Update: Rear Axle Tube - 1200 Miles Warranty Covered

[V1Rotate]

Just like the saga of the cracking hard top I had to go out and check my plug welds so I can sleep at night… to me they look good by comparison. My worst (looking) one is the top picture and the other 5 look just like the bottom shot. 9K Miles and lots of good wheeling, rear locker use and 37’s on 2 inches of rear lift (stock rear control arms/track bar). Haven’t tried TTA yet though and probably won’t

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[Bronc6g22]

I'll join the party for horrible welds. Do we just wait until recall? I imagine we'll need more to fail before that happens.

 

[Lcubed]

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.

Evan mentioned that several of the bronco's at Off-Roadeo NH had the parking brake toggle ripped off by nervous drivers.

 

[Elimax]

2021 Badlands, SAS, 18K miles, Stock Drivetrain. Inspected this morning when installing trailer wiring. Oil around the weld plugs that I can only assume is cracks starting. Can see a crack in one plug for sure. We will see what Ford has to say this week.....

 

[ColonelAngus]

Evan mentioned that several of the bronco's at Off-Roadeo NH had the parking brake toggle ripped off by nervous drivers.

Well I wouldn't call that a factory defect but holy crap... I don't use any sort of care when using mine and I haven't had any experiences that would make me think its weak... That being said if that broke, I could manage until its fixed luckily.

 

[BRON23]

I am revising this post to clarify Ford is replacing the axle under warranty. The axle tube and plug weld issue is a warranty gray area and can go either way.

I don't see a problem with the brake line. The clips hold the line on either side of the pumpkin. The botton looks like dirt

 

[BRON23]

2021 Badlands, SAS, 18K miles, Stock Drivetrain. Inspected this morning when installing trailer wiring. Oil around the weld plugs that I can only assume is cracks starting. Can see a crack in one plug for sure. We will see what Ford has to say this week.....

oh, the gear fluid leak. Sorry, i see the problem, i thought the line but the plug is leaking. The spot weld to hold the tube and pumpkin together. This is not a wear and tear. I think you must push the dealer for the warranty. Also, any problems MUST also be www.nhtsa.gov
If a certain quantity of people report the same problem, Ford can issue a recall to inspect all axle tube for repair/replace. But the problems must be reported to that website.

 

[Ryuk]

Damn
I'm at almost 100,000 miles on my 2004 Dana 44 on my Jeep Wrangler TJ Rubicon.
If I estimate correctly, between me and the previous owner, It's had 37s on it for 50,000+ miles and it's been wheeled hard from Texas, Utah{Moab}, Uharrie, RC and AOAA.

My Previous jeep was a 2003 Jeep Wrangler TJ Rubicon. The current owner is still rocking the stock rear axle on 37s. That one has about 80,000 miles running 37s on it. I competed with this jeep for 3 years in multiple Rock Crawling competitions.

I feel this is more of a Dana issue than a Ford issue. Most of the time, you bend the tube, grenade the Diff internals, or break an axle shaft. Not twist the tube and break those welds.
My $.02
Ford should warranty it, and Dana should reimburse Ford.

 

[da_jokker]

Am I seeing things or is you axle tube literally sliding out of the house?

 

[Elimax]

Am I seeing things or is you axle tube literally sliding out of the house?

I don't believe that the axle tube is moving yet as I would expect additional witness marks and the weld plugs to be in worse condition than they are. We have used trail turn assist twice, both times on very loose soil on a switchback. Total off-road miles about 600. It is the wifes daily driver.

 

[da_jokker]

I don't believe that the axle tube is moving yet as I would expect additional witness marks and the weld plugs to be in worse condition than they are. We have used trail turn assist twice, both times on very loose soil on a switchback. Total off-road miles about 600. It is the wifes daily driver.

You can see the line where the tube original met the housing..the paint is different and there is even crud buildup where it used to touch.

 

[gammaguybronco]

I've never seen welds that are so inconsistent. I'm assuming these are done by a robot. How does that even pass QC off the line in 2023? Are they just letting bad welds get by due to the demand and shortage of parts?

 

[BAUS67]

I've never seen welds that are so inconsistent. I'm assuming these are done by a robot. How does that even pass QC off the line in 2023? Are they just letting bad welds get by due to the demand and shortage of parts?

QC in many companies has gone south.

 

[builtMIbronco]

You can see the line where the tube original met the housing..the paint is different and there is even crud buildup where it used to touch.

Mine looks like that on the driver side and I initially thought I had spun one and pulled it out slightly but I'm not leaking gear oil and my plug welds still look intact. It goes almost all the way around the tube about 1/2-3/4" from the diff housing.

 

[mikeeshim]

Nothing a Prius couldn’t handle.

I'd love to see a Prius try this.
Rad looking Bronco btw.

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