Driveshaft Support Bearing advice

[Tim]

Hey guys, I am new to the forum so I would like to introduce myself first. I am a 33yo audio equipment tech. In my spare time I am an amateur amp designer who also likes to play guitar and study music, oh and also have been known to turn some wrenches in my time 🙂 I am also known to frequent some of the more popular audio forums on the web, and now I can participate in this automotive forum, hooray for the interwebs.

So I have repaired my share of vehicles in my time and usually never break anything :whistle: Well my girlfriend has a 05′ Ford Escape AWD and was in need of new driveshaft support bearing……..I figured no problem couple of hours and I should be done. 24 hours prior to the repair I sprayed the hanger bearing nuts etc…… with PB Blaster every few hours. Well I am sure you can guess what happend next, with very little effort the stud/bolt snapped when trying to loosen the nuts. I tried the other one and it snapped like a twig also. Mind you I am not that big of a guy (120lbs), not very strong, and have chronic back issues (this morning was painful), when I say I barely turned the nut and it snapped I mean I barely turned the nut. If something feels or lookis troublesome I usually use heat but this gave me no warning. Anyway the past is in the past and I can’t change anything. My first plan of attack is to see what is above the studs before I go and start drilling and tapping. I also figured since I have been reading this forum from time to time it was a good way to become a member and get involved.

Any advice is welcome, thanks.

[url=http://imgur.com/amGZj02]
[url=http://imgur.com/wSb67gV]
[url=http://imgur.com/fy1SRuD]

Topic

[James O’Hara]

First off either you had some fantastic leverage or I am going to call you a liar on the little force part. With as much metal as is there it would have taken a decent amount of force.

Regardless, you sir are up a creek without a paddle. There is only one of two ways I can think of to fix your current predicament. One is totake some measurements write them down asto where exact center is for the studs. Then grind it flat and either drill a hole and put a bolt through it with a washer on either side. Or to weld a stud onto the bottom. Be careful when grinding that the metal doesn’t get too hot and set the carpet on fire.

The problem is you need to remove the carpet for either of these because torch + carpet = nasty fumes and fire. Drill + Carpet equals broken wrists and/or torn to hell carpet. That doesn’t even include possible wiring and other hidden treasures that might be there. You also are probably going to have to remove a seat if not for convenience alone but, more then likely to gain access. If you do put bolts through grade 8 or better for standard 10.9 or better for metric. All metal locking nuts not nylocks. Stainless bolts, washers, and nuts. Also use anti sieze. If you decide to go the bolt route prob the best for a DIY guy you will need someone strong to hold the head on the inside wile you tighten the one on the outside.

Do yourself a favor don’t try to fix your gf/wifes car. It is only asking for trouble because you get the blame if anything goes wrong and even if it goes right you have to fix more things she does not like. It also prevents them from thinking I fought with him did he cut my brakes, etc. I am not saying don’t work on your car or your friends car just avoid the gf/wife if you can help it.

[Tim]

[quote=”MDK22″ post=124999]First off either you had some fantastic leverage or I am going to call you a liar on the little force part.[/quote]

Half inch wratchet, my father was there and watched me.

[quote=”MDK22″ post=124999]Regardless, you sir are up a creek without a paddle.[/quote]

Oh I know.

[quote=”MDK22″ post=124999]The problem is you need to remove the carpet for either of these because torch + carpet = nasty fumes and fire. Drill + Carpet equals broken wrists and/or torn to hell carpet. That doesn’t even include possible wiring and other hidden treasures that might be there. You also are probably going to have to remove a seat if not for convenience alone but, more then likely to gain access. If you do put bolts through grade 8 or better for standard 10.9 or better for metric. All metal locking nuts not nylocks. Stainless bolts, washers, and nuts. Also use anti sieze. If you decide to go the bolt route prob the best for a DIY guy you will need someone strong to hold the head on the inside wile you tighten the one on the outside.[/quote]

Good advice, thanks. I am not too sure if there is carpeting directly above them or not. There seems to be a plate that the “head” of the studs are welded to that might not be the actual floor.

[quote=”MDK22″ post=124999]Do yourself a favor don’t try to fix your gf/wifes car. It is only asking for trouble because you get the blame if anything goes wrong and even if it goes right you have to fix more things she does not like. It also prevents them from thinking I fought with him did he cut my brakes, etc. I am not saying don’t work on your car or your friends car just avoid the gf/wife if you can help it.[/quote]

She is cool with it, and completely understands. I have never had a problem like this. You can see from the pictures that where the studs go through the bearing housing there is a section in the front that is cut out. This is a great place for water to get in and corrode the stud. Engineered failure, thanks Ford. If corrosion wasn’t the cause then they nuts were over tourqued stretching the studs from the factory causing them to break so easily.

What a nightmare.

[Lorrin Barth]

It looks like there are still some threads there. I’ve seen nuts with extended threads out the bottom made for holding plastic panels in place. Otherwise maybe grind flush and drill out for dropping a bolt from above. Finally, it looks like their might be enough body metal to allow tack welding the bracket in place. If you ever had to remove it again grinding out a couple of small welds would not be that much work.

[zero]

So, ya broke them both? *facepalm*

Protip: if the first one brakes, don’t remove the second one until you’ve figured out how to get the first one out. It will also keep you from getting to the completely screwed category by stopping at mildly boned.

You’re going to have to remove the driveshaft and use some combination of drills and extractors. As someone else stated some of the bolt extractors don’t need a whole lot to grab onto and might be worth a try first.

On the upside you can simply replace the bearing and not the whole driveshaft.

[Rudy R]

The post above is spam.

And I wonder if the OP ever got the busted bolt resolved…been there, done that with my ancient 1997 CR-V. The rust belt is not kind to our cars.

[Author]

Replies