Front diff. Seized at 27k!

[xxEMOxx]

So,

2 days ago while I was driving my 2020 Ranger 4wd on the interstate, my truck started to shake VIOLENTLY!!! Then smell BAD!!! Right as I went to get off the exit ramp, it stopped, like the collision control was activated or someone slammed on just the front brakes.

The whole front axle set locked up, truck wouldn't roll or move at all!

This was on pavement in 2wd!! Is this a common issue? What could have caused the problem?

The dealer just told me " yeah the front differential assembly is shot and we need to get you a new one " I asked why, and their answer was " we don't know ". So any info, feedback or experiences of similar would be appreciated.

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[RedDakooter05]

Have not heard of any issues with peoples front diff's crapping the bed, sounds like you just got a once off chance diff failure.

Did you notice any leaks form the front diff area leading up to this?

 

[Ranger54]

This is a new one… did you buy the truck new?

 

[xxEMOxx]

Have not heard of any issues with peoples front diff's crapping the bed, sounds like you just got a once off chance diff failure.

Did you notice any leaks form the front diff area leading up to this?

No leaks, no puddles, no major hard use 4x4 other then occasional dirt roads at lower speeds, and then typical midwestern winter usage.

Truck was bought and brought home BRAND NEW at 45 miles by me, so its not a used rode hard put up wet situtation. Have been diligent about maintenance.

Its F**KING scary though to have your front wheels totally lock up though especially on the interstate!!!

Oddly to get my truck off the freeway offramp, it wouldn't roll forward or like to be pushed/towed forward, but it did let me drive it making a HUGE RACKET in reverse off the ramp and into the gas station parking lot!

That confuses me a little that it did roll in reverse, but not forward because if the axle hubs or diff is seized shouldn't it not go either direction?

 

[JaysOnTheEDGE]

Do you have any modifications to the front suspension?

 

[xxEMOxx]

Do you have any modifications to the front suspension?

Just the Ford Fox 2.0 lift, that was installed by a Ford dealer.

 

[RedDakooter05]

No leaks, no puddles, no major hard use 4x4 other then occasional dirt roads at lower speeds, and then typical midwestern winter usage.

Truck was bought and brought home BRAND NEW at 45 miles by me, so its not a used rode hard put up wet situtation. Have been diligent about maintenance.

Its F**KING scary though to have your front wheels totally lock up though especially on the interstate!!!

Oddly to get my truck off the freeway offramp, it wouldn't roll forward or like to be pushed/towed forward, but it did let me drive it making a HUGE RACKET in reverse off the ramp and into the gas station parking lot!

That confuses me a little that it did roll in reverse, but not forward because if the axle hubs or diff is seized shouldn't it not go either direction?

Just seems like you got a bad diff, Given what you said, you've done nothing wrong.
Unfortunate situation that could have been dangerous, but on the flip slide this should be covered under warranty and unlikely to happen again.


As to why it would only roll backward, hard to say. Probably just how the pieces of debris ended up resting inside the differential casing.

 

[xxEMOxx]

Just seems like you got a bad diff, Given what you said, you've done nothing wrong.
Unfortunate situation that could have been dangerous, but on the flip slide this should be covered under warranty and unlikely to happen again.


As to why it would only roll backward, hard to say. Probably just how the pieces of debris ended up resting inside the differential casing.

Yeah, it was weird, the only rolling backwards that is. Whenever I went and tried to push or drive it forward it literally felt like the front brakes where locked up.

It took the dealer like an hour or two just to get it in the shop, the had to put tire dollies under the fronts and literally push it all the way around the building from where the tow guy dumped it.

Warranty is taking care of it, but getting a loaner/rental that I didn't have to pay for was a pain, although it got taken care of after a few phone calls.

Im just very curious as to what made it do what it did. Now once it had KABOOMED I could smell and see some fluid, but mt assumption is that was from whatever binding of issues that caused the seizing in the first place. :-/ The dealers solution is just new parts, but I am curious as to what failed inside the case in the first place and it seems like the tech and dealer don't even care to dig in and find out.

