Drive shaft bearing support - Anyone use this yet?

[2GOFAST]

So my drive shaft bearing damper gave out (2006 TTS 65K miles) and in looking for repair options I came across this brand new product:

http://www.vertexauto.com/ShowItem/293811%20Porsche%20Cayenne%20Drive%20Shaft%20Repair%20Bearing%20Support.aspx

http://www.youtube.com/user/VertexPorscheVideos#p/a/u/0/kP5IQxph_yY

So, I am looking at doing this repair instead of replacing the entire drive shaft assembly.

Has anyone used this yet??

Thanks

2GOFAST

[odix]

That looks like a great idea -- thanks for posting. Not sure how much is hype though. The same company sells a cheaper support:

http://www.vertexauto.com/ShowItem/113549%20Porsche%20Cayenne%20Driveshaft%20Flex%20Disc%20Guibo.aspx

Bottom line, if it works, it makes a lot of sense. The red-colored pieces must be a shock polymer of some sort to allow some torque/flex in the shaft. How long until those polymers deteriorate?

So my drive shaft bearing damper gave out (2006 TTS 65K miles) and in looking for repair options I came across this brand new product:

http://www.vertexaut...%20Support.aspx

http://www.youtube.c...u/0/kP5IQxph_yY

So, I am looking at doing this repair instead of replacing the entire drive shaft assembly.

Has anyone used this yet??

Thanks

2GOFAST

[wvicary]

$550 is a lot of money, why not just get the shaft rebuilt?

[deilenberger]

Funny thing - I thought of the same idea, using the existing bearing support and large rubber (viton) stoppers.. :)

Price seems just a tad high since you can buy a new support bearing for $70 (Ebay - multiple vendors) and there are rebuilt driveshafts for around the same money. It looks to me as if the driveshaft still has to be disassembled (I could be wrong on this) to get the old support off, if so I'd just go with the replacement bearing/mount from Ebay. If not - it might not be a bad solution. Be a great solution if it was around $200 or so.

One thing I thought of - the mount failure may be caused by the bearing starting to seize up - if so - this isn't going to help at all. If anyone has done the bearing replacement (or even driveshaft replacement) - what was the condition of the old bearing?

[deilenberger]

That looks like a great idea -- thanks for posting. Not sure how much is hype though. The same company sells a cheaper support:

http://www.vertexaut...sc%20Guibo.aspx

Bottom line, if it works, it makes a lot of sense. The red-colored pieces must be a shock polymer of some sort to allow some torque/flex in the shaft. How long until those polymers deteriorate?

Tthat's not the support - it's a flex coupling between the transmission and shaft. Very common on German cars instead of a CV or universal joint.

[deilenberger]

Ah see they cut the old mount for removal. Clever solution - now how about we look into a group buy? :)

[odix]

I asked:

Ah see they cut the old mount for removal. Clever solution - now how about we look into a group buy? :)

[2GOFAST]

Well, I went ahead and ordered one. Was told there were only 2 left from their initial batch.

I figure it will be a lot easier and quicker to do the repair with this product then to remove the drive shaft assembly.

If my bearing goes out, then I will just replace the bearing at a later time as I can schedule the repair (bearing failure can be predicted/heard whereas this failure was pretty instantaneous).

The cost is high but the ease of repair is worth it to me.

FYI - 2 year warranty and was told it has been tested for over 12 months on a cayenne TT that was extensively driven prior to offering the product.

[odix]

Very cool. Let us know how the installation goes and please take some pics, if possible, of the process.

Well, I went ahead and ordered one. Was told there were only 2 left from their initial batch.

I figure it will be a lot easier and quicker to do the repair with this product then to remove the drive shaft assembly.

If my bearing goes out, then I will just replace the bearing at a later time as I can schedule the repair (bearing failure can be predicted/heard whereas this failure was pretty instantaneous).

The cost is high but the ease of repair is worth it to me.

FYI - 2 year warranty and was told it has been tested for over 12 months on a cayenne TT that was extensively driven prior to offering the product.

[xsrfs]

I think its a great idea. I'd love to hear how it goes!

[mcbit500]

Funny thing - I thought of the same idea, using the existing bearing support and large rubber (viton) stoppers.. :)

Can't imagine why you would want to use Viton for this application ???

[deilenberger]

Funny thing - I thought of the same idea, using the existing bearing support and large rubber (viton) stoppers.. :)

Can't imagine why you would want to use Viton for this application ???

Reasons:

1. 1st thing that came to mind (I have some boxes of them..) - and viton stoppers are readily available, making the price reasonable. No custom fabrication required.

2. Viton has excellent chemical resistance properties, and it's not overly effected by ozone exposure - both important in this application. Temp properties are also good.

3. They provide adequate resiliency without being "plastic" like. The bearing needs some isolation from the surrounding structure.. if it didn't it could be simply solid mounted in steel.

Hope that helps you imagine it..

Edited August 5, 2011 by deilenberger

[mcbit500]

Hope that helps you imagine it..

Not really, Viton is generally selected as an alternative to Buna-N in sealing applications where resistance to particular chemicals and or high temperatures are required, it is not generally selected for its mechanical properties. Something like Neoprene or even Sorbothane might be more appropriate for this application as Sorbothane is designed particularly with shock absorption and vibration dampening in mind.

Just a thought.

[Henry54]

I own a Cayenne S Titanium Edition 2006 with 60000 miles on it. About 2 month ago had the issue with the drive shaft bearing support and had that horrible vibration under the car. Porsche wanted to change the drive shaft for $ 1600. The problem is even the new one is going to fail in the next 40 to 60000 miles. Vertex sells the refurbished one for $ 399 included the $ 250 for your old one but the problem is the same.So I took the 250 miles from Orlando to Miami and had the support bearing they offer. It cost me arounf $ 700 with instalation and it took 30 minutes to have the job done. Now my Cayenne runs grate and I really enjoy the trip back to Orlando. They offer 1 year warranty. So far every thing O.K.

[hahnmgh63]

The Driveshafts Porsche sells are suppose to be improved according to two different dealers I spoke with and the original part #'s have been superseded to new ones which would leave one to believe that they have. Although without comparing one side to side who knows what has been improved.

[Streetcrawler]

This seems like a decent idea for $100, at $550 I'd rather have a new shaft.

Someone above mentioned that this company has tested ONE for "12 months" and unknown mileage?! That hardly seems like enough testing to say it's better than a factory set up known to last 60-100K+ before the newer revised part numbers.