Front Drive Shaft (4406) question

[Turdle]

That's interesting if the CV joints are strong enough.

Mine not yet used, is also a DC front shaft I had made. I've looked at the front angles many times and wondered if the TC output shaft is parallel with the front pinion shaft. The angle of the two shaft is the biggest key for eliminating drive shaft vibrations. I would first try to adjust those to be parallel. The front diff, those all have three bushings in their mounts, and at this age many of them are wearing out. I think my rear one in the bracket is worn on my 98, I ordered four of the front ones, those are identical. The rear only comes with the bracket, which is a too much $190 price.

The trans mount on the cross member is a weak link with the BW4406 installed, that may be a big source of change of the output shaft angle.

Don, I am pretty sure the 3 bushings are the same, but pressing the old one out and new one into the bracket is difficult.

try prying the mount with a bar. If that rear mount ( torque bracket) moves away from the frame at all, the bushing is worn. This was the issue causing my transfer case to pop into neutral when stressed in 4wd.
I tried 3 different front diffs, and even another transfer case to fix it. The mistake was using the same torque bracket on the trial diffs. Once I changed that, 4wd works well.

 

[Anticitizen1]

I'm going to check my transmission mount as a precautionary measure, is there a heavier duty transmission mount that works for a non-lifted application or are we pretty much stuck with OEM equipment?

 

[CDW6212R]

Thanks Jon, seeing your thread, and the video of it, made me look at my mount when I changed the oil last. That's what made me check the bushings and order them. I hope to get there today, my parts guy called me yesterday to let me know they're here. If they are the same bushings, that's great because the front two were reasonable, low teens I recall. I've got a bunch of things to see my favorite machine shop about, this is another reason to go.

I'm also not thrilled with my front brakes(pads) on my new mail route. This new route is much tougher on brakes, tires etc, plus the steering. The front brakes are only lasting about six months which may be fine for some people, but I want to not be worrying about too much, too often. I need to get on doing a new custom front caliper bracket, I have a bigass caliper(pads are huge) to use. The PS fluid is nasty and a recent whining tells me it needs cooling, and more capacity(an extra cooler, and a filter).

Keep at it guys, I'm outside yanking my 99's rear brakes, axles, LS clutches, gas tank, front suspension, trans, valvetrain, this week.

 

[ahodges]

Is the length on that shaft useable with the factory slip yoke? I may try this to see if it helps my cause. It sounds like nobody has flat out broken a shaft or ujoint as a result yet, so worst case scenario if I cannot resolve the vibration I may just take the lesser of two evil shafts and then dynamat or equivalent insulate the snot out of the floorboards to at least lessen the annoyance of the resonant vibration. From a mechanical point of view however, the little voice in the back of my head doesn't let me just pretend it's not there haha.

Yes, you can use it at the factory length.

The only heavy duty trans mount I know of is what Tim used and that is a poly mount made for the mustangs. He had to modify his transmission cross member to make room for the mount. I'm still running a factory mount (new when I did the swap).

 

[SWIGIN]

I'd like to know if the early Mustang poly mount would be closer to fitting an EX.

Thread I had on the subject
http://www.explorerforum.com/forums/index.php?threads/poly-tranny-mount-for-5-0.427816/#post-3423868

That early mount is much lower like the EX needs and should fit with less mods to the cross member....but who knows.

 

[MAS Tequila]

The studs are centered on the Mustang mount.

The Ex mount studs are offset.

So either way you have to modify the crossmember.

 

[SWIGIN]

But if the height is closer that would be better right?

 

[vroomzoomboom]

I'd like to know if the early Mustang poly mount would be closer to fitting an EX.

