2017 Ford Raptor Torsen front diff failure.

[ZaneMasterX]

Anyone have a diff eat itself? I have.

Had a front end rattle/grind that kept coming from the front left. Everyone thought it was the IWE since its a common sound and problem on Fords. Both IWEs and check valve was changed but the rattle remained.

Theory is one of the retaining straps somehow got cracked which was the source of the rattle. When I finally put the truck in 4hi after driving a couple months with the rattle the strap let go (probably the left one in the picture) and then this was the result after some 4wd load was applied with a loss of traction.

When it broke I was on snow/ice in a very low traction scenario. I didnt catch dry ground or any rocks that would cause an instant load that would normally break something like this. It was more of a slip of the front tires then a snap and it was over. It was far from dramatic.

It wasnt violent and I wasnt thrashing on it so I was shocked when the dealer said the diff exploded.

 

[smurfslayer]

damn that’s unfortunate. Good luck with the repair, hopefully back in business soon.

 

[ZaneMasterX]

damn that’s unfortunate. Good luck with the repair, hopefully back in business soon.

It would be if it wasnt also waiting for cam phaser parts haha.

 

[GCATX]

I don't know, but your ring gear looks chewed up as shit. Perhaps a chunk the gear got wedged between the ring and pinion gears and broke the bearing cap.

Was the diff ever worked on previously?

 

[GCATX]

If it's still in that state that you show in the photo, I would go to the dealer and ask to look at it. Grab the pinion end of the driveshaft and make sure it doesn't wiggle around at the diff. If the pinion bearings aren't properly preloaded from the factory, along with other things of course, it can result in damage. I'd be kind of curious if the rattle your heard in 2wd was the pinion shaft bouncing around.

If out of warranty, you can do like the other guy and find a used front diff on ebay or whatever.

 

[ZaneMasterX]

If it's still in that state that you show in the photo, I would go to the dealer and ask to look at it. Grab the pinion end of the driveshaft and make sure it doesn't wiggle around at the diff. If the pinion bearings aren't properly preloaded from the factory, along with other things of course, it can result in damage. I'd be kind of curious if the rattle your heard in 2wd was the pinion shaft bouncing around.

If out of warranty, you can do like the other guy and find a used front diff on ebay or whatever.

They are going to call me when they get the parts in and pull it all out. Dealer said it shouldnt be an issue being covered under warranty which is good at least. The front diff was never opened and worked on, truck only has 35k on it.

It could be chewed up from driving it 50 or so miles back after the snap happened. It didnt sound like something was seriously wrong after, just sounded like a halfway engaged IWE grinding away. When the dealer got the truck and drove it they thought it was a bad IWE from the sound as well so they changed both hubs/IWEs up front again, drove it which obviously didnt fix it so they pulled the cover and found that.

Hopefully when they tear it all down it doesnt turn into a huge nightmare but knowing my luck it will.

 

[rtmozingo]

Hopefully when they tear it all down it doesnt turn into a huge nightmare but knowing my luck it will.

I was about to say it seems like you've had a few noteworthy problems with your truck, which is unfortunate. What build date was yours? I'm at the same mileage and nothing so far, but I have a few less offroad miles than you do. Still, that shouldn't affect the diff failure IMO.

 

[ZaneMasterX]

I was about to say it seems like you've had a few noteworthy problems with your truck, which is unfortunate. What build date was yours? I'm at the same mileage and nothing so far, but I have a few less offroad miles than you do. Still, that shouldn't affect the diff failure IMO.

The truck was ordered December 30th 2016 so it was an early build. Its sad because I havent thrashed on it where Id excpect things to start going wrong. I grew up thrashing on Jeeps and old Blazers with my dad and a lot of those situations were ones where you say "Im surprised it lasted that long" or "Yup, knew that was going to happen". But the shit with this truck have all been those where you say "WTF was that?" and "how the hell did that happen?". I watch all the videos of the dudes at Snoball and the dunes who are flogging the shit out of their trucks and dont break anything, I havent gone nearly as hard as any of them but yet my shit breaks. All my buddies who drive Toyotas and Chevys give me shit because "isnt a Raptor supposed to be a badass offroad truck?". Out of three years of ownership its been at the dealership for 5 months.

 

[rtmozingo]

Yeah, I was thinking you may just have early build issues. :/ I've flogged mine pretty hard - sizeable jumps, slipping and sliding at 40+mph in 4H, and no problems. I respect the truck's limits but I've seen others who don't and still have not broken anything.

 

[ZaneMasterX]

Yeah, I was thinking you may just have early build issues. :/ I've flogged mine pretty hard - sizeable jumps, slipping and sliding at 40+mph in 4H, and no problems. I respect the truck's limits but I've seen others who don't and still have not broken anything.

Thats what frustrates me because it feels like the damn thing is made out of glass. My 96 Jeep that I snow wheel and have zero mechanical sympathy for has never broken any diff components or axles, just u-joints.

Id really like to get rid of it and get a newer model but I have so much extra cash into it with line-x premium, sprayed wheel wells and front skid, Suntek Ultra PPF, and wrapped roof I dont want to have to do that shit all over on another truck because it adds thousands in extras immediately.

Ford did up the warranty to 6y/75k because of the problems but that still doesnt fix the fact my truck sits at the dealer waiting on parts instead of being driven.