Ford GT owners get shafted, so to speak
Ah, the joys of owning an exotic. This time it's an issue with the half-shafts on the Ford GT separating and causing a loss of power. Fortunately, for both Ford and GT owners, this has only occurred on four vehicles and isn't as widespread as the 60 some incidents of broken shaft bolts that Ford issued a TSB on last year.
According to SVT's chief engineer, Jamal Hameedi, the problem has only occurred during acceleration and not while traveling at a constant speed. It seems that the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) isn't too concerned about the matter, as they haven't decided to conduct an investigation.
[Source: Automotive News (Sub. Req.)]
_opt_thumbnail.jpg)
_thumbnail.jpg "2011 Audi A8: Live from Miami")
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
akintz 9:00AM (4/02/2007)
So with it only occurring during acceleration, does that somehow make it less severe of a problem than if it were to occur during constant speed? I'm really asking... b/c that doesn't make much sense.
Reply
BKadalur 10:07AM (4/02/2007)
haha, as "great" as this car is, it just doesn't seem possible to drive w/o a pit crew.
Reply
Nellydesign 10:10AM (4/02/2007)
Yeah but compared to almost every other Exotic this car is a walk in the park in terms of problems.
Reply
ruggels 10:16AM (4/02/2007)
"Yeah but compared to almost every other Exotic this car is a walk in the park in terms of problems."
Lol, i take it you've never read many of the horror stories associated with the Ford GT? Last i checked, the kid driving the yellow gallardo i talked to outside my apartment yesterday hadn't had a lick of problems with it in a year, vs, say the likes of that one chubby topgear host, et-al, not being able to complete a single trip without the car immobilizing itself or a host of other nagging problems which shouldn't plague a ford focus let alone a Ford GT.
Reply
Biff 10:20AM (4/02/2007)
Gee. Let's list the recalls and problems for every exotic over, say, $100k. Care to guess where the GT rates? Near the bottom in number of notices.
I realize this point may be upsetting to some in the "foreign or death" community.
Oh, and one other point. 2 of the 4 incidents were on vehicles that had been, ur, "modified", shall we say.
Reply
ruggels 10:25AM (4/02/2007)
"I realize this point may be upsetting to some in the "foreign or death" community. "
yeah, definitely not the 'stoked at the return of a legend but saddened to hear about the troubles some people were having with the car' community, cuz, like, if you're disappointed u must hate domestics, yeah, er, right, and any opinion counter to your own supports terrorism i suppose? i love post 2001 american sentiment, and autoblog, just when you thought it couldn't get any worse then the carlounge.
Reply
Doc Lucas 10:27AM (4/02/2007)
ruggels. If you are going to use anecdotal evidence, may I suggest that you at least...
a)refer to people who you actually know
b)refer to people who are not biased
c)refer to people whose problems are not self-inflicted, or inflicted by parts installed overseas
Reply
ruggels 10:30AM (4/02/2007)
Doc if you could link me to any individual on the planet that's not baised that'd be great.
also i'm curious where the likes of the gallardo and the porsche 911 turbo rank on biff's list of exotics and where that list is.
Reply
ruggels 10:31AM (4/02/2007)
and last i checked, the uk was one of fords more profitable markets, so where 'c' becomes a valid point is beyond me.
unfortunately i don't have a million dollars, i don't have a ford gt, neither do my neighbors, i think you'll find, here on this place called the internet, that most people will refer to commonly known stories sourced through publications, forums, etc. unless i'm the only autoblog comment section visitor who doesn't know a dozen ford gt owners.
Reply
John P. 10:38AM (4/02/2007)
4 vehicles, 2 of which were modified? This isn't even newsworthy other than, Damn that car is beautiful!
Reply
Doc Lucas 10:43AM (4/02/2007)
You had a brief talk with a kid who owns a Gallardo, and watched a pundit on TV. This is an informed opinion?
Reply
John P. 10:49AM (4/02/2007)
Doc, didn't you know? If Cluckson says so, it is so. He's the Grand Poo Bah of everything auto related. How dare you question the all knowing crooked toothed court jester of tv?
Reply
JD 11:55AM (4/02/2007)
Lol, I agree with Akintz..... Acceleration, ya know, happens a lot. but anyway, you guys ever hear about the little Speedi-Sleeve issue? They gave brand new cars a product that is meant to hold old, broken engines together by placing this thing around the crankshaft. And also, how many supercars get recalled not just to the dealer, but to the factory? That was the solution to the A-Arm problem, where they recalled all (about 300 at the time) GT's to dearborn for repair. I realize that supercars have problems. Just saying that only 4 have had problems is absurd, and I also want to say that it's a little sketchy when the divisions chief engineer says that it's "only when accelerating" that the problem can occur.... since that's quite often.
Reply
That One Person 12:15PM (4/02/2007)
Ruggels...be quiet, please?
Isnt the current Murcielago plagued with transmission problems? Feel free to correct me.
But come on. Four vehicles? And if Ford recalls these vehicles, more power to them.
I wonder if Saleen is going to fire a bunch of people over this...a bunch of people were fired because of early quality issues.
Reply
Bryan 3:20PM (4/02/2007)
Sometimes I think Ford made this car too fast. But hey, they did a good job all around for the amount of time given. I would take one any day.
Reply
That One Person 4:06PM (4/02/2007)
Bryan...it was made a little fast. But some of the problems were traced back to suppliers and other companies that helped (ie. Saleen). I forgot the name of the company who made the aluminum control arms for the GT but it was found out that the parts were defective when they left the plant.
Reply
Bryan 4:11PM (4/02/2007)
Oh I wasn't really complaining That one person, I think they did a great job in a short amount of time. Unfortunately, many suppliers do suck. You might actually put a lot of blame for sales declines in the US automakers due to suppliers inferior parts on some occasions..such as..NAVISTAR! Don't worry, I am about the biggest Ford fan on here, but I am fair!
Reply
DanMan 4:32PM (4/02/2007)
I'll preface this by saying I've got two Fords with some miles on them (97 Escort Wagon, 70,000 miles; 2004 f150 Heritage, 75,000 miles). I bought them because I got a screaming deal from the used car dealers. Other than a bad tranny at 65,000 miles in the Escort, they've been fairly trouble free. Personally I'm one of those people who thinks bying an hand-built exotic from a mainstream car maker, (Ford, GM, Kia, ect.) is like buying a Maybach type car from Daewoo. What the hell do they know about $100,000+ cars? I'd buy a Corvette but only because its under $70,000 and GM has 50 years of experience building fiberglass V8 funmobiles.
Reply
Mike 9:17PM (4/02/2007)
When you put 550 HP through a pair of half shafts, your going to have a few failures (probably idiots dropping the clutch at 6,000 RPMs to do burnouts), especially when some people are turning up the wick on these things by adding more power, which is very cheap and easy on this vehicle. I've read where a throttle body, smaller SC pulley, and a tune were good for 680 RWHP. Tell me anyone on here expect a halfshaft to stand up to that when you drop the clutch at 6,000 RPM?
Reply
Matt W. 2:36PM (4/03/2007)
My father owned a Ford GT for about 3 months. The second and third month it was getting it's suspension arms replaced. At that point it was traded for a Ferrari 575M that never had an engineering issue that could would result in DEATH.
Reply