So I was having some regular maintenance done to my '08 GT last week.
When the car was up on the lift it came to my attention that there was a LOT of rust around the axle and drive shaft etc. This can't be normal considering I live in sunny SoCal and the car isn't abused or left sitting for more than a day. My questions is, has anyone else seen this? Is this something that should be covered under warranty?
Also, you'll notice the right side isn't as bad as the left. I'm pretty sure this is because my right rear shock absorber is leaking fluid over all the parts, keeping them lubricated... Hopefully warranty work as well.
Any feedback here is welcome. Thanks again.

 

wow that prety bad rust if your shock absorber is leaking than you should get it replaces under warranty judging by the fact that the right side appears normal rust wise i would say that the fluid comming out of the shock is probly corrosive and thus creating rust onthe axel housing and dripping onto the rear end cover...

 

Rust on the driveshaft and axle tubes is a normal thing. Even in cars that aren't driven on crap winter roads.

The fact one side is without rust and the other not is strange.

How close to the coast are you?

 

For some reason Ford never painted the Mustang rear axle assemblies, they rust just by getting water on them

 

Mine had rust on it the first time I looked under the car. Somewhere within the first 2 months of taking it home. Makes me want to lightly sand it, clean it and paint it. But, I guess it will last until the car's life is up....10 years or so.

 

its surface rust that will come right off just like a brake rotor...looks bad but normal

 

My car was like that when it came off the truck at the dealer, I just painted mine black when i did my suspension!

 

It's well known that these axles get pretty rusty; comes standard with rust on them right from the factory. Here's a picture of someone's 2010 GT500 immediately after taking delivery. Looks pretty nasty doesn't it?



Ford is painting the axles on the GT500s starting with late build 2010 models; enough customers finally complained. I don't know whether this carries over to the other Mustang models. From what I've seen, they don't do a very good job with the paint so I suspect even the painted axles will rust over time.

I painted my axle a few months after I bought my car with a few coats of Master Series silver primer and a coat of their satin top coat; still looks good two years later.

 

Who would have thought oxidation of metal was a normal thing? I suggest you bust something on the drivers side so it leaks on the rusty parts and covers them with a nice protective coating.

Seriously, rust underneath is quite normal. Take a look at other components such as your pulleys. It's a Mustang, not a Ferarri.

 

Dont dare look under your dash if a little rust bothers you...