Poll: How many have experienced a "rear axle bolt fracture" (POLL CLOSED 6-4-22)

[CareerFiremanGuy]

I agree , none should break period.

My hypothesis is that Ford was simply dealing with a supply issue and some engineering team approved the 2.3 subframe to be used.

You could be right!

"Have You Driven A Ford ... Lately!"....NO. Because of a crappy bolt!

Come on now, you drove it. Tell the truth! You drove it and buried your right foot into the accelerator about a hundred times already.

 

[ZRX61]

While not even one person's rear axle bolt should break, three seems like a pretty low number. Right?

One guy on FB claims he broke two.

 

[Jeppo]

One guy on FB claims he broke two.

At least he’s got one left.

 

[CareerFiremanGuy]

One guy on FB claims he broke two.

I want the kind of bolts that was his remaining one. Lol

At least he’s got one left.

Let me guess: you're an engineer who worked on the Ford Explorer!

 

[CareerFiremanGuy]

Well, so far every single one of the 41 votes reports NO breakage.

Is this issue as widespread as it's being made out to be?

 

[Cruising68]

In my opinion I don't really care if it is only happening to 10 or 12 reportedly. They dropped one of the bolts, there are broken bolts, and I'm simply not willing to take a chance with a tuned power train. They designed it with two bolts for a reason in the first place. I am an engineer and regardless if they say one bolt is ok, in some cases it is clearly not.

I do believe if you are keeping your vehicle stock there is probably very little chance of it ever braking. Having said that, I am replacing mine in the next week or so because it is just not worth it to me and my family to take a chance. If it were designed with one bolt from the beginning I may think differently but it wasn't.

 

[GearHead_1]

Seriously, 1 of 41? That sampling is infinitesimally small. Recall stuff is one in many hundreds or thousands, perhaps tens of thousands. There wouldn't be a recall unless this was happening in number but it's not going to be represented simply by the number of us in this thread. Ford realizes this is an issue that will potentially cost then a lot of money.

 

[SimonsGTS]

No issues so far with our '21 ST, build date 10/20 w/8k miles so far. Mostly use it for getting groceries and a couple of roadtrips, keeping my fingers crossed. Also thinking about the AWR Diff Mount just as added insurance to the two bolts.

 

[CareerFiremanGuy]

In my opinion I don't really care if it is only happening to 10 or 12 reportedly. They dropped one of the bolts, there are broken bolts, and I'm simply not willing to take a chance with a tuned power train. They designed it with two bolts for a reason in the first place. I am an engineer ...
I do believe if you are keeping your vehicle stock there is probably very little chance of it ever braking.

As an engineer, you're aware that you're given a set of standards to design for. If a dozen breaks occurs out of tens and tens of thousands, then that would seem like well within design parameters. And if most of those breaks occurred on tuned vehicles, then as an engineer you'd understand that those customers modified their cars to sustain tolerances well beyond manufacturers specifications. In that case, under no circumstance can the blame be placed on maker of the product.

What I'm beginning to now sense are owner's frustrations over not being able to modify their ST's to 500 hp and still have them function properly. As an engineer, you should understand that when this is done, people are playing the game of "let's find the weakest link." And as expected, that weakest link has apparently been found.

Seriously, 1 of 41? That sampling is infinitesimally small. Recall stuff is one in many hundreds or thousands, perhaps tens of thousands. There wouldn't be a recall unless this was happening in number but it's not going to be represented simply by the number of us in this thread. Ford realizes this is an issue that will potentially cost then a lot of money.

I'm very serious. Regardless of sample size, as far as I can find it is the only numbered sample available. And the fact that this sample is taken from an ST specific forum adds extreme weight to that sample. Because as we all know, people rarely go to the net to report how few probelms they're experiencing with a certain product. But they do hit up the web like ravenous vultures when they encounter even the smallest issue.

That truth being said, if the problem was even close to being widespread the results of this poll should've been 15/41, or 25/41. But it's not ...

 

[CareerFiremanGuy]

No issues so far with our '21 ST, build date 10/20 w/8k miles so far. Mostly use it for getting groceries and a couple of roadtrips, keeping my fingers crossed. Also thinking about the AWR Diff Mount just as added insurance to the two bolts.

Go ahead and grab the AWR mount if you want, no problems there. As for me, I have concerns over adding an aftermarket part and then something associated with that area of the vehicle breaking. The first thing I'm sure a dealer would do is point to the addition of any associated aftermarket device.

