EdB

Any idea what may have done this to my driveshaft ? 2016 XLT, Std. Cab with 9k on it. I have always complained of shimmy / vibration, however several months back i had to have fuel pressure switch on fuel tank replaced. Approx. 2 -3 days after picking truck up i drove back by dealership and told the service manager, QUOTE: " i may be crazy but this truck vibrates worse than ever. Did mechanic index the driveshaft and re-install in same position"? His remark was " if driveshaft is balanced it doesn't matter". However i have just dealt with the vibration that apparently is just in my head, and never really looked under truck anymore till other day when vibration led me to rechecking the driveline angles again. This is what i found. I know for a fact it wasn't there prior to that visit. I had been checking pinion angles etc.... and have pictures. Also i am only one driving this truck and have never noticed any noise at all or no noise other than wind. Truck is garage kept and other than a few times has never been driven in rain or on a wet road.

Is there anyway that this could have been done while dropping the fuel tank ? And if so how ?

UPDATE: Added different pictures.

From these pictures it appears the tank strap is what caused this damage. The RED circle on driveshaft seems to match the tank strap which you can see in picture behind driveshaft. The RED circle on tank strap appears to show a ground / rounded area. Not shown in this picture but in another shows similar ground area slightly higher on strap on the other outer lip of strap. Once i get back home i will crawl under truck to evaluate the strap better. Beings all the pictures i have were taken day before i took truck to have them re-check for vibration and driveshaft damage. Which i was told they ran test on truck and everything is in tolerance and as far as driveshaft it could be from a plastic bag or something.

bubbabud

Something was rubbing on the shaft while it was turning, a piece of road debris or large weed. shaft does not appear to be damaged just polished I doubt the shop had anything to do with it. If you suspect damage have it re balanced.

EdB

Thanks for the reply bubbabud. However it appears to have been made with something harder than the aluminum shaft. If you look at this picture you will see that it is actually grooved. This truck has never been off pavement or concrete..... or at least not to my knowledge. You can see and feel the slight depressions in shaft. Seems more of something ground into the metal.

Matt Bushore

Without commenting on the rub marks, your driveshaft should have been installed so that yellow dots on the flangles of the shaft and on the pinion flange line up.

Your service manager is incorrect that installation position doesn't matter.

Also, almost based entirely on the fact that you've complained about vibration, you should ask them if they're aware of this SSM, and if they've followed the procedure to check for damage or alignment. If not, find a new dealer.

Very disappointed when dealers won't even pull up a VIN in OASIS and use the system to diagnosis customer problems.

SSM 46075 - 2015-2016 - F-150 - Vibration On Acceleration Or Cruise - Inspect For Proper Driveshaft Installation
Some 2015-2016 F-150 vehicles may exhibit a vibration on acceleration or cruisethat is originating from the driveshaft and/or rear axle. During preliminary inspection look for visible driveshaft damage, alignment of the axle pinion flangeto driveshaft flange yellow dots, and that the rear driveshaft flange sits flaton the axle pinion flange. If no issues are found, refer to workshop manual section 205-01 to continue with driveshaft diagnosis and testing.

APPLICABLE VEHICLES
2015 - 2016 TRUCK: FC P552 F150

EdB

Thanks for the info Matt.

I am out of town today and don't have truck, but after sharing some other pictures with a friend / mechanic, he thinks tank strap did it. I have another picture that has strap in back ground ( not 100% focused on strap ) and it appears to have a ground slight round section section on ridge of strap. He thinks tank dropped from not having strap secured while test driving after replacing pressure switch on tank. Again this is speculation but from one picture i have on phone it looks like this may be the culprit.

I am hoping they didn't change strap other day when i took it to them complaining of harmonic type vibration that was worse since the repair on pressure switch and damaged drive shaft. This picture was taken day before taking it to them.

I will try and upload picture later today.

EdB

I have added new pictures to original post.