BUG OUT VEHICLE

[pkveazey]

Oh, no!! I have a large SUV, V8, 4WD and this morning the damned thing dropped a drive shaft. I've heard of people dropping a drive shaft, but I'd never seen it happen. Thank goodness I was in my driveway. I knew there was a problem, but I didn't know what was causing a vibration. I was turning the SUV around in my driveway so it would be facing out when all of a sudden, I got nothing. I drove my car up to a mechanic friends' business and told him what happened, and he told me to bring it in and he could fix it. Then I went to towing buddy's business and paid them a reasonable towing fee to pick it up and drop it at my mechanic friend's shop. I grabbed some guy wire cable out of my shed and lifted the drive shaft up so the towing guy would be able to haul it onto a rollback truck. While I was under there, I noticed that I need to have both Swingarms are rusted out and I'll have them replaced while it's in the shop. Hmmm.... He said he would be here after lunch but its 2PM and so far, no show. Well, it ain't going no place until he comes anyway.

[pkveazey]

Oops... What I was calling Swingarms turned out to be Lateral Braces. The towing guy showed up and then my mechanic guy called to tell me the sad news about what it was going to cost me. Anyway, I drove up to his shop and fronted him the money for the parts and gave him $200 towards the labor. After he got a chance to look at the problem, he told me that both lateral braces broke and that's when everything shifted backwards and the drive shaft fell out of the transmission.

[JohnyMac]

OUCH! 

I dropped a drive shaft in my '09 F-150 about 2-years after I purchased the truck. I was lucky, Ford paid for everything INCLUDING a rental.

Good luck Brother.

[Jackalope]

   Good illustration of the importance of maintenance.  I'm surprised you had that much corrosion from a southern vehicle.  When I took one of my vehicles in for some brake work, the mechanic asked me if the vehicle was originally from up north (which it was), due to the corrosion on the parts.

[Nemo]

I had a 98 Explorer and was towing a camper to Ft. Myer, FL, about 20 years ago.  It was a 5 liter V-8, full time all wheel drive.  Plenty of power and all.  Very pleased with that Red Rider.  (yes I name things)

About 100 miles out I started to get an unusual vibration in the front axle, lower engine, wheel bearings or some issue.  Got to the campground and off to a dealer the next day for a checking.   Needless to say, I was at least a bit worried.

It was diagnosed as a universal joint on the front drive shaft had crapped out and about $500 to repair.  I asked the mechanic about leaving it off and just driving it without the front wheels powered.  He said no problem. 

I drive around SFL and all the back to VA with 2 wheels pushing.  Got back, got the parts and repaired it myself for about $100. 

I do kinda like fords since then.

[pkveazey]

Nemo: I had the front wheel drive U-Joint replaced a few years ago. I noticed a vibration as well. That was the 2nd thing I checked after checking the rear-wheel-drive shaft U-Joints. I couldn't find any issues with the U-Joints and never considered that the Lateral Braces could be the problem until the drive shaft dropped out.