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Unstable in the rain, need some help.

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StayinStock

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Morning guys, so I recently got my ST (2020) back from Ford after they replaced the rear diff under warranty. It's seemed fine up until yesterday we had some light rain that coated the roads... Just driving normal and all of a sudden it felt like it was trying to drive itself off the road. Not getting any traction lights or anything of that nature but you can feel it wanting to track weird. Almost feels like im on ice. Initial thought was maybe tire rotation was wrong, got out and looked and their non directional. Limped back home an got under it. Nothing loose I can see, sway bars are hooked up, nothing out of place. Could it be an alignment issue from where they had the rear cross member out? Anyone have a similar experience? I'm kind of at a loss, going to call the dealership today.
 

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Cajun Heat

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StayinStock said:
Morning guys, so I recently got my ST (2020) back from Ford after they replaced the rear diff under warranty. It's seemed fine up unitil yesterday we had some light rain that coated the roads... Just driving normal and all of a sudden it felt like it was trying to drive itself off the road. Not getting any traction lights or anything of that nature but you can feel it wanting to track weird. Almost feels like im on ice. Initial thought was maybe tire rotation was wrong, got out and looked and their non directional. Limped back home an got under it. Nothing loose I can see, sway bars are hooked up, nothing out of place. Could it be an alignment issue from where they had the rear cross member out? Anyone have a similar experience? I'm kind of at a loss, going to call the dealership today.
Click to expand...
I did feel something similar to that after lowering the ST, because I had loosed the toe links. It was definitely an alignment issue for me and after a quick trip to the alignment shop, all was well.
 

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Cdubya

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Is an alignment listed under the work invoice? If not, I'd go back and tell them the car drives squirrelly now. If they did anything with the subframe, they should do an alignment. I honestly don't know what's involved with replacing a rear diff though.
 

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StayinStock

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I'll have to check the invoice. I would assume it would be included if they had it out but knowing how the rest of the process went, I wouldn't be surprised if it got overlooked. Thats really all I can figure it could be. It drives fine on dry pavement, not pulling or anything. Very odd for sure.
 

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I've can name plenty of instances where the car drives straight but I haven't got to getting the alignment yet. As soon as rain or snow hits, it can be down right scary how it drives.
 

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StayinStock

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Yeah it made for a white-knuckle drive home. Not trying to do that again anytime soon. Every little bump in the road unsettled it.
 

NYPigskin

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Does it drive straight if you let go of the steering wheel while driving? Try driving on dirt where you can see your tire tracks to see if the rear wheels are following the front.
 

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StayinStock

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Called the dealership on my way home yesterday. They confirmed they did no alignment. They also told me they didnt have the rear cross member out to swap the differential, which is quite possible but... correct me if im wrong, even if they didn't pull the subframe they still had to unhook the spindles to pull the axles in order to pull the diff right? At any rate the dealer acted like it wasn't their problem so guess im on the hook for it. Might as well order my lowering springs and spacers so I'm not paying to do it twice.
 

Cajun Heat

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StayinStock said:
Called the dealership on my way home yesterday. They confirmed they did no alignment. They also told me they didnt have the rear cross member out to swap the differential, which is quite possible but... correct me if im wrong, even if they didn't pull the subframe they still had to unhook the spindles to pull the axles in order to pull the diff right? At any rate the dealer acted like it wasn't their problem so guess im on the hook for it. Might as well order my lowering springs and spacers so I'm not paying to do it twice.
Click to expand...
That seems pretty shitty that they wouldn't do an alignment on your ST.

I would avoid driving it around too much before you get your alignment done or you could be replacing tires in the rear also. With the toe angle pitched in/out just right will cause some serious wear fast and you wouldn't even notice it in dry conditions.
 

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StayinStock

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Yeah this whole experience has been a mess with them and dealing with Ford on getting the parts in the first place. You'd think after having my truck for 5 months they would want to do everything they could to try to make it right. Guess not ugh... Luckily I have a buddy who lets me borrow his alignment rack on my Vette for track stuff, gonna message him this week and see if he has time to give me a hand with it.
 

NYPigskin

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Hopefully you have another Ford dealership nearby. I would switch.
 

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StayinStock said:
Called the dealership on my way home yesterday. They confirmed they did no alignment. They also told me they didnt have the rear cross member out to swap the differential, which is quite possible but... correct me if im wrong, even if they didn't pull the subframe they still had to unhook the spindles to pull the axles in order to pull the diff right? At any rate the dealer acted like it wasn't their problem so guess im on the hook for it. Might as well order my lowering springs and spacers so I'm not paying to do it twice.
Click to expand...
There's no need to pull the rear subframe to replace the diff. And really no reason to do an alignment when the knuckles are pulled either.
 

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StayinStock

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The alignment said otherwise, out .80 on toe on the passenger side and .50 on the driver... You may be right but whatever they did they screwed shit up... also found they must have swapped my back tires with someone elses because my 2 rears had been moved to the front and my rears were now a different brand... not sure how they explain that one away but said dealer claims zero responsibility for it... this has been such a royal nightmare with this vehicle.
 

Cajun Heat

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StayinStock said:
The alignment said otherwise, out .80 on toe on the passenger side and .50 on the driver... You may be right but whatever they did they screwed shit up... also found they must have swapped my back tires with someone elses because my 2 rears had been moved to the front and my rears were now a different brand... not sure how they explain that one away but said dealer claims zero responsibility for it... this has been such a royal nightmare with this vehicle.
Click to expand...
That dealer sucks ass. How can they not acknowledge what is right in front of their face. You should open a ticket FoMoCo on your experience and blast that dealership on every review site you can. People need to know how bad they are.
 

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StayinStock said:
The alignment said otherwise, out .80 on toe on the passenger side and .50 on the driver... You may be right but whatever they did they screwed shit up... also found they must have swapped my back tires with someone elses because my 2 rears had been moved to the front and my rears were now a different brand... not sure how they explain that one away but said dealer claims zero responsibility for it... this has been such a royal nightmare with this vehicle.
Click to expand...

https://www.foexplorer.com/ford_explorer_removal_and_installation_wheel_knuckle-460.html

Last two steps of above procedure:

1700054522696.png
 

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