understandably, Bill will not beat on customer cars during test drives), the stock clutch just couldn't hold the 633 whp (Mustang dyno) on a 4,000 lb car:
While I'm documenting part failures, I'll also state that the Dynatech "Super Cats" had already showed signs of deterioration after the tuning that Bill Miller performed and my 10 minutes of aggressive street pulls. Quick side note: Dynatech only sells the Super Cats for the 2011+ GT500, so I had to custom order them to fit on my 2010. I was told by Dynatech these 4.5" high flow catalytic converters should be able the handle the near 17 psi we'd be throwing at them. But, Bill had a hunch that there'd be no way the cats would hold up. While upgrading the clutch to a McLeod, we also pulled the catted mid pipe and replaced it with an o/r mid pipe. This is what we found inside the cats:
Here's a follow-up with some more info. First, here are some videos of the UCA (5/2014) and axle tube failing (7/2014). Was fortunate to have inside and outside camera footage on both occasions:
[video=youtube;8IsE0gjtoOE]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8IsE0gjtoOE[/video]
[video=youtube;y8PBN6P-xDE]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y8PBN6P-xDE[/video]
Also, got my hands dirty and took some pictures of the stock clutch. It held up while Bill tuned it on the dyno. But, when I took the car out for some aggressive street pulls (understandably, Bill will not beat on customer cars during test drives), the stock clutch just couldn't hold the 633 whp (Mustang dyno) on a 4,000 lb car:
While I'm documenting part failures, I'll also state that the Dynatech "Super Cats" had already showed signs of deterioration after the tuning that Bill Miller performed and my 10 minutes of aggressive street pulls. Quick side note: Dynatech only sells the Super Cats for the 2011+ GT500, so I had to custom order them to fit on my 2010. I was told by Dynatech these 4.5" high flow catalytic converters should be able the handle the near 17 psi we'd be throwing at them. But, Bill had a hunch that there'd be no way the cats would hold up. While upgrading the clutch to a McLeod, we also pulled the catted mid pipe and replaced it with an o/r mid pipe. This is what we found inside the cats:
Yes I did... hadn't noticed it before today. Pretty high-pitched noise. Hmmmm.
I didn't understand why they abandoned the CF shaft either.
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