Is Ford serious? TSB requires transfer case and driveshaft replacement?

[masospaghetti]

I just came across TSB 96-24-16 which says

Some 5.0L Explorers and Mountaineers may experience a vibration in the floor pan at Wide Open Throttle (WOT) and/or at highway speeds of 113+ km/h (70+ mph) due to the design of the driveshaft.

Action:
Replace the front driveshaft and transfer case. The revised driveshaft has a plunging CV joint and the transfer case has been redesigned to accept the revised driveshaft.

What I gather from this: The double-cardan style front shaft causes vibrations, and there's no way to fix it..??

Good thing I just wasted $600 on a new front double-cardan shaft and rebuilt transfer case...

 

[bill06447]

"Some", and "may" doesn't mean "yours". Either way it's been 17+ years, rust and wear has pretty much rebalanced the parts in our trucks, other parts have worn which will cause their own vibrations so it's basically a moot point.

Bill

 

[traveler]

Well that explains why there are only three U-joints under my truck. I kept asking the genius at O'Reillys for the CV joint for the front shaft and he kept telling me it didn't have one, it had 2 U-joints.

I am curious now however... how many explorers actually got the updated T-case and front shaft?

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[SoNic67]

That TSB is only for '96 Explorer and '97 Mountaineer that where covered by 'bumper to bumper' warranty.
A 2000 like yours should have the upgraded shaft already.

 

[traveler]

LoL so the 18 year old genius at O'Reillys was looking at the wrong year explorer. Thanks for the update. When I do replace the tired u-joints next month, should I worry about the CV joint as well?

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[masospaghetti]

I think the CV is good as long as the boot doesn't rip, and then it needs to be rebuilt.

Sometime in model year 1997 they switched from a double-cardan joint to a CV-style joint, so yours has the CV.

 

[traveler]

Ok. Thanks a bunch. Turdle and I are planning on spending a day in January replacing u-joints... good info to have.

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