2005 Ford GT: Half-Hearted Half Shafts?

You can read the full description here, but essentially if your halfshaft comes loose any Ford dealer will fix it free of charge using an upgrade kit with different bolts/washers. However, if your half shaft hasn't come loose yet there remains no clear answer. Some owners are finding it easy to get their local Ford dealer to fix the problem, free of charge, as a preventative measure. Others are being told "no recall/TSB means you pay yourself." The cost is less than $200 and takes a couple hours, which, in terms of exotic car costs, is pretty cheap.

But one could argue with the merits of not doing a universal upgrade. Ford's position is that less than 1% of all cars have experienced a problem (appears to be most prevalent in late 2005s through early 2006s), so it is a very isolated issue. As for our car, we are now checking the halfshaft cover on a regular basis to see if any signs of movement are apparent. So far, so good. We also plan to call our local dealer and, if they offer us a free fix, we'll probably go ahead and do it. If we have to pay, we might still go for it. BTW, failure of the bolts eventually results in a loss of drive power to the rear wheels. Likely not a horrendous occurence in most cases, but certainly no fun, either.

Karl Brauer, Editor in Chief, Edmunds.com

UPDATE from 10/17 -- After doing some additional digging it appears that using the CV cover bolts, pictured above, as an indicator regarding the condition of the internal axle bolts isn't a smart move. If the interal bolts are loose or weakened there could be no warning indicators from an external inspection. The plan now is to get the vehicle to a Ford dealer for inspection and/or bolt upgrade ASAP.