Thread I had on the subject
http://www.explorerforum.com/forums/index.php?threads/poly-tranny-mount-for-5-0.427816/#post-3423868

That early mount is much lower like the EX needs and should fit with less mods to the cross member....but who knows.

use the 79-93 fox mustang mount. not sure if auto or manual are differnt, but for what its worth, i used a auto mount. you will need to modify your cross member however. there is no way around it. the mustang mount is trailer

.http://www.explorerforum.com/forums...98-explorer-sport.234672/page-16#post-2893889

tonight i did a little more stuff. i was warned that hanging that 4406 off the back of the trans will eat the mount in a matter of time. i now have about 300 kms on it, in the last 2 weeks that i have put the v8 in it, and noticed more and more a thump when it shifted gears (once again, those are not granny driven miles either, and it 4x4 because it just swings and spins even at the slightest amount of throttle in 2wd at the moment).
figured the mount was gone already.

i would say so!

i had got a mustang trans mount, just to see if it would fit, it would but would have to do some mods to the cross member. i then ordered a energy suspension poly mount for a 93 mustang 5L with a auto trans. where it bolts into the trans is the same, and thats where everything ends. it is a lot higher, and the bolt span going into the cross member is narrower.

grabbed the handy sawzall (cause i forgot my grinder at home) and went to town.

i think i cut about 1 1/4 out of the cross member, then put a 1/4 plate into the hole i cut. mounted it up, and tacked it into place then welded it off the truck (yes, i know its not the best cutting job, but hey, it got the job done!)
my buddy also gave me a neat little trick that i didnt know about. before i welded it, i marked where i had to drill it. well, that burnt away. he had a jar of never seize with a brush. he told me to brush some on the bottom of the mount, bolt it to the trans, put the cross member in, then lower the trans, mount and all onto it. worked great. paint will dry to fast to make a foot print with, and if you for what ever reason screw up, you can wipe this stuff off, and start again.

the bolts are a tad close to the front of the cross member, but i hope that wont matter. took it for a scream, no clunk or thud anymore when shifting. i can now cross that off the list!

 

[SWIGIN]

I'm all for modding the cross member to make a Mustang mount work BUT why wouldn't a lower or thinner mount be better?

Even in that thread you linked you show how much you had to hack out of the cross member to make the newer mount fit. The earlier mount will bolt up to the tranny just like the one you used but it is closer to the correct height.

I guess I'll have to try it when I need one.

EDIT.... Yes, auto and manual Mustang mounts are the same.

 

[Anticitizen1]

Much appreciated! I may in fact end up using your method to integrate a new modified crossmember. As for my vibration, I had marked the diff side 1 and 2, and the T-Case side 1-2-3-4. I have started incrementally clocking the driveshaft 90 degrees at a time, starting by flipping the diff side 1 to 2. The resonant vibration is changing! Some spots yield far less vibration, so I am in the process of trying all 8 positions to find the one with the best yield. I also inspected my trans mount, and it looks pretty wiped to me. I am going to replace it with just a stocker to bring everything back into proper alignment while working up a higher performance one for later. I think I'll also have my tires balanced, because who knows. Thanks guys!

 

[ahodges]

So The Drive Shaft Shop can't do front drive shafts for 4wd yet. They said it is in the development stages but they currently can't do it. Plan D..

 

[Turdle]

I'm all for modding the cross member to make a Mustang mount work BUT why wouldn't a lower or thinner mount be better?

Even in that thread you linked you show how much you had to hack out of the cross member to make the newer mount fit. The earlier mount will bolt up to the tranny just like the one you used but it is closer to the correct height.

I guess I'll have to try it when I need one.

EDIT.... Yes, auto and manual Mustang mounts are the same.

I wonder if it is just a matter of new holes in the crossmember, or, increasing the oval size of existing holes. There is some "wiggle room" already. Wish i had one in hand.

 

[SWIGIN]

I wonder if it is just a matter of new holes in the crossmember, or, increasing the oval size of existing holes. There is some "wiggle room" already. Wish i had one in hand.

Exactly! I'm thinking the early mount has to be thee way to go.

 

[vroomzoomboom]

I'm all for modding the cross member to make a Mustang mount work BUT why wouldn't a lower or thinner mount be better?

