STDevil

Man that screen! I hope you got a tub of popcorn and a box of Milk Duds to go with that!

Hi all - Someone has put together a really good YouTube Video which discusses the issue. It looks like the axle will be removed from the vehicle for the repair to be performed. It will be interesting to see the repair procedure, when someone finds it.

Our welders have to be qualified each year. Their welds get the heck inspected out of them, sometimes by multiple parties. Some even get X-Rayed. A big factor here is that our customer requires it and keeps a very close eye on this. Anyway, what do you think of my "load it up and hit the brakes" idea?

MSD, I agree with you. I work in Oil and Gas, and we require certified