Beware Loose Driveshaft Bolts

[ApolloU]

Has anyone had a problem with loose driveshaft bolts? Four days and 400 miles after I (finally) picked up my Bronco Base, I started to notice a slight vibration in the drivetrain. At first I speculated it was caused by the 33's mud terrains I had just put on or maybe the lug nuts needed tightening. Checked that and NOPE. About 40 miles into the slight vibration I heard a loud bang in the undercarriage. I stopped and crawled under the Bronco and found all the driveshaft bolts either loose or GONE (see pic). I did find one bolt laying on the road that caused the loud bang when came off and hit the underside of the body. Needless to say, after 4 days and 440 miles, my bronco is on the back of a tow truck on its way to the dealer. We will see what they have to say.

I searched the forums and didn't find any mention of anyone else having loose driveshaft bolts, so I am hoping this is an isolated incident. Maybe someone at MAP had a bad trip the night before and just forgot to torque them down? Anyway, I am glad I caught it when I did because I doubt that driveshaft would have stayed together much longer and THAT would have made my day a lot worse. I did see where the Transit Connect van recently had a recall for a similar issue with driveshaft bolts.

So if you start hearing or feeling a slight unidentified vibration on your Bronco, make sure to check your driveshaft bolts. Heck, check them now just to be safe. It wasn't much of a vibration, so beware.

UPDATE: So my dealer just sent me a nice inspection video showing the missing bolts as seen in my original post pic. He also said the flange on the rear differential is damaged as well as the flange on the driveshaft. They are ordering a new differential flange and new driveshaft and hardware. Of course, everything is on back order. They put in an “emergency” request. CRAP!

FINAL RESULTS: My dealer's service department pulled a major rabbit out of their hat by “procuring” the needed driveshaft and parts from Ford via the “It's who you know” supply chain (i.e. It pays to live near MAP). My Bronco was ready to roll less than a week after the incident. So, in the end, they took good care of me. Now keeping fingers crossed there are no more surprises like this one.

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[JBlanco]

Holy shit! WTF! This can cause a SERIOUS accident if the front of the driveshaft simply detaches... Who was that guy that Ford hire to help with the quality?

 

[cowman]

Has anyone had a problem with loose driveshaft bolts? Four days and 400 miles after I (finally) picked up my Bronco Base, I started to notice a slight vibration in the drivetrain. At first I speculated it was caused by the 33's mud terrains I had just put on or maybe the lug nuts needed tightening. Checked that and NOPE. About 40 miles into the slight vibration I heard a loud bang in the undercarriage. I stopped and crawled under the Bronco and found all the driveshaft bolts either loose or GONE (see pic). I did find one bolt laying on the road that caused the loud bang when came off and hit the underside of the body. Needless to say, after 4 days and 440 miles, my bronco is on the back of a tow truck on its way to the dealer. We will see what they have to say.

I searched the forums and didn't find any mention of anyone else having loose driveshaft bolts, so I am hoping this is an isolated incident. Maybe someone at MAP had a bad trip the night before and just forgot to torque them down? Anyway, I am glad I caught it when I did because I doubt that driveshaft would have stayed together much longer and THAT would have made my day a lot worse. I did see where the Transit Connect van recently had a recall for a similar issue with driveshaft bolts.

So if you start hearing or feeling a slight unidentified vibration on your Bronco, make sure to check your driveshaft bolts. Heck, check them now just to be safe. It wasn't much of a vibration, so beware.

It even looks like they and lock tight on them.... guess someone forgot to screw them down....

 

[ApolloU]

Holy shit! WTF! This can cause a SERIOUS accident if the front of the driveshaft simply detaches... Who was that guy that Ford hire to help with the quality?

The bolts were loose at the back of the drivshaft where it connects to the rear diff. Not good, but at least if it would have separated I wouldn't have been pole-vaulted into the next county.

 

[Silver-Bolt]

That pink stuff is a microencapsulated locking adhesive. When the bolt is installed into the mating thread the capsules are broken and the two compounds combine. It takes 24 hours to fully cure. That bolt was never fully installed. Had it been that pink stuff would be most gone. It was never threaded into the mating part. The green compound is to hold it in place until the bolt is torqued into place. Big screw up in the assembly line.
The parts below are all virgin not installed parts.

