When the drive shaft breaks, the power from the engine can no longer reach the wheels, resulting in a loss of propulsion. Your vehicle may suddenly lose speed and become difficult to accelerate, making it challenging to maintain control.
For example, common causes of faults include worn or insufficiently lubricated universal joints (u-joints), bad rubber bearings, and a loose shaft. If the joints fail to support the shaft, you may hear it scraping along the road beneath you. Other issues may include a badly damaged tube or a faulty slip yoke.
Is There a Set Lifespan? Because of the wide variety of drive shafts that exist, there is no average life expectancy that you can refer to for them. However, you can obtain a rough estimate for personal vehicles' drive shafts, which is about 75,000 miles.
With the engine in front and the vehicle being a front-wheel drive, the power from the engine doesn't need to be transmitted very far – but it still needs to be transmitted. This is where drive shafts come in.
6 Bad Driveshaft Symptoms - What are the signs of a bad drive shaft?
Can you drive with a bad front drive shaft?
Driving with a broken drive shaft poses significant risks. The loss of control can make it challenging to navigate traffic or sudden road obstacles, increasing the likelihood of accidents or collisions. It's essential to prioritise safety and take appropriate precautions when faced with a broken drive shaft.
If there is a clunking noise in any of these scenarios, it can mean your driveshaft has a problem and has to be inspected promptly. This is a common sign of a slip yoke.
Replacing a drive shaft can be an expensive repair, so it's important to take care of any existing issues before they become more serious. Repairing a drive shaft is not a difficult task, but it does require some skill and the right tools. Make sure to do your research and be prepared before tackling a repair.
Changing a drive shaft is actually a simple task that a home mechanic can undertake without too much trepidation. It's just a case of being thorough, being safe, and of course having your trusty Haynes Manual to hand.
If you just have to replace it, that would be anywhere from $500 to $1000. However, you can also expect the cost of the parts to be around half that number and the labor costs around $200. So even for a simple repair, you can end up with around $1500-$1700 invested in the Drive Shaft Repair process.
The U-shaped metal bracket has a solid rubber machined bearing inside. It's used to keep both driveshaft parts solid to reduce the harmonic vibration during acceleration. Faulty center support bearings can make squealing or howling noises that may quiet as speed is increased.
A loose U-joint or a bad centre bearing inside the driveshaft can cause hesitant acceleration. You may also hear sounds when the car is shaking due to the worn U-joint.
Some of the most common causes of vibrations in the driveline are slip splines or U-joints being worn, components that are out of balance, misaligned angles or out of phase yokes, getting close to the critical speed range, or yoke ears that are not coordinated with the splines.
The most obvious symptom of a bad driveshaft is when you have trouble with turning your vehicle. Your wheels won't receive the proper amount of torque due to a U-joint issue at the end of the driveshaft, so making turns will be very difficult as a result of the additional resistance.
Driveshaft problems can cause various symptoms, such as vibration, noise, and loss of power. Here are some common driveshaft problems: Bent or damaged driveshaft: A bent or damaged driveshaft can cause vibration and noise, especially at high speeds.
If the propeller shaft is bad, don't drive the car unless the bad shaft is fixed or replaced. It's that simple. If you let it go it could damage other parts of the drive line or vehicle. If it is damaged enough you will not be able to drive it anywhere.
A drive shaft can snap or the splines can shear off, or you may even bend one if you hit something particularly unforgiving. Here are symptoms of a failing drive shaft: Juddering – especially when you're accelerating. Vibration – through the steering wheel or seats.
The shaft itself should easily outlast the vehicle. The connection points called U-joints at either end can become damaged and in the very long term become worn, but typically still last the life of the average vehicle without requiring replacement, generally over 200K miles.
A bad u-joint can cause a clunking sound or jerkiness while driving, particularly when letting off of and pressing the accelerator. A bad u-joint can also cause vibration at certain speeds, emanating from the center or rear of the vehicle. If a u-joint is excessively worn, there's an easy test you can perform.
A driveshaft that is too long either could not be installed, or it would bind and cause damage. The front of the driveshaft is made to slide back and forth where it joins the transmission. That allows for movement of the suspension and for small variations in manufacturing.
If it's a used driveshaft that is causing the vibration, sometimes an easy fix is to rotate the driveshaft 180 degrees in the differential yoke. This may help improve the balance. Of course, the universal joints and the driveshaft itself need to be closely inspected, looking for any wear or collision damage.
If you have a four-wheel-drive vehicle with a complete front axle (not stub axles from a transaxle) driven by a front propeller shaft (driveshaft) from the transfer case, you can freely drive that vehicle without any front propeller shaft.
