DSS driveshaft took a dump on me ??

At least I *think* it was the driveshaft.

Driving along all of a sudden horrible rattling/banging noises from under the car, engine running fine, trans shifting and engaging gears fine.
Stopped, looked under the car, nothing visible wrong.
Got off the highway, was trying to slowly putt-putt it back home to switch cars as I was heading to work and quickly becoming late, saw a Meineke and decided to pull in and have them put it up in the air and see if anything can be seen.
I know, "Meineke?" "how could you?" "I wouldn't let one of their grease monkeys touch my car"
But the noise was horrible, people driving next to me were staring like my car was shooting at them, didn't want to possibly do huge trans or engine damage if I continued driving the car, so I pulled in.
They put the car in the air, nothing seemed loose, trans mount ok, driveshaft safety loop ok.
Banged on the driveshaft with the hand and got this:




The guy thought the most noise was coming from inside the rear joint area of the driveshaft.
A buddy that's a Ford tech seems to think these are double-walled driveshafts and a weld may have broken internally?

On the way home I made this video:




I got the car home and had to go to work, just got home a few minutes ago and I'm not gonna get back to it till at least tomorrow.

Was wondering if anybody here has had these noises with a 1-piece driveshaft, especially a DSS.
Or what do you guys think the issue might be.

I am not sure, but I seem to recall the DSS driveshafts had a lifetime warranty against defects? Calling or emailing them would be my first course of action. Do you still have your stock driveshaft to swap in there in the meantime?

skwerl said:

I am not sure, but I seem to recall the DSS driveshafts had a lifetime warranty against defects? Calling or emailing them would be my first course of action. Do you still have your stock driveshaft to swap in there in the meantime?

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1-year warranty, and the way I read it on their web site it basically reads, 'fuck you if you have a problem"

Yes I have the stock d/s although I'm not sure if I have all the bolts from it

I called them, spoke with a guy in Tech, he said the warranty was 1-year but if I wanted to send it in they'd look at it and see what they could do.

I don't plan on paying to send it to them, just to have them hit me with a huge price to fix it.

There's a place not far from me that apparently repairs and re-balances these quite often

Hate to say it Gabe, but if you go on some of the other forums and search DSS you will find a lot of similar problems, including guys who have gotten new ones from DSS and had further issues. Try a Dynotech or an Axle Exchange driveshaft.

Champale said:

Hate to say it Gabe, but if you go on some of the other forums and search DSS you will find a lot of similar problems, including guys who have gotten new ones from DSS and had further issues. Try a Dynotech or an Axle Exchange driveshaft.

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That really sucks because 4 years ago DSS was the best you could get. I spent months researching and DSS was one of two brands that I could not find a single complaint.

DSS made the CF DS for the 13/14 GT-500's. Zero problems with my Al 3.5" DSS-DS, on my 2010...up to 150 mph on the dyno. Per your video, it appears the universal assy on the front end of the DS is shot..as in how it mounts at aft end of universal. (The CV joint at the back end of the DSS-DS is replaceable...for aprx $100..but that's a moot point. This is the 1st time I have even heard of an issue with a 3.5" AL DSS-DS. I don't do hard launches, so I may have gotten lucky. But plenty of other folks with the same al DSS-DS, with sticky tires and hundreds of runs on the strip with no issues.

Gabe - Sorry to hear about your issues man.

I'm getting really scared as I bought a DSS with 15% off from Lethal about a week or so ago. I am now reading more and more about horror stories from them. Also, the fact that their warranty says if any defective part causes damage to your vehicle, they are not responsible for any of it and you have to pay out of pocket for damages, towing costs, etc.

I really am not sure if I should try and return it and take a $125+ loss and buy a different one or not. Fuck!

Merry Christmas BTW.

Grabber said:

Gabe - Sorry to hear about your issues man.

I'm getting really scared as I bought a DSS with 15% off from Lethal about a week or so ago. I am now reading more and more about horror stories from them. Also, the fact that their warranty says if any defective part causes damage to your vehicle, they are not responsible for any of it and you have to pay out of pocket for damages, towing costs, etc.

I really am not sure if I should try and return it and take a $125+ loss and buy a different one or not. Fuck!

Merry Christmas BTW.

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I ran a DSS shaft with no issues. You look on SVTP with all the GT500's over there and you don't really see much for trouble. Install. set the pinion and enjoy.

weather man said:

I ran a DSS shaft with no issues. You look on SVTP with all the GT500's over there and you don't really see much. Install. set the pinion and enjoy.

