Hi guys , I have a 2009 F350 6.4 Diesel that I drive for work.It is a King Ranch with 143,558 KM on it , and on Friday April 1 , I got stuck due to front end failure.
I work in the oil patch , and was doing a site in Alberta , driving through about 2" of mud due to the sudden melt of the big snowfall we had , resulting in the usual soft muddy roads this time of year.I was in 4 high , going slow , just enough to keep momentum so I didn't get stuck , and slow enough so the wheels were not spinning.I have been in much worse and never had a problem.Anyway , I was almost out after a few miles , had about half a mile of mud to go through , and I hear a bang and the drivers side front end dropped suddenly and that was it I wasn't moving.
I got out and looked at the front end , the fender was sitting on the tire , but the passenger side looked fine.With the mud I could not get a good look , but what I could see the ball joints where there but not attached to the tire, and the diff was hanging on the ground.There was no way a 2 wheel drive tow truck was going to get to me , so I had a tractor pull me to the road , and was taken to the ford dealer.
My boss stopped there yesterday to see how they were making out , and he was told the knuckle was sheared off , the half shaft was toast , and possibly the gears in the diff.They basically told him that I had run the diff dry.Now , for one , we baby these trucks , I just had all the fluids in the truck changed about 20,000 KM ago , and the diffs , transfer case and tranny get the fluids checked every oil change.Number 2 , if this was a case of no oil , wouldn't the diff seize up resulting in the diff basically grenading , probably snap the axle , and also toast the transfer case, not just do damage to one side of the truck?Also , how would the oil come out all the sudden unless the diff was compromised or the plug?
I am thinking I am lucky this happened while going slow , and not while doing highway speed because the truck would have rolled big time.I have never seen this kind of damage to a 4x when I wasn't working it hard at all.Normally you see tie rods , universal joints , ball joints , or if you work it really hard , a control arm.
Has anyone ever encountered this at all or something similar?I am thinking there was something weak on the truck , and it let go , and this is not the first major problem on this truck , so the boss is getting rid of it and putting me in a 2011.
