Safety Recall 22S27 Rear Axle Bolt Fractures

[Kevin_FG23]

How much did only having three differential bushings/bolts save Ford?
Is there any point where they realize this practice is not worth it?

Have any bolts failed after they adopted the new rear bushing design for the "3-bolts"?

 

[CoHPhasor]

Have any bolts failed after they adopted the new rear bushing design for the "3-bolts"?

Have no clue.
Though, to be fair, we hadn't seen a lot of this, just a few times.
Problems like this get diluted by the fact that all 200K+ owners don't talk to each other all the time, and many owners aren't under the car checking for diff bolts every day.
For example, I'd never have known Toyota was having issues with gas pedals getting stuck until I saw an instance crop up on the news.

Hopefully someone checks in with us at some point.

 

[Cdubya]

We honestly won't know if the new bushing design works until a year or two later. The bolt replacement is going to buy Ford time. And for the talk of a few hundred failures for 200k+ Explorers, let it be known that only the Ecoboost 3.0L were designed by Ford engineers for the 4 bolt subframe--so maybe a quarter of that number. And bottom line, only Ford has any real data which they will never voluntarily disclose except by mandate of the NTSC. There were only a handful of failures to this forum's members yet ford had record of several hundred failures.

 

[ccdfwa]

The dealership just had my car for two weeks doing this recall I found out it was the first one that they had ever done. I picked up my car today and I hear metal scraping now… doesn’t sound good. What could that be? It’s going back and they’re coming to get it because I don’t feel safe driving it. Also, does anybody know what options we would have to have them take the vehicle back? I really don’t feel safe driving it at this point with all the issues I’ve been having in the last six months.

 

[Dark Knight]

I had this question in my mind the whole time - did Ford's crazy, cheap ass put the 3-bolt diff into Police Utility vehicles? Thanks to this post I know the answer.
Honestly, the units that are driven hard, put away wet, and have the lives of not just civilians, but officers that protect them - are given such weak treatment.
Whoever came up with this "cost-saving" maneuver, better be looking for new work, or at least not be making product decisions anymore.

How much did only having three differential bushings/bolts save Ford?
Is there any point where they realize this practice is not worth it?
Does NTSB or DOT have the intelligence to make strict guidelines about this sort of practice to prevent it from happening in the future?

The other elephant in the room - did Ford continue the practice for 2025?

they put the cheap ass one into PIUs, apparently the recall is the bolt upgrade for them too now, no new subframe,

 

[Dark Knight]

PIU with 3.0 TT, they said all the PIU they did got the bolt, no open campaign on the cars VIN

 

[Planetmail]

Was at a Ford Dealer a couple weeks ago. Looked under three vehicles in the showroom: two 2023Explorer ST's, one 2023 Lincoln Aviator and one Police Explorer parked outside.
Here are the pictures:
2023 Explorer ST (3 bolt) & 2023 Explorer ST 3 (bolt)

2023 Lincoln Aviator (4 bolt) & Police Explorer (3 bolt)

I noticed this 2 years ago that Lincoln Aviators get 4 bolt treatments on a detuned 3.0L TT, while the performance model Explorer ST gets only a 3 bolt set up.
Why does Lincoln get the 4 bolt set up? Or need the 4 bolt set up?

Ford does use a 4 bolt set up but only on the Lincoln Aviators.

Considering the demographics of the owners and intended use of the vehicles, why does the performance edition Explorer ST - the one people modify for more power, race and just drive aggressively get a 3 bolt set up?

 

[DaveW012]

Who really knows the answer but it is ridiculous that a performance vehicle doesn’t get the proper subframe. I actually have to get my 1 bolt and bushing replaced per Fords recall. One dealer told me it’s a 2 day job. Is that a joke?

 

[Jeppo]

Who really knows the answer but it is ridiculous that a performance vehicle doesn’t get the proper subframe. I actually have to get my 1 bolt and bushing replaced per Fords recall. One dealer told me it’s a 2 day job. Is that a joke?

Complete joke. I had a 15k service, the bolt/bushing and rear camera done in a few hours.

 

[DaveW012]

I can’t find a dealership that will do both recalls on the same day. It’s pretty sad.

 

[Cajun Heat]

I have our ST at the dealership right now having the camera and bolt recall done. They mentioned that they may have to wait on parts for the bolt recall.

 

[DaveW012]

The dealer has my parts on order and will be there in a few days. I’d like to get both recalls done during the same appointment. Unfortunately they can’t do that though. I don’t know how they can quote these ridiculous times to get the work done.

 

[Boyd]

Our ST is on the schedule to get the bolt done. My service advisor said they are asking for 2 days to do the recall because they load the que to keep the pipeline full. From a business POV, it makes total sense to me and I'm happy to work with em to get it done.

 

[Cajun Heat]

The dealership took care of both recalls (rear bolt, camera) and a transmission fluid change in under 24hrs! Dropped it off Wednesday at 4:30pm and it was ready at 10:45 Thursday morning. I have never had work done this quickly on any of my cars. The Service Advisor even said to not hold them to this standard of quickness...lol

 

[CoHPhasor]

The dealership took care of both recalls (rear bolt, camera) and a transmission fluid change in under 24hrs! Dropped it off Wednesday at 4:30pm and it was ready at 10:45 Thursday morning. I have never had work done this quickly on any of my cars. The Service Advisor even said to not hold them to this standard of quickness...lol

Yea? they said what they actually *did*?

 

[Cajun Heat]

Yea? they said what they actually *did*?

They replaced the camera, subframe bushing and bolt with some other bolts and stuff. See attachments.

 

[dotmaurer]

I had the bolt recall done this week. Immediately after I picked it up I now have a clicking noise when I make a right turn. Is this a coincidence or could this be from the bolt replacement?

 

[st8]

I have still been putting this recall off. I should probably get it done but you know, when there's no active issues, hard to justify taking it in.

 

[Cdubya]

I have still been putting this recall off. I should probably get it done but you know, when there's no active issues, hard to justify taking it in.

This thread is proof it pays to wait. Let your dealer get a few under their belt so that there is less chance for mess ups.

 

[st8]

This thread is proof it pays to wait. Let your dealer get a few under their belt so that there is less chance for mess ups.

Yeah very true