Maybe I'll know more Monday or Tuesday, we shall see.

 

[FunInTheSun]

<snip>
Oddly to get my truck off the freeway offramp, it wouldn't roll forward or like to be pushed/towed forward, but it did let me drive it making a HUGE RACKET in reverse off the ramp and into the gas station parking lot!

That confuses me a little that it did roll in reverse, but not forward because if the axle hubs or diff is seized shouldn't it not go either direction?

Helical gears generate thrust forces because the teeth act like wedges, and the thrust forces can cause the gears to shift and bind when the forces push one way, and loosen when the force is the other way. I believe this is part of the "magic" of the Torsen Limited Slip Differential.

 

[RedDakooter05]

Yeah, it was weird, the only rolling backwards that is. Whenever I went and tried to push or drive it forward it literally felt like the front brakes where locked up.

It took the dealer like an hour or two just to get it in the shop, the had to put tire dollies under the fronts and literally push it all the way around the building from where the tow guy dumped it.

Warranty is taking care of it, but getting a loaner/rental that I didn't have to pay for was a pain, although it got taken care of after a few phone calls.

Im just very curious as to what made it do what it did. Now once it had KABOOMED I could smell and see some fluid, but mt assumption is that was from whatever binding of issues that caused the seizing in the first place. :-/ The dealers solution is just new parts, but I am curious as to what failed inside the case in the first place and it seems like the tech and dealer don't even care to dig in and find out.

Maybe I'll know more Monday or Tuesday, we shall see.

A diff repair is a long job, they probably won't want their lift occupied for too long while they inspect.

 

[xxEMOxx]

Helical gears generate thrust forces because the teeth act like wedges, and the thrust forces can cause the gears to shift and bind when the forces push one way, and loosen when the force is the other way. I believe this is part of the "magic" of the Torsen Limited Slip Differential.

Sounds like physics, so ummmm I'll take your word on that, but it sounds right and sciencey.

 

[xxEMOxx]

the dealership wont care why
their job is to replace things
hopefully Ford wants to know and will at least request it for their own inspection.

Failures like that are very rare. it takes a massive fail to cause binding or that magnitude.
I'm sure the root cause will be a lubrication issue.

Hum, I would think if it was leaking, I would have smelled something, seen something leaking/wet under or something align those lines. But who knows maybe they just didn't fill it enough from the factory to begin with.

Your right they don't generally wish to want to diagnose why things failed, my OCD wants to know. Maybe I have/had a bad seal, and it just slowly weeped and I never noticed, but in my 4 oil changes I'd assume they would have spotted something.

There was the other person I saw whose diff. did apparently also went bad, but they luckily had very good lemon laws in there state. Here I would have to be without for 40 days, and then take it to arbitration.

 

[JaysOnTheEDGE]

it's been taken apart at least once to have the fox 2.0 install by a dealer. so there are a few things that could have happened improper install work, faulty/ damaged seal, damaged CV causing issue with diff, etc or it could have just naturally failed. nothing is 100% fail proof, reason for the warranty.

 

[Stevedbvik1]

Who did the maintenance? Found out that Ford dealer “The Works” package doesn’t include diff level checks. Had a 2016 F150 that dealer did all maintenance on from new. At 52K we discovered by checking ourselves that the rear diff was 1.5 pints low. No leaks. When asked, dealer said not part of the package along with transmission and transfer case level too. No damage to rear diff but made me question just what do they really check. My gut tells me it was low from factory and no one ever caught it.

 

[rcairflr]

Your right they don't generally wish to want to diagnose why things failed,

The differential is not made by Ford. It is made by one of their many vendors. It would be the vendors job to diagnose what happened (assuming their is a build problem).
More than likely the dealership is also Privately owned, so why would they take the time to diagnose a vendors part?

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