ebodell67 Posted March 21 Author Report Share Posted March 21 On 3/16/2025 at 8:13 PM, NzP said: because of set of tires u'll get rid of the car? Not sure, I have not priced 20" tires (never owned anything with them) so not sure what that cost would be. My concern is that I put $800 worth of tires on it and then something lets go then I am stuck with oddball sized tires with no use for them. I suppose I could try and find a used set and mount them up myself but they don't look to be as easy to mount as say the 245/65 R16 that I run on my pickup(s). Not something I will have to worry about until the fall so I will make the call then. As I gain confidence in the Lincoln I may be more comfortable putting significant money into it. I know that 20" and 22" are common these days but nothing in my fleet uses them. But again, maybe used ones are common and reasonable $. I did fix the coolant leak (more like a seep through a parting line) with JB Weld. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ebodell67 Posted March 24 Author Report Share Posted March 24 I still had a clanking noise that would get worse at times. I got it up on ramps and found that one of the dust shields was not pressed on to the driveshaft. I had to push these off when I replaced the carrier bearings and one of them has lost its press fit. I did not want to drop the shaft and take it apart again so I tried some JB Weld on the shield. Drove to work this AM and it is much better now. Not sure how long it will hold, worst case I will got in and cut it off. I would rather leave it in place as it helps keep debris away from the bearing so not sure that is the best plan. But is does kinda "hang up" once in a while and sounds like the drivetrain is grenading itself. Other option would be to simply pull the driveshaft and run FWD only. Not sure if this would cause other issues though. I don't really need AWD in the spring, summer, and fall. Liking the Lincoln more and more, it owes me nothing and every day I get out of it is a bonus. I have the fleet down to a reasonable number now and my insurance has dropped quite a bit. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ebodell67 Posted Wednesday at 01:53 PM Author Report Share Posted Wednesday at 01:53 PM Well I have rolled off 277K+ miles on the MkX as of this morning. Even took it on a 200 mile round trip with no issues. However, the past week I have a significant vibration at ~25 to 30mph and it is progressively getting worse. Last night I put it on the ramps and put a pry bar on various components to check for excessive movement. Nothing really stood out. I checked the motor mounts and while I get a bit of movement it is really nothing that I would not expect. I am somewhat leaning towards the driveshaft at this point. Not sure what my next course of action will be so any thoughts would be welcome. Has anyone ever pulled the shaft on an AWD and drove it around? Kinda wonder if I could do this. I would just drive through those speeds but we have some construction on the way home and I inevitably end up having to dwell at that speed. I would really like to keep this car alive at least until the Fall before I think about replacing it. I just don't want to drop any cash on a new daily at this point. I am always on the lookout for certain vehicles but the pickins have been a bit slim lately. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ebodell67 Posted 9 hours ago Author Report Share Posted 9 hours ago Well I pulled the rear driveshaft Thursday. Was not sure what to expect, I was kinda halfway thinking the system would act like an open differential and I would have no movement at all. But, the car drives just fine with no ill effects it seems. I drove it around this past weekend and into work this morning with no issues. Good news is that the vibration at 25mph is all but gone so it does appear to have been the driveshaft. I think that maybe the splined connections need to be staked or upset such that they do not slide in/out. Instead of that motion being taken up by the flexible connection at the PTU the relative in/out movement was happening in the splines resulting in limited engagement. At least that is what I think. Pretty sure FMC never intended anyone to rebuild the driveshaft. I would like to have AWD at least for next winter so I will noodle on this a bit and hopefully come up with a cheap fix. Not a lot of room to get in there and stake the splines. Anyway the bad vibration is gone for now. However, every time I fix something another noise that was masked comes to the top of the spectrum. I am getting a howling noise at speed. it's not bad at this point so I am not overly concerned. On another note, the right rear tire has significant cupping on the inside, a product of worn out bushings. Not sure I want to tackle that as it could put me down the rabbit hole of multiple parts replacements. Might just rotate the tires and spread that joy around to the other three tires. New goal is to get through summer with the car, stretch goal is to hit 300K. Gonna get my $200 initial investment back out if it kills me. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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