Is that normal?

 

Mine looked like that the day I took delivery of my truck and I have owned it for 3 months now.Although you can't really see the d/s in my pic.You can see that I have access to inspect every inch of my undercarriage.One of these days I'm gonna get off my lazy butt and paint it.

 

Yeah, that's what my '05 looks like. All of my GM vehicles were the same way. It's surface rust and that's about it. Your good unless you park it in the surf at the beach a lot

I thought they stopped using steel driveshafts in mid model year '05 and switched to aluminum.

 

Yup, normal.

 

Its just another area where Ford cut corners to save a few $$ per vehicle. Damn throw away drive shafts...Ever read the sticker on them?
" Dispose of if dropped ". Now , if you have ever been around an Assembly Plant and see how the parts are handled you would see that some of the "vibe issues" are directly related to this component... How many do you think are really thrown away?????

 

Damn, just like when you order a Whopper at Burger King and ya get a little grit in your teeth when you bite into it

 

I painted mine with "POR 15" rust paint. One salty winter and one year later my driveshaft is still coal black.

Norm

 

Could I still get mine painted...?

 

I'll file this one under brake dust and what my ignition key looks like. As long as the driveshaft doesn't rust and break in two, I don't really care what it looks like personally.

 

Thats what i was worrried about.

 

I wouldnt paint it, just leave it be. You could be creating a vibration issue by painting it. The DS is balanced, if you paint it your will be affecting its weight and could create a vibration. If you ever take a look at the rear end on a truck or car thats a few years old, they all look like this its normal and will not affect the usable life of the DS. Many, Many, Many other parts of your truck will break, and rust away a long time before your DS does.