Safety Recall 22S27 Rear Axle Bolt Fractures

[Dale5403]

Hello, new to the forum, does this affect the 2023? Window sticker says 12-20-22

You need to look and see if yours has 1 or 2 bolts attaching the cross member to the differential. If yours has 2 bolts your in good shape. See this picture showing the 2 bolts.

 

[CPH]

You need to look and see if yours has 1 or 2 bolts attaching the cross member to the differential. If yours has 2 bolts your in good shape. See this picture showing the 2 bolts. View attachment 16388

OK I’m going out now to look.

 

[CPH]

OK I’m going out now to look.

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You need to look and see if yours has 1 or 2 bolts attaching the cross member to the differential. If yours has 2 bolts your in good shape. See this picture showing the 2 bolts. View attachment 16388

Shoot, one bolt

 

[Dale5403]

O

Shoot, one bolt

Then I would suggest the AWR brace. https://store.awrracing.com/2020-ford-explorer-st-differential-mount/

 

[CPH]

Then I would suggest the AWR brace. https://store.awrracing.com/2020-ford-explorer-st-differential-mount/

 

[CPH]

So I guess they’re not going to replace this under some type of recall. That’s a little disappointing.

 

[Dale5403]

So I guess they’re not going to replace this under some type of recall. That’s a little disappointing.

That's the magic question as of now. Oniy time will tell.









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[CPH]

That's the magic question as of now. On;y time will tell.









t

Thanks Dale!

 

[Clump]

AWR brace was a 40 minute total job and buys peace of mind for now. If you do it buy an E18 ratcheting box wrench. Hopefully Ford will take care of us, but not holding my breath.

 

[CPH]

AWR brace was a 40 minute total job and buys peace of mind for now. If you do it buy an E18 ratcheting box wrench. Hopefully Ford will take care of us, but not holding my breath.
View attachment 16392

So I read on one of the other threads, something about claiming a miss build? Is that a thing?

 

[Dale5403]

So I read on one of the other threads, something about claiming a miss build? Is that a thing?

I haven't seen a thing about any mis-build. Do you have a link to that post?

 

[CPH]

I haven't seen a thing about any mis-build. Do you have a link to that post?

https://www.explorerst.org/members/singleboltsubframe.8952/

 

[CPH]

https://www.explorerst.org/members/singleboltsubframe.8952/

Maybe this one
https://www.explorerst.org/threads/single-bolt-subframe-on-new-vehicles.4975/

 

[Dale5403]

Maybe this one
https://www.explorerst.org/threads/single-bolt-subframe-on-new-vehicles.4975/

Sorry it looked like you were talking about a misbuild on the AWR brace. This post I had seen but have not heard any more about it. Time will tell I guess.

 

[CPH]

OK thanks sorry about the misdirection

 

[TheHypnoToad]

Maybe this one
https://www.explorerst.org/threads/single-bolt-subframe-on-new-vehicles.4975/

Thanks for the link. Interesting and if there was a stock of mislabeled subframes, it explains why we got the 3 bolt subframes for a period of time.

The other thing that is irritating about having the 3 Bolt subframe (looking at the picture of the 4 bolt subframe that Crusing68 had in his thread about swapping out the 3 bolt for a 4 bolt subframe) is that the bolt used on the 3 bolt subframe appears to be the lesser strength wise based on the bushing the bolts go through.

 

[Cruising68]

Iirc the diff bolts looked to be the same as the subframe bolts but longer. I also think my 1 bolt was bent when I removed it. Some day I might look and see if either of the 2 bolts appear to be bent.


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[TheHypnoToad]

Iirc the diff bolts looked to be the same as the subframe bolts but longer. I also think my 1 bolt was bent when I removed it. Some day I might look and see if either of the 2 bolts appear to be bent.


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The bolts are the same (at least according to the parts numbers) but the mount they go into looks different between the passenger and driver’s side. The metal on the passenger side bushing looks thicker and the rubber around it thinner. I would think that combination would be more resistant to movement under load. However, that’s just speculation on my part. TMac would be the person who would likely know better than I would about what if any difference that would make.

 

[TMac]

The bolts are the same (at least according to the parts numbers) but the mount they go into looks different between the passenger and driver’s side. The metal on the passenger side bushing looks thicker and the rubber around it thinner. I would think that combination would be more resistant to movement under load. However, that’s just speculation on my part. TMac would be the person who would likely know better than I would about what if any difference that would make.

Visually, there is a definite difference between the LH isolator on the single bolt models than the same LH isolator in the twin bolt models. But without information about the durometer (equalling flex) of the bushings, it's impossible to make any kind of accurate assumption. What I can say is that the off-center single bolt subframe even if the bushing had less flex is very suspect. It doesn't take an engineer to visualize that an off center mount (even if using a more robust isolator) is going to cause the RH side to raise in response to high torque situation which will exacerbate wear on the isolator and mounting bolt, and "tweak" the alignment of the half shafts, and the driveshaft.

We will probably never know what was happening at Ford or its suppliers, but I can say this- the fact that the 4 bolt subframes have reappeared on the recent builds is a "mea culpa"- or "my fault" from Ford. Having seen many different high performance IRS systems in the past, though I'm not a Ford expert, I don't remember any that connected into the rear diff cover, let alone used a single offset bolt to limit the differential rotation.

 

[TheHypnoToad]

Thanks TMac. Appreciate your insight versus my WAG on it. I’m assuming that the wear on the isolator from rotation also impacts the two front isolators but to a lesser extent.