 

[1dayi'llhaveabronco]

Very interesting. I took my Bronco in for an oil change and rotation and they told me I had an axle seal leak. I had to wait 6 weeks for them to get me in and get a loaner. I did notice after the rotation that it shook a lot over 70mph. I took it in to fix and pointed out that they need to balance the tires. 10 days later and I am waiting on the drive shaft bolts to come in. They said they are back ordered. Part # JB3Z 4B496 B. Suppose to arrive tomorrow.

 

[ApolloU]

That pink stuff is a microencapsulated locking adhesive. When the bolt is installed into the mating thread the capsules are broken and the two compounds combine. It takes 24 hours to fully cure. That bolt was never fully installed. Had it been that pink stuff would be most gone. It was never threaded into the mating part. The green compound is to hold it in place until the bolt is torqued into place. Big screw up in the assembly line.
The parts below are all virgin not installed parts.

That does not give me much confidence regarding the quality control on my Bronco. You can bet I will be going over all the nuts and bolts with a fine tooth comb once I get it back. Don't get me wrong, i really love it so far, but WTF!

 

[toughtoaster]

Anyone happen to know the torque specs for these drive shaft bolts or is gutentight the spec?

 

[ApolloU]

So if these bolts simply never got tourqued down at the factory, does anyone know what other bolts this assemblyline worker may have missed? Any MAP workers on here with an idea what else was part of this persons job I should be looking for?

 

[da_jokker]

The Bronco is full of loose bolts. Everything from the fuse box though apparently now the drive line.

Glad you found this before a resulted and something worse. This lack of QA is seriously going to get Ford into multiple law suites.

 

[Ramble_Offroad]

Hey @Ford Motor Company ya may want to add this to the fucked up feedback loop for corporate.

If you haven’t noticed already, myself and so many others are growing increasingly frustrated by Ford’s poor performance!

 

[Cat]

Has anyone had a problem with loose driveshaft bolts? Four days and 400 miles after I (finally) picked up my Bronco Base, I started to notice a slight vibration in the drivetrain. At first I speculated it was caused by the 33's mud terrains I had just put on or maybe the lug nuts needed tightening. Checked that and NOPE. About 40 miles into the slight vibration I heard a loud bang in the undercarriage. I stopped and crawled under the Bronco and found all the driveshaft bolts either loose or GONE (see pic). I did find one bolt laying on the road that caused the loud bang when came off and hit the underside of the body. Needless to say, after 4 days and 440 miles, my bronco is on the back of a tow truck on its way to the dealer. We will see what they have to say.

I searched the forums and didn't find any mention of anyone else having loose driveshaft bolts, so I am hoping this is an isolated incident. Maybe someone at MAP had a bad trip the night before and just forgot to torque them down? Anyway, I am glad I caught it when I did because I doubt that driveshaft would have stayed together much longer and THAT would have made my day a lot worse. I did see where the Transit Connect van recently had a recall for a similar issue with driveshaft bolts.

So if you start hearing or feeling a slight unidentified vibration on your Bronco, make sure to check your driveshaft bolts. Heck, check them now just to be safe. It wasn't much of a vibration, so beware.

Queue the @Ford intern bot...

 

[JT58Bronc]

Wow this is a little scary. Hopefully it's an isolated case. I wonder if an operator tightens these or a robot? Maybe the tool broke and the tool was changed and the bolts were not finished on the one where the tool broke?

 

[VelocityBronco]

Anyone happen to know the torque specs for these drive shaft bolts or is gutentight the spec?

 

[chtucker]

That pink stuff is a microencapsulated locking adhesive. When the bolt is installed into the mating thread the capsules are broken and the two compounds combine. It takes 24 hours to fully cure. That bolt was never fully installed. Had it been that pink stuff would be most gone. It was never threaded into the mating part. The green compound is to hold it in place until the bolt is torqued into place. Big screw up in the assembly line.
The parts below are all virgin not installed parts.

Guess with a username "silver-bolt" and a good explanation like that, we have our answer!

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