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I'm hoping it is that simple.

People are saying no vibrations up to 130. However, my car nearly hit 171 on a dyno, so, will it vibrate? This isn't a high speed car and will only be used at a track, with the occasional highway pull through 4th (140ish MPH)

I am reading more today and some turn out positive for DSS. Still, some that have vibrations and being advised by Frank there to rotate the shaft 180 Degrees which still doesn't fix the issue and Frank can no longer help.

:Cry:

Grabber said:

I'm hoping it is that simple.

People are saying no vibrations up to 130. However, my car nearly hit 171 on a dyno, so, will it vibrate? This isn't a high speed car and will only be used at a track, with the occasional highway pull through 4th (140ish MPH)

I am reading more today and some turn out positive for DSS. Still, some that have vibrations and being advised by Frank there to rotate the shaft 180 Degrees which still doesn't fix the issue and Frank can no longer help.

:Cry:

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I ran mine up to 150 in Mexico with no issues.

Merry Christmas to all!


Got the car up on jack stands this morning and am trying to remove the DS, found out I don't have 8mm allen-head sockets to remove the damn thing.

So, I'm ordering sockets, posted on Facebook to see if any nearby friends might have some I can borrow, since I want this fucker out of my car asap, to bring it to a machine shop and see what they find wrong with it.

Also turns out I don't have my bolts for my stock driveshaft anymore, not sure what happened to those fkn things, so I either spend money on a bunch of bolts or some sockets which I can always re-use later.

I kinda want a local shop to fix this thing and me re-install it, rather than put the stocker back in ...

It might be the CV joint coming apart. you can hold the joint and try twisting the shaft. and then check the front joint.

Sorry to hear your bad luck.

Please don't quote me on this, but just for clarification, I'm pretty sure that DSS did not make the OE GT500 CF DS. See post #8:

http://www.svtperformance.com/forum...-shaft-dead!!!&highlight=who+makes+driveshaft

Then compare to this video. They don't appear to be the same at all.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2Vb0HaGq8Ck

I think the OE GT500 shafts were made by a company called Neapco.

Back to your regularly scheduled broadcast . . .

Sorry to hear about your bad luck Gabe. As far as DSS driveshafts go, I have been running one for at least a year now with a few track days, auto crosses, and dd'ing and have had no issues. I don't try to kill my car, but I don't exactly baby it either.

Gabe said:

Merry Christmas to all!


Got the car up on jack stands this morning and am trying to remove the DS, found out I don't have 8mm allen-head sockets to remove the damn thing.

So, I'm ordering sockets, posted on Facebook to see if any nearby friends might have some I can borrow, since I want this fucker out of my car asap, to bring it to a machine shop and see what they find wrong with it.

Also turns out I don't have my bolts for my stock driveshaft anymore, not sure what happened to those fkn things, so I either spend money on a bunch of bolts or some sockets which I can always re-use later.

I kinda want a local shop to fix this thing and me re-install it, rather than put the stocker back in ...

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I think I have a 8mm Hex socket laying around somewhere. I bought it a while back to install my driveshaft but never got around to using it. If you want it let me know and I can look around for itm

If you guy a Dynotech then you will also need a 9mm hex socket. At least I did for the driveshaft that came with my T56 transmission. NAPA sells them individually, you won't find a 9mm at Harbor Freight.

ford20 said:

I think I have a 8mm Hex socket laying around somewhere. I bought it a while back to install my driveshaft but never got around to using it. If you want it let me know and I can look around for itm

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skwerl said:

If you guy a Dynotech then you will also need a 9mm hex socket. At least I did for the driveshaft that came with my T56 transmission. NAPA sells them individually, you won't find a 9mm at Harbor Freight.

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Thanks guys.
I have a friend coming over on Sunday, he has the 8mm, he's bringing all the Ford stock driveshaft bolts off his '12 GT, and some extra jack stands, we'll pull the DSS, install my stocker, and see if I still have any noises.

Hope it's not a tranny or rear-end issue ... can't really afford to fix either one of those right now ...

Sounds like gears to me from your vid. Did you rotate the rearend after unbolted the DSS?


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Mach2burnout said:

Sounds like gears to me from your vid. Did you rotate the rearend after unbolted the DSS?

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Torsen rear end. Not sure if that would behave differently.

And I haven't removed the d/s yet, don't have the right socket.
Buddy coming over tomorrow with that and other tools/parts.
We'll see.
I'll update as soon as I know more.