Cracked Front Diff Housing

[dh4234]

My 2021 started to leave an oil puddle in my driveway. I took it to the dealer this morning, and after a couple of hours of searching, they found a hairline crack in the front diff housing. They mentioned the cold and snow as a potential cause, but still covered by warranty. Has anyone heard of that before?

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[My 2ND Ford]

My 2021 started to leave an oil puddle in my driveway. I took it to the dealer this morning, and after a couple of hours of searching, they found a hairline crack in the front diff housing. They mentioned the cold and snow as a potential cause, but still covered by warranty. Has anyone heard of that before?

Never have I heard of cold causing something like this and I have been associated with the automotive industry since the early 70's. I would lean more towards a bad casting from the foundry, but then you would see more of this happening if you had a bad mold. Unless there was an obvious strike in that area { you hit something big and hard }, I wouldn't expect Ford to deny a warranty claim. Good luck, keep us posted.

 

[dh4234]

Never have I heard of cold causing something like this and I have been associated with the automotive industry since the early 70's. I would lean more towards a bad casting from the foundry, but then you would see more of this happening if you had a bad mold. Unless there was an obvious strike in that area { you hit something big and hard }, I wouldn't expect Ford to deny a warranty claim. Good luck, keep us posted.

I’m not concerned about Ford denying the claim. This part is protected by the skid plate, and there is no damage on it. It just seems like a really odd failure.

 

[Fentonclark9]

Maybe not that wierd because my 2021 with 13k miles just did the same thing. Has a hairline crack along the pinion shaft and fluid now leaking out. I've barely used the 4x4 and has never been offroad, just use it for highway towing. I'm leaning towards a casting issue?

 

[hotrodmex]

I would lean more towards a bad casting from the foundry, but then you would see more of this happening if you had a bad mold.

In addition to the two people now in this thread, there have been two on another board. I'm sure there are more out there, like the MaxTow axle bolts.

One user had a 4" lift so they denied his claim (shout out to Rough Country for the auxiliary warranty actually being worth something, though.), but the other user was stock height, no modifications.

User #1

User#2

Makes me think I might just go ahead and buy the VAS Differential Brace.

 

[Rockman5159]

In addition to the two people now in this thread, there have been two on another board. I'm sure there are more out there, like the MaxTow axle bolts.

One user had a 4" lift so they denied his claim (shout out to Rough Country for the auxiliary warranty actually being worth something, though.), but the other user was stock height, no modifications.

User #1

User#2

Makes me think I might just go ahead and buy the VAS Differential Brace.

WOW what a gap!

 

[powerboatr]

that has to be some sort of casting flaw .
who is vendor on the front diff housing?

very strange indeed

 

[Snakebitten]

BorgWarner was on the previous generation I believe. Yea, those are either casting flaws or some kind of impact damage before it was installed in the truck.

It's probably not unheard of for components to be hit or dropped before they ever make it to the assembly line. If you climb under a Powerboost you will see tags on some components that say "Discard if dropped"

The consumer doesn't see those tags and we don't likely even consider that an inverter might slip out of someone's hand or fall off the top of a pallet. But surely they are not rare occurrences.

 

[powerboatr]

yup
has to be a screw up at manufacturer. that thick of alum casting should be strong,
maybe the mount is causing induced stress, or dropped prior to assembly
you just never know.
as an airplane fixer this stuff drives me nuts. installation, manufacturer, casting done wrong,
dropped , etc

 

[motosapien]

Left my truck for 1st service just before turning 10kmiles and the service associate calls me and says my front diff is leaking.

 

[SRHAGEN]

That’s one we should all watch. I thought axles are supposed to float in and out some with suspension movement.
That looks like overtravel of the cv and axle and knuckle.
it could be a design flaw, if it is some engineer just lost his job. Maybe the lame struts/shocks from Hitachi ? Ha ha
Could be metallurgy issue too. I know in 2021 there was a shortage of raw aluminum for foundry’s. They were buying all thescrap they could find. paying top dollar for salvage too.
I remember the 78/79 Chevy half ton PU body panel rust issue. Had rust thru holes At 10 months due to steel slag/foundry issues.

 

[hotrodmex]

Could be metallurgy issue too. I know in 2021 there was a shortage of raw aluminum for foundry’s. They were buying all thescrap they could find. paying top dollar for salvage too.

Considering the design really hasn't changed much since the early 2000s, or at least not since 2017, I'd wager this is a good hypothesis.

All over it looks like the 21's are getting the shaft with a lot of problems.

 

[Magic1]

In addition to the two people now in this thread, there have been two on another board. I'm sure there are more out there, like the MaxTow axle bolts.

One user had a 4" lift so they denied his claim (shout out to Rough Country for the auxiliary warranty actually being worth something, though.), but the other user was stock height, no modifications.

User #1

User#2

Makes me think I might just go ahead and buy the VAS Differential Brace.

I now have almost the identical issue. No lift kit or other mods.

 

[hotrodmex]

I now have almost the identical issue. No lift kit or other mods.

Odd question, had you applied significant power while in reverse while in 4x4?

 

[Magic1]

I was in 4H, in reverse, tires were spinning, tires caught traction and boom, no More 4X4.

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