Big Time shudder at low speed/low pedal

[stooper]

i use an impact hammer with chisel bit to turn the bolt head.
sounds like front shaft issue, i have seen many bad cardans.
must keep it lubed.

[DamageWagon]

So I took another tranny guy for a ride and he really thinks it's the front drive shaft. Im in the process of pulling it but the. problem is one of the T40 bolts to the front axle flange is stripped....my luck isn't the best lately. Anyone have any ideas how to get it out? It was really on there tight before it stripped...I even heated it up with a torch and PB blaster!

Yep, torch and PB Blaster. Don’t fry the pinion seal! You can take the other bolts out and then remove the driveshaft, then that should expose what’s left of the bolt assuming it didn’t break at the bore. You can weld a nut on it or use an EZ Out.

I started a thread on DTX, I bought a big bag of Class 10.9 hex head bolts to replace those Torx fasteners from the front driveshaft because they break all the time. If you want a set PM me

[hemihead2]

Ugh! So I torched two bolt heads off and removed the front driveshaft...the symptoms are the same if not worse!! I rordered (and prepaid) new bolts already before I read your offer Damage- sorry. I would have gladly bought yours instead.

I truly hope this doesn't happen to anyone else, it's beyond frustrating....So I talked to the second tranny guy and he said that a converter shudder is not my problem, that occurs at higher speeds than where mine is happening.... I'm back to square one again I guess

[DamageWagon]

I don’t make money off em. $6 I’ll ship you a set of hex heads so you don’t have to screw with torx bolts that shear off again.

Bummer! Might be time to pull the transfer case and check the input bearings. If your symptoms are same or worse with front shaft off, it might be right at the breaking point. Probably best to park it and figure it out. If you’re savvy you can probably drop the transfer case and trans yourself and at least dig around. You don’t need to build it yourself but if you separate the two you should be able to start seeing things like output shaft and bearings.

[hemihead2]

Well, back to the shop today. Wish me luck. I pricing transfer cases just as a precaution. What would you do if needed? Rebuild the original one, buy remanned? Buy new? Thanks all.

[DamageWagon]

If it’s the transfer case you could even buy a junkyard one. They’re very stout cases, the same one is used up to the 5500 trucks and is shared with modifications by Ford. If that’s not cost-effective next to a remanned one or parts then it’s up to you which route to go, depending on how intimate you want to get with your truck. I like to see which part got fried so I lean towards rebuilding. There was a company in central California I believe that has these cases rebuilt. Just gotta make sure it’s the transfer case first.

Have you checked the fluid level? Are you using ATF or gear oil?

[hemihead2]

HUMBLE PIE! We ran the truck with the rear wheels on a lift and still felt the shudder. After we lifted the whole truck up we discovered that the front u-joint on the rear drive shaft was indeed bad- but only in one orientation- otherwise it behaved like a normal joint. I can't believe that was all it was, but it certainly was the cheapest fix! Thanks guys for all your input.