GEN 2 KHC Torque Arm, anyone running it?

[ljn21]

Yes it can. No issues with OEM springs or aftermarket like Deaver or Icon.

Thanks!

 

[John Rathjen]

Weight wasn’t an issue I’d considered before, but, if you look at the drawings back on page 3, at least it’s all centered and not outboard. sure, Titanium would be great but it’s a bear to work with and I would imagine the forces the t/a is counteracting is beyond the capability of aluminum.

AWE 2FG removes the rear muffler, at least 40 pounds.

Just out of curiosity, what is it made from - regular steel, or 4130 chromoly ?

 

[Tr4ckD4ys]

Since there seems to be a lot of discussion going on around the nervous rear end of the raptor and how to fix it, I’m wondering how does this torque arm, deavers and aftermarket springs affect warranty?

For a guy that’s likely to drive 75% road (and when I say that I really mean 95% and am just embarrassed to admit it), is this even something I should consider?

 

[lateralis]

So I've been running the torque arm for about a week now and you definitely notice the difference. Back end feels a lot more planted. With that being said I did run into a problem. Initially I had some clunks after install which I accounted to it settling in. I went under the truck today to put on a missing bracket from my kit for the skid plate and noticed diff fluid puddle on the skid plate. Poking around I found that the front skid plate U-bracket had rocked forward and chewed up my rear pinion seal. After that I spent a couple of hours trying to stuff the sucker back in and re-adjusting the torque arm assembly so that the bracket would sit on top of the diff, but both ended up in failure. Luckily I got a shop where i can modify the bracket so it will prevent it from rocking into the seal again. Still though I'm pretty sure I need to get a new pinion seal which sucks.. Guess it's time to go ahead and upgrade the rear diff cover since I'll have to drain the whole thing anyway...

 

[MacK88DO]

So do you think it was a failure in design or maybe not enough torque on the initial install? Was planning to put mine on next week but now I’m hesitant


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[khcdave]

So I've been running the torque arm for about a week now and you definitely notice the difference. Back end feels a lot more planted. With that being said I did run into a problem. Initially I had some clunks after install which I accounted to it settling in. I went under the truck today to put on a missing bracket from my kit for the skid plate and noticed diff fluid puddle on the skid plate. Poking around I found that the front skid plate U-bracket had rocked forward and chewed up my rear pinion seal. After that I spent a couple of hours trying to stuff the sucker back in and re-adjusting the torque arm assembly so that the bracket would sit on top of the diff, but both ended up in failure. Luckily I got a shop where i can modify the bracket so it will prevent it from rocking into the seal again. Still though I'm pretty sure I need to get a new pinion seal which sucks.. Guess it's time to go ahead and upgrade the rear diff cover since I'll have to drain the whole thing anyway...

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This is the first issue I have seen with this. Is the axle cradle clamped down tight? Shouldnt be able to rock forward like that. Please send me some more pics

 

[lateralis]

This is the first issue I have seen with this. Is the axle cradle clamped down tight? Shouldnt be able to rock forward like that. Please send me some more pics

I used an impact on the cradle bolts so they were tightened to at least 150ft-lbs. I do have an undercoat spray which might've caused it to break loose but I don't know. I only hear the clunk sound a couple of times the 1st couple of days so I feel like the cradle clamps dug in further after the fact. The amount it did move though was equivalent to the gap in the from the cradle rib to diff in the center of the cradle when the front U bracket is above/touching the diff housing above the pinion seal. There is no rear adjustment for that U bracket though so whenever I tightened it down it would basically line up edge of the diff housing.

I have the U bracket off now and I plan on welding on some extra metal to the center of the U bracket so that regardless if it would rock in the future it wont go into the pinion seal. I figure bolts relaxing (stretch) over time to also possibly lead to it sliding in the future. I haven't noticed it move though (clunk sound) since I removed the U bracket.

I'm also not planning on putting it back on until I get a new pinion seal so i need to start looking for stuff to do that job. For more photos just let me know what angle you need of where and I'll take them when I'm not at work but I don't know how useful they will be with the U bracket off.