Even in that thread you linked you show how much you had to hack out of the cross member to make the newer mount fit. The earlier mount will bolt up to the tranny just like the one you used but it is closer to the correct height.

I guess I'll have to try it when I need one.

EDIT.... Yes, auto and manual Mustang mounts are the same.

there are tons of different ways you could make a mount. thats just the way i did mine. buddy let me use his lift for a couple of hours, and that was all i had (it was winter when i did it, like -40C winter) and it kinda got forgotten about. it works, so i left it. if i really wanted to go all in with it, i would take it off, take it to someone with a pipe bender an make a real nice one.
what earlier mount are you talking about? one from a first gen?
i also did a poly mount because when i did the swap, some guys had said that the weight of a 4406 was destroying the factory mount by twisting it, and shifting over to the passenger side of the truck. at the time i knew it would be shifting very hard because the trans that was in it had a transgo stage 2 shift kit in it, and would bark the tires going into second gear. the set up i have now, if i want and king of traction in first when i floor it, i need to be in 4x4. and even then, i can hear the tires screech on dry pavement.

 

[SWIGIN]

there are tons of different ways you could make a mount. thats just the way i did mine. buddy let me use his lift for a couple of hours, and that was all i had (it was winter when i did it, like -40C winter) and it kinda got forgotten about. it works, so i left it. if i really wanted to go all in with it, i would take it off, take it to someone with a pipe bender an make a real nice one.
what earlier mount are you talking about? one from a first gen?
i also did a poly mount because when i did the swap, some guys had said that the weight of a 4406 was destroying the factory mount by twisting it, and shifting over to the passenger side of the truck. at the time i knew it would be shifting very hard because the trans that was in it had a transgo stage 2 shift kit in it, and would bark the tires going into second gear. the set up i have now, if i want and king of traction in first when i floor it, i need to be in 4x4. and even then, i can hear the tires screech on dry pavement.

I was just asking a simple question as to why I see guys using 79-98 Mustang mounts when the early mounts are more the correct size...that's all.

Of course anything can be made to work but in your one post you said ''use the 79-93 fox mount'' which is really 79-98 so that's why I asked why.

I posted a link that shows the early mount and the mount you used.

 

[vroomzoomboom]

oh, thats what you ment by early mount. thinking about it, the first foxbodys had c4 autos in them. that is a old trans going back to who knows when. so if you think about it, anything that came with a c4 should work then, as well as aod, and 4r70's. didnt know the older ones were thinner. i for some reason got mounts and cross members all screwed up. cant say for sure if the older ones are as tall as the stock explorer mount. they only way to find out is to grab one and find out i guess

 

[SWIGIN]

Ford really didn't change tranny mounts much in 50 years for the most part. The tranny mount in my 79 Bronco which is a C6 is the same as the 79-98 Mustang mount.

If the early mounts are thinner then an EX mount that would be great since no cross member mods are needed and a simple spacer plate can be used to adapt it to the cross member.

To any one who reads this thread, If you would, please measure the height of a new unused rubber EX tranny mount and lets get this solved.

If someone gets us the stock new mount measurements I'll go get an early poly mount and we can compare.

 

[Anticitizen1]

Ford really didn't change tranny mounts much in 50 years for the most part. The tranny mount in my 79 Bronco which is a C6 is the same as the 79-98 Mustang mount.

If the early mounts are thinner then an EX mount that would be great since no cross member mods are needed and a simple spacer plate can be used to adapt it to the cross member.

To any one who reads this thread, If you would, please measure the height of a new unused rubber EX tranny mount and lets get this solved.

If someone gets us the stock new mount measurements I'll go get an early poly mount and we can compare.

I'm going to buy and install and brand new rubber OEM style trans mount this weekend, I'll grab a couple measurements and post for you guys to take a gander at.

 

[SWIGIN]

Sweet!

Maybe post a few straight on pics too.

 

[delexploder]

Also look at turdles idea , two skidplates and some spacers and a rubber bushing , i used a rubber freeze plug , and use all this to make a crossmember / mount to hold up the 4406