I would also like to note that I neither baby my vehicle nor do I thrash it either. I drive it normally and vigorously, as the designers of the ST would expect I drive it. With 1,000 miles and a build date of 2/22, no problems. And quite honestly, I don't expect any either.

 

[Cruising68]

I agree a lot with what your saying. I am going to be running 500hp and I don't want to take any chances. That's why there is a new cross member that I spend my own $1500 on sitting in my garage waiting for me to have time to install it. If I planned on staying stock I would not have done that.

I also said if you are stock it is most likely not a problem.

 

[CareerFiremanGuy]

I agree a lot with what your saying. I am going to be running 500hp and I don't want to take any chances. That's why there is a new cross member that I spend my own $1500 on sitting in my garage waiting for me to have time to install it. If I planned on staying stock I would not have done that.

I also said if you are stock it is most likely not a problem.

Yes, I'm aware you said stock vehicles should be ok. But from what I'm reading, it seems nearly every ST owner is expressing concern so I wanted to address that point.

Good luck on your install, and make a vid of it and post it. It should be both educational and entertaining.

 

[Blown F-150]

Go ahead and grab the AWR mount if you want, no problems there. As for me, I have concerns over adding an aftermarket part and then something associated with that area of the vehicle breaking. The first thing I'm sure a dealer would do is point to the addition of any associated aftermarket device.

I would also like to note that I neither baby my vehicle nor do I thrash it either. I drive it normally and vigorously, as the designers of the ST would expect I drive it. With 1,000 miles and a build date of 2/22, no problems. And quite honestly, I don't expect any either.

Just un-bolt it before it goes in for a claim. I’m around 500hp with just a intercooler and a 94octane tune, been that way since the car had 600miles on it. It’s now got around 14k miles. I don’t drive timidly and my wife gets more speeding tickets than I do.

I think there is some risk the 3rd bolt could fail on mine and I have the AWR mount on the way to ease my mind. But I’m not changing my driving style until it shows up either, lol.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[MrHoward]

We are assuming the 1 bolt ones are the issue and not some bolts that were faulty due to supply chain issues, wrong hardness, length etc. If it’s only the one bolt ones to be accurate you need to know how many vehicles had 1 bolt and how many failed. For Ford to recall(without a fix in place) and stop sales( for possibly a quarter)I am guessing it’s pretty serious. I am waiting to see if they say to stop driving them.

 

[CareerFiremanGuy]

... But I’m not changing my driving style until it shows up either, lol.

... For Ford to recall(without a fix in place) and stop sales( for possibly a quarter)I am guessing it’s pretty serious. I am waiting to see if they say to stop driving them.

Understanding Ford's recall, I still don't get how serious it can be when reports of breaks are as rare as hens teeth and they don't plan on employing a fix unitl Q2 and for police vehicles until Q3. ???

I mean, are they going to tell entire police agencies to put their whole fleet on ice for 5 months? Something is telling me no.

 

[CareerFiremanGuy]

0-52

 

[Travis]

Thank you for posting this poll. The data is good to have to put things in perspective. One other data point that may be of some value is what tune folks are running. By no means am I suggesting adding every tuner, but maybe no tune, 91/93, E30, and E50. Just to further put folks' mind at ease. If the tally is 0-52 and those 52 are stock, I am not sure how valuable that is, as that is probably what Ford is expecting.

Also, I wonder how this safety recall will impact the Ford tune.

 

[CareerFiremanGuy]

Thank you for posting this poll. The data is good to have to put things in perspective. One other data point that may be of some value is what tune folks are running. By no means am I suggesting adding every tuner, but maybe no tune, 91/93, E30, and E50. Just to further put folks' mind at ease. If the tally is 0-52 and those 52 are stock, I am not sure how valuable that is, as that is probably what Ford is expecting.

Also, I wonder how this safety recall will impact the Ford tune.

You bring up some great points about adding additional polling criteria, but if I did that now I think it could get somewhat confusing. A new poll perhaps?

Regarding how the Safety Recall will effect the Ford tune (i.e. "acceleration") I haven't got a clue. As I speculated in another post, if Ford wants to avoid a class action lawsuit they could simply add a bit more boost post launch to compensate for the initial loss in acceleration from a standing start.

Does anyone on this forum know any high level Ford Engineers/Ford Customer Relations people they could contact on the issue of lost acceleration?

 

[Rugrat2553]

I'm a no. But I don't even show the recall when running my VIN or checking the ford pass app

 

[CareerFiremanGuy]

I'm a no. But I don't even show the recall when running my VIN or checking the ford pass app

That means you must not fall within the recall range. Lucky you!