Update: Rear Axle Tube - 1200 Miles Warranty Covered

[BAUS67]

Im no expert, but I've been told that the SAS axle is heavier duty that the non-sas axles. I dont know which category the non-SAS Badlands falls into, just thinking out loud.

All Badlands, WIldtrak, First Edition, Heritage Edition, and any model with Squatch have the stronger M210 front diff and M220 rear diff.

All other models have M190 front diff and M220 rear diff.

All Broncos have the same rear diff M220. Only option is e-locker or not.

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[lakesinai]

All Badlands, WIldtrak, First Edition, Heritage Edition, and any model with Squatch have the stronger M210 front diff and M220 rear diff.

All other models have M190 front diff and M220 rear diff.

All Broncos have the same rear diff M220. Only option is e-locker or not.

That makes sense, its the front axles that are different, rears all the same, so my hypotheses is wrong!

 

[RustysBronco]

I think the other guy had a great point earlier that it might have more to do with when the truck is articulating one wheel higher than the other in the rear

Well I’m at their mercy but if I’m paying out of pocket I’m open to solutions so this doesn’t happen again. I don’t want to replace it with the same thing and be right back at square one the next time

if warranty doesn’t cover replacement (which I’m sure it won’t) even though Ford markets the shit out of the Bronco being an off road beast, I’m open to upgrade suggestions. I would like to get more than another 1200 miles out of it before it breaks again. Although that might be wishful thinking.

Sort of reminds me how Ford made a "track ready" Shelby GT350, only for cars to overheat while raced on the track, mainly because they failed to put differential and transmission coolers on the early models. It wasn't until a class action suit was filed, that every unit beyond the last model year filed got a transmission and diff cooler as base equipment.

Snake oil.

 

[jonesh242]

Great to hear that they are standing behind their product. Its what I expect from Ford. Just picked up my Badlands today....it's just surreal driving something for the first time that I've been waiting for 2 years!

 

[ColonelAngus]

No I don’t even know why anyone would find that feature useful. I’m not doing switchbacks on black bear pass

Kinda with you on this one. I used it a bunch @ the Off-Roadeo and it worked quite well and was some impressive voodoo... but I also know how to drive and have been casually wheeling for 20 years.... I don't need it, plus I have a manual so I don't have it.... Feel like its better suited for just showing off your Bronco's technowizardry.... Saw warranty is covering it, which is good... seems like a no brainer on Ford's end... hoping this is just some sort of odd fluke in a few...

Another thing I was thinking about seeing as they run the Bronco's off road all day every day @ the offroadeo's, certainly driven frequently by people with no experience... according to Evan in New Hampshire during a fairly candid side conversation, they haven't had any problems with stuff breaking, besides the normal Bronco glitches we all have seen and bitched about.

 

[lakesinai]

Kinda with you on this one. I used it a bunch @ the Off-Roadeo and it worked quite well and was some impressive voodoo... but I also know how to drive and have been casually wheeling for 20 years.... I don't need it, plus I have a manual so I don't have it.... Feel like its better suited for just showing off your Bronco's technowizardry.... Saw warranty is covering it, which is good... seems like a no brainer on Ford's end... hoping this is just some sort of odd fluke in a few...

Another thing I was thinking about seeing as they run the Bronco's off road all day every day @ the offroadeo's, certainly driven frequently by people with no experience... according to Evan in New Hampshire during a fairly candid side conversation, they haven't had any problems with stuff breaking, besides the normal Bronco glitches we all have seen and bitched about.

Gittens and Healey were quite clear that the unmodified, stock Broncos, SAS on down, were not breaking. Its the aftermarket upgrades that mostly cause breakage, and its there that the limits, and the weaknesses are going to be discovered. Then the solutions to the weaknesses . . . Then more upgrades. Great point about the Off-Roadeo experience.

 

[Ninjak]

OP Glad, you're going to b taken care of.

 

[87-Z28]

Some thoughts on rear axle housing torsion capabilities for stock configuration. Lots of assumptions here but the conclusions may be reasonable.

What is maximum torque rear axle hosing can handle? (See pics)

Maximum allowable torque is T= YS * J / r. Axle housing diameter looks to be 2.5”. It is a hollow steel tube but don’t know the exact wall thickness. Total assembly weight might be 150 lbs. each shaft housing length is 20”. If wall thickness is 0.25” then weight is 10 lbs, 15 lbs for 3/8” wall. The flange thickness on differential that tube slides into is 3/8”, so are the gusset thicknesses. So probably tube wall is 1/4”. Then polar moment of inertia J is then about 2.3. For a yield strength of mild steel at 50 ksi then the shaft housing can take 92,000 in-lbs of torque.

There are three plug welds securing the axle housing tube to the differential. Looks to be 5/8” diameter and 0.5” total thickness (tube plus diff). Strength should be same as pristine materials for a good weld (50 ksi). T= YS * A * r. Total weld area is .94 and radius is 1.25 so plug welds can handle 60,000 in-lbs. less than tube can take so welds seem to be weak spot.

