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Old 08-23-2017, 02:49 PM   #1
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Drive line clink & clank

My driveline started to make noise this weekend on my trip to Oregon. It clinks, clanks, and roars at 60. Trying to figure out if forest river covers the warranty or Ford.
Jim
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Old 08-23-2017, 02:54 PM   #2
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That should be Fords.
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Old 08-23-2017, 03:02 PM   #3
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Ford for chassis

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Old 08-23-2017, 03:28 PM   #4
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I called a Ford truck dealer and he said sometimes on the long wheelbase RV's the RV companies use aftermarket drivelines.
Jim
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Old 08-23-2017, 03:53 PM   #5
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My understanding is a company that does Ford approved frame stretching. Now that could be Ford sourced parts but not done by Ford. So I would call FR to find out.
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Old 08-23-2017, 04:23 PM   #6
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Driveline problem

You might remember that production using the 2016 chassis was delayed for a while because the early 6-speed developed vibration problems due to problems with the drive shaft mounting angle, if memory serves me correctly.

Is your MH a 2016 chassis or 2015?
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Old 08-23-2017, 04:32 PM   #7
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Yours has two carrier supports, correct? If you can, see if one may be bad.
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Old 08-23-2017, 04:46 PM   #8
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Quote:
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My driveline started to make noise this weekend on my trip to Oregon. It clinks, clanks, and roars at 60. Trying to figure out if forest river covers the warranty or Ford.
Jim
I would think it would be Ford unless Forest River modified the driveline.
If modified, I'd be wondering too.
Make sure nothing has wrapped around your drive shaft.
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Old 08-23-2017, 05:29 PM   #9
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First check would be to see if something is loose at carrier bearing or U-joints.

A simple trip under to twist and shake might reveal the problem.
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Old 08-23-2017, 06:50 PM   #10
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You might remember that production using the 2016 chassis was delayed for a while because the early 6-speed developed vibration problems due to problems with the drive shaft mounting angle, if memory serves me correctly.

Is your MH a 2016 chassis or 2015?
Mine was one of the first 2016 units with the 6 speed trans and was delayed 4 weeks to be delivered so that they could repair the vibration. All was fine until now. I'm waiting to hear back from dealer to verify who gets to repair.
Jim
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Old 08-23-2017, 06:51 PM   #11
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First check would be to see if something is loose at carrier bearing or U-joints.

A simple trip under to twist and shake might reveal the problem.

I looked...everything feels tight.
Jim
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Old 08-23-2017, 07:01 PM   #12
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I was hoping one of the F.R. reps would chime in and let me know.
Jim
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Old 08-23-2017, 07:08 PM   #13
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I looked...everything feels tight.
Jim

Just tossing this out for discussion but with multi-piece drivelines a common cause of vibration is mis aligned/mis-timed U-joints. Sometimes a drrive-shaft gets pulled out of a splined coupler and when re-inserted it's a spline or two oiff. This puts the U-Joints out of time. Each joint goes through a varying rate of movement as it turns while the input and output yokes are at an angle. The u-joint at the other end of the shaft works 180 degrees out of phase, when the joint at one end is in it's 'acceleration" mode, the opposite is supposed to be in an equal "deceleration" node and that's provided the input shaft is at the same angle as the output shaft. An exception to this is if a CV (constant velocity) joint is used which is just a pair of u-joints in a single assembly.

As fro the mis aligned splines, some manufacturer's prevent this by using sleeves with a "Blind Spline" so it's not possible to put it together wrong. Others don't and there you have to look at both ends to see that the ends of the bearing cups are aligned, each end to the other. If one end has a cap at 12 O'Clock, the other end should have a cap in the same position.

Sometimes vibration occurs when the differential is either displaced by excessive load or it has rotated due to how the springs flex. Both change "Pinion Angle" and result in vibration.

Hopefully your Dealer will get the issue handled with either the chassis manufacturer or conversion company. These can be mind-boggling. I spent three days with a large manufacturer trying to solve a similar problem at their huge research facility. That was during the Manufacturer's Rep phase of my career. We built all the equipment that checked the angles.
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Old 08-23-2017, 08:52 PM   #14
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Drive line clink & clank

Just for giggles...was the vehicle in neutral(and scotched) when you checked the shaft?

Any grease spun out anywhere? Backing plates? Pinion shaft? Inspection cover?
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Old 08-24-2017, 01:24 AM   #15
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The rear driveshaft is weighted on the inside. Maybe the weight has come loose. My 2017 3011ds had bad vibration. Took to dealer and they found the service bulletin for it. But the dealer rep said to contact the rv manufacturer due to the fact that they strretched the frame and ford was not responsible for it. Talked to FR rep and he told me that their was a vibration issue with new trans and they tried to catch them all before they went out the door. FR rep told me the front drive shaft is theirs and the rest are from Ford when chassis was built. They sent all new drivshafts to my Ford dealer to replace and reimbursed me for the labor. RV still has slight rumble but nothing near what it was.
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Old 08-24-2017, 09:22 AM   #16
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I thought only the rear sections behind the axle were stretched.
Forest River stretches the frame between axles also?
I don't think I would ever purchase a rig as such.

As for the drive shaft alignment- it is called "phasing". U joints must be aligned or "phased" correclty.

When checking for looseness- I would put it in neutral (have someone on the brake inside). check each joint. Also- start it up and put in forward and reverse several times while watching the shaft. (with the brake on of course)
Carrier bearings can nad will wear out also- can cause some vibrations and clunking.
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Old 08-24-2017, 09:28 AM   #17
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Mine was one of the first 2016 units with the 6 speed trans and was delayed 4 weeks to be delivered so that they could repair the vibration. All was fine until now. I'm waiting to hear back from dealer to verify who gets to repair.
Jim
VW,

Have you had a chance to run yours up to about 75 since you've been driving it? I had an alignment guy ask if there was an issue with my driveshaft and I told him that the 2016's did have a driveshaft balancing issue that was supposedly fixed. He said that it vibrates badly at 75 but not too noticeable below. I told him that I typically drive 60-70 depending on if I'm towing or not and have not felt anything. He said that even though you can't feel it, there is still a vibration and over time will start to prematurely wear some of the drive line components. Sure enough when I did run it up to 75 it did vibrate badly. FR did say I could have the driveshaft re-balanced and they would pick it up but I've had it in the shop or in front of my house for repairs so often that I just have not had time to get it checked out.
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Old 08-24-2017, 10:38 AM   #18
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Back in the day.... put an all stainless hose clamp(s) around shaft. Drive to see worse/better. Move/add clamps as required(or add weights under clamp)....of course assuming you are fixing. We still have a drive shaft place here....maybe you do too. They can check and balance shafts.
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Old 08-24-2017, 12:00 PM   #19
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This was the first trip without a toad. I was running 65 - 75 most of the time. NO issues at that speed (or below). It's just at 58 - 62 mph. It's not a vibration...it clinks and clanks under no or light load, then goes away at higher speed.
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Old 08-24-2017, 02:42 PM   #20
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...just heard back from my selling dealer and FR warranty. This is something FR will repair.
Jim
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