Update: Rear Axle Tube - 1200 Miles Warranty Covered

[ParkerBronco]

I Don't keep my ear as close to the ground on Jeeps as I do on the Bronco, But I'm still fairly active on the Jeep forums, and I haven't heard of any similar failures on the JLU or Gladiator, and with the very popular Z-automotive Tazer programmer, They even have the same function as Trail Turn Asist, I would guess there are as many Jeeps with the Tazer, 37" tires, and the M220 axle as there are Broncos with the same basic configuration (My wife's Gladiator is on 37"s with a Tazer, though she doesn't really wheel it hard like she does her JKU).

I really think what we're seeing is some bad batches of plug welds on M220's that ended up in Broncos, I'm pretty sure they don't run the Bronco and Jeep axles down the line at the same time.

Or there is a difference in the geometry of the arms/trackbar in the Bronco that places more stress on the plug weld than Jeep's geometry.

In the failures we've seen, have the plug welds been actually completely falling out, or sheering at the tube? If they are falling out, I'm guessing bad welds, If Sheering at the tube, My guess would be geometry twisting the tube more

Two of my left side plug welds came out completely. One of the plugs dropped onto my diff cover so I could take a look at it. Dealer service department said the plug weld indicated they were not welded correctly at time of manufacturing.

Sponsored

 

[vrtical]

Just to add the Dana60 will have the same issues, they all need braces or at least weld the damn tubes, so dumb.

 

[zuke]

Two of my left side plug welds came out completely. One of the plugs dropped onto my diff cover so I could take a look at it. Dealer service department said the plug weld indicated they were not welded correctly at time of manufacturing.

Well that's pretty definitive as a defective axle, Even though your rig is pretty heavily modified, a plug weld that falls out is pretty hard ot blame on geometry!

 

[PWillette]

Just skimmed through seven pages of this. For clarification...no ones axles are bent, it's the axle tube that's failing...is that correct?

 

[vrtical]

Just skimmed through seven pages of this. For clarification...no ones axles are bent, it's the axle tube that's failing...is that correct?

correct, the tubes are either spun or they get out of alignment when the plug fails.

 

[Silver-Bolt]

Weld both tubes and move on.

 

[vrtical]

Weld both tubes and move on.

put on jig, then weld both

 

[da_jokker]

This is unfortunate for the OP, obviously a manufacturer defect. However by modifying the Bronco, it gave ford a way out.

If this is a trend with a bad batch, at some point ford may do a recall or a tsb and the OP maybe able to recoup some repair cost.

I remember a time, when people didn't modify their vehicles until they were out of warranty for these very reasons. Now people are modifying the heck out of their Broncos before they even take them off road.

We all know Ford has some serious build quality issues right now (possibly other manufacturers as well)

When you get a new vehicle, give it some time and some mileage to work out factory defects before you go all custom.

 

[Bmadda]

Two of my left side plug welds came out completely. One of the plugs dropped onto my diff cover so I could take a look at it. Dealer service department said the plug weld indicated they were not welded correctly at time of manufacturing.

So did your dealer install a new housing under warranty?

 

[ParkerBronco]

Just skimmed through seven pages of this. For clarification...no ones axles are bent, it's the axle tube that's failing...is that correct?

Correct for me. Not a bent axle.

 

[JBlanco]

This is unfortunate for the OP, obviously a manufacturer defect. However by modifying the Bronco, it gave ford a way out.

If this is a trend with a bad batch, at some point ford may do a recall or a tsb and the OP maybe able to recoup some repair cost.

I remember a time, when people didn't modify their vehicles until they were out of warranty for these very reasons. Now people are modifying the heck out of their Broncos before they even take them off road.

We all know Ford has some serious build quality issues right now (possibly other manufacturers as well)

When you get a new vehicle, give it some time and some mileage to work out factory defects before you go all custom.

I hate to agree with you (because manufacturers shouldn't be finding excuses to avoid their responsibility) but it's the reality we live nowadays.

 

[flip]

Need to get @mpeugeot to get another tracker going so we can see if this is just a bad batch (build date range) or something else. Plugs should not be falling out. Shearing internally because the tube spun 10 degrees, OK, but if it penetrated into the center section, should still be visible. A shitty weld with minimal or no penetration on either part would mean all of the stress would be applied to the friction fit between the tube and housing. In that case, you'd think the leak would be at the joint, not so much at the plug weld and would see a visible dislocation between the two. What if the panhard bar is pushing the left axle housing through the bracket when left side is on the ground and right is up in the air? Looks like a couple of these are leaking on both sides so that might blow that theory.

Still want to know if the problem is the tube twisting in the housing or if it's a linear separation across the axle plane.

 

[Jofenech]

Aside from the technical side of this, I think the biggest factor is your dealer. I took one of my vehicles into a dealer with damage I admittedly did, explained how I did it, and it being all my fault, to which he replied, “it just broke and you have no idea why ?” … dealers are different… it was fixed under warranty,

 

[OCNORB1974]

It's kind of dumb that Ford won't stand behind their product. Especially when they advertise that you should lift it which implies putting bigger tires etc on it.

NO, you're implying putting bigger tires on it.

 

[RubyRedGT]

It's interesting, but no, won't do much as a truss because it's not solidly connected to the tubes, and also relatively light metal (5mm/a little less than 3/16").

A truss really needs to be welded to both tubes to prevent twisting/bending, This could be welded to the tubes, but then it's design would make it impossible to remove the differential cover for servicing.

Ok thanks! Trying to avoid removing axle. Been there done that on 97 TJ Wrangler. Friend welded truss on for me but went Tera 60 eventually.

Question I have is whether there’s a way to check the axle plugs to see if they are OK?

Sponsored