These are just ballpark numbers but probably reasonable. It is likely that the three plug welds can actually reach 90% of axle tube housing strength, using “real” numbers from design drawings. In this analysis they only reach 66% strength.

On my truck some of these welds look better than others. If one or two of these are junk that is not good. Only three total. Don’t need much of an analysis to see that good welds are critical to achieving design strength. My truck was built in May 22. I think this has potential to be a real quality control issue for those that push the vehicle. Might be wide spread if people look more carefully at their trucks. However, even with two good welds design is likely robust enough that most users never achieve thresholds.

 

[87-Z28]

Just to make sure this is not misinterpreted. The numbers are NOT exact. Just meant to suggest the design is probably solid. Also not meant to question the designers. Just add some data to the mix.

as most users of this axle housing on other vehicles already know the design works fine. I would be curios if plug weld geometry and numbers are identical across the various platforms?

Note: the effective shear area on plug welds is difficult to get. Perhaps a better number is the cross sectional are of plug. Which is less conservative. The designers will have numbers and factors they use. This analysis only suggests design is reasonable so QC is the issue for many of us.

 

[TheGoodBadUgly]

This is my stock '21 BadSquatch rear axle with 6,100 miles. All stock, no mods.
I've used the TTA maybe once on a dirt road for a function test.

I'm taking mine to my dealer today, I'll update what they say for warranty.

this is exactly what mine looks like, less than 5k miles, with several off-road adventures, nothing too extreme...took it to a local dealer, and getting the replacement warrantied, except they are on back-order for several weeks...dealer said they've seen this happening quite a few times...apparently its a known issue due to the axels having just 3 welds instead of the standard 4 welds on same Dana axels on jeeps, and that the robot is not doing a very good job of it, and post-build inspection is not flagging it (this explanation came from a 3rd party 4x4 shop who inspected it, and with 30yrs experience, and noticed it right away)

 

[ColoradoKid26]

this is exactly what mine looks like, less than 5k miles, with several off-road adventures, nothing too extreme...took it to a local dealer, and getting the replacement warrantied, except they are on back-order for several weeks...dealer said they seen this happening...apparently its a known issue due to the axels having just 3 welds instead of the standard 4 welds on same Dana axels on jeeps, and that the robot is not doing a very good job of it, and post-build inspection is not flagging it (this explanation came from a 3rd party 4x4 shop who inspected it, and with 30yrs experience noticed it right away)

Holee cow that sucks.
I got mine back today from my dealer said mine was a leaking O-ring from a sensor. They replaced the O-ring, cleaned off the housing, and checked the diff fluid, and said it was good to go.
I dont know what sensor it could be, but I'm gonna watch it like a hawk and if it leaks a drop I'll take it to another dealer and push for a replacement.

 

[TheGoodBadUgly]

Holee cow that sucks.
I got mine back today from my dealer said mine was a leaking O-ring from a sensor. They replaced the O-ring, cleaned off the housing, and checked the diff fluid, and said it was good to go.
I dont know what sensor it could be, but I'm gonna watch it like a hawk and if it leaks a drop I'll take it to another dealer and push for a replacement.

based on that, they're saying its not the welds then? Hmmmm...as I said mine looks identical to yours, and the dealer has ordered a new axel housing...I'll let you know when that's complete!

 

[Tricky Dick]

Only 230,000 miles lol.


Why the hell don't i drive a 4runner...

There's plenty of high mileage Fords out there too. I had a 1st gen explorer with 325k when I sold it and my V10 Super Duty has 270k. Then there's that Fiesta with 3/4 million that had an article written about it.

 

[ColoradoKid26]

based on that, they're saying its not the welds then? Hmmmm...as I said mine looks identical to yours, and the dealer has ordered a new axel housing...I'll let you know when that's complete!

Thats what they said. The welds looks ok, but they could be weeping a little oil.
I'll give them a chance on the sensor O-ring, but I'm not trusting the axle. I'll be watching it very closely.

 

[87-Z28]

this is exactly what mine looks like, less than 5k miles, with several off-road adventures, nothing too extreme...took it to a local dealer, and getting the replacement warrantied, except they are on back-order for several weeks...dealer said they've seen this happening quite a few times...apparently its a known issue due to the axels having just 3 welds instead of the standard 4 welds on same Dana axels on jeeps, and that the robot is not doing a very good job of it, and post-build inspection is not flagging it (this explanation came from a 3rd party 4x4 shop who inspected it, and with 30yrs experience, and noticed it right away)

agreed. However I don’t think the issue is 3 vs 4 plug welds. It all depends on the effective shear area of the welds. It is possible to have 3 larger plug welds that can carry more load than 4 smaller plug welds. The main issue here is the quality of the welds.

can someone measure the diameter of the 4 plug weld design? Curious if they went to three welds with larger diameter to compensate. I would like to think so. But still don’t think there is a design issue.

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