 

[khcdave]

I used an impact on the cradle bolts so they were tightened to at least 150ft-lbs. I do have an undercoat spray which might've caused it to break loose but I don't know. I only hear the clunk sound a couple of times the 1st couple of days so I feel like the cradle clamps dug in further after the fact. The amount it did move though was equivalent to the gap in the from the cradle rib to diff in the center of the cradle when the front U bracket is above/touching the diff housing above the pinion seal. There is no rear adjustment for that U bracket though so whenever I tightened it down it would basically line up edge of the diff housing.

I have the U bracket off now and I plan on welding on some extra metal to the center of the U bracket so that regardless if it would rock in the future it wont go into the pinion seal. I figure bolts relaxing (stretch) over time to also possibly lead to it sliding in the future. I haven't noticed it move though (clunk sound) since I removed the U bracket.

I'm also not planning on putting it back on until I get a new pinion seal so i need to start looking for stuff to do that job. For more photos just let me know what angle you need of where and I'll take them when I'm not at work but I don't know how useful they will be with the U bracket off.

if u can get some pics of the axle housing above the pinion where the tabs lay on it would be great. Just want to make sure both tabs are pressing on the housing after the brace is tightened down. Shouldn’t be able to rock at all after it’s tighten down. What year is ur truck? Either way I will get u fixed up!!!

 

[lateralis]

if u can get some pics of the axle housing above the pinion where the tabs lay on it would be great. Just want to make sure both tabs are pressing on the housing after the brace is tightened down. Shouldn’t be able to rock at all after it’s tighten down. What year is ur truck? Either way I will get u fixed up!!!

So if you look at the picture with the U bracket that was the gap from those tabs to the diff housing. It's about a 1/4" gap. On mine if you have the cradle completely flush against the housing you can't get the bolts into the U bracket and if you did it would tighten it into the rear pinion seal. So I had to position my U bracket in assumption that it would bear load against the diff housing... And now everything makes perfect sense to me... BLAH.

Ok so now I got 2 options with this. 1) Weld on additional metal such that the U bracket would rest on top of the diff housing thus making it load bearing. 2) Mill out the center of the U bracket so that it I can rock the cradle flush like you guys designed it but without having to worry about the lip coming down. into the seal. I think I'm leaning towards milling it out.

I looked around at Ford Genuine Parts and it looks like I've been calling the damaged part wrong. I think its Part #4859 "Deflector" of the Differential Assembly. I'm not sure if the seal is actually screwed or if it's just the plastic deflector. Both a new seal and deflector looks to be about $30 so that's not bad. Either way I need to drop the drive shaft and remove the hub and might as well upgrade the rear diff cover. Oh and my truck is a '19 with about 8k miles. Yay! lol...

 

[sixshooter_45]

So if you look at the picture with the U bracket that was the gap from those tabs to the diff housing. It's about a 1/4" gap. On mine if you have the cradle completely flush against the housing you can't get the bolts into the U bracket and if you did it would tighten it into the rear pinion seal. So I had to position my U bracket in assumption that it would bear load against the diff housing... And now everything makes perfect sense to me... BLAH.

Ok so now I got 2 options with this. 1) Weld on additional metal such that the U bracket would rest on top of the diff housing thus making it load bearing. 2) Mill out the center of the U bracket so that it I can rock the cradle flush like you guys designed it but without having to worry about the lip coming down. into the seal. I think I'm leaning towards milling it out.

I looked around at Ford Genuine Parts and it looks like I've been calling the damaged part wrong. I think its Part #4859 "Deflector" of the Differential Assembly. I'm not sure if the seal is actually screwed or if it's just the plastic deflector. Both a new seal and deflector looks to be about $30 so that's not bad. Either way I need to drop the drive shaft and remove the hub and might as well upgrade the rear diff cover. Oh and my truck is a '19 with about 8k miles. Yay! lol...

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Curious, was this installed per instructions?

Just wonder if others or myself will have this issue when installed.