2015 F-350 Front Diff Distruction (from factory)

the_twig_187 · January 5, 2016

got a 2015 F-350 with 17,000km on it... only history on the vehicle is one FMPP oil change. customer complaining about a horrible grinding noise comming from the front end. roadtest and put it up on the host. removed the from drive shaft and turned the pinion flange by hand, it would turn smooth until a certain point in which it would bind up and could not rotate anymore (same thing in the other direction) removed the front axles and rotated the pinion again (same result) thus comfirming the issue is within the front diff.

removed the front diff cover and found utter distruction! it appears a "bolt" had wedged itself inbetween the case and the ring gear causing the ring gear to distort and come in contact with the inside of the cover, the back of the carrier and broke off 3 teeth on the pinion gear... the only question is "where did this bolt come from"? all the ring gear bolts are accounted for, the diff pin is infact a "pin" and not a bolt, all the diff cover bolts were installed... i can only conclude that a bolt was left inside from assembly...weird

jimmy57 · January 6, 2016

Spare one or is it missing from the ring gear?

Bruce Amacker · January 6, 2016

Could it have fit through the fill hole- sabotage?

Keith Browning · January 8, 2016

I had a similar one last year. The ring gear bolts were falling out with the same result as pictured here.

the_twig_187 · January 8, 2016

no... all the ring gear bolts were secure and accounted for, all the front cover bolts were secure and accounted for. the only thing we can think of is when they are assembled they are facing upwards and perhaps an extra cover bolt fell into the diff and continued down the line without anyone noticing.

the truck was purchased in the summer time and we have had no snow up until last week, so the customer never turned on his 4x4 (the front diff had never turned and thus the bolt was sitting at the bottom of the diff) until last week when he turned on his 4x4 and started driving thus causing the bolt to get flung from the bottom and eventually into the ring gear and pinion.

it was a bitch to put back together too, I don't know if anyone has experience working with Dana 60 front diffs but there are no side shims between the side gears and the carrier. the shims go under the side gears so any adjustments that needed to be made for backlash needed to have the bearings pulled off and then pressed back on again. I took me about 20 hours to complete everything and it paid a whopping 7.1

Keith Browning · January 8, 2016

Is that a cover bolt? I guess it is by the size. On mine half of the ring gear bolts were loose, three came out and one ended up in the gears. Looked quite the same. In any event, that bolt did not belong in there! Ouch!

Buddy_M · January 9, 2016

All the dana axles I'vr ever set up have the carrier shims under the bearing cones. As I've done them I buy a second set of cones and open the bore with a sanding wheel and die grinder until they are a slip fit. Easier to adjust shims, then you are much more likely to be absolutely correct with backlash, gear pattern, and preload once you install new bearings for final assembly. Will save you a lot of time especially if you have to constantly adjust everything.

forddieseldoctor · January 9, 2016

All the dana axles I'vr ever set up have the carrier shims under the bearing cones. As I've done them I buy a second set of cones and open the bore with a sanding wheel and die grinder until they are a slip fit. Easier to adjust shims, then you are much more likely to be absolutely correct with backlash, gear pattern, and preload once you install new bearings for final assembly. Will save you a lot of time especially if you have to constantly adjust everything.

That's actually a really good idea. I have one apart right now. The dummy bearings are stupid expensive.

the_twig_187 · January 9, 2016

my shop forman is really awesome about tools. he had a third party company come in and inventory all our tools, set them up on a computer program to log them in what tool room, what shelf and what case # the specific tools are in. then the tech signs out the tools and then signs them back in so if another tech has a press or something ect. you don't go looking for it, you can see his tech number. the forman also purchased this press tool for removing the side gear bearings without damaging them, so that's how we set up the diff. I think we ended up pulling the side gears off about 4-5 times before we got it right. it took about 20 hrs and I cant imagine doing it without the proper tools. you wouldn't make enough money to afford to eat the cardboard box that the mac&cheese came in lol

Matt Saunoras · January 19, 2016

I have setup bearings I made for a Dana 60. They work the same in a super duty front axle and an e-series SRW rear axle. It really does take a long time to set up axles correctly. I've set up the last 4-5 ring and pinion sets the best as I could and while it feels good to know it's right, it isn't gonna pay what it's worth. For the record I bought all the 10.5 pinion tools which do work well.

The first Dana 80 I have to do is going to hurt the wallet. We have zero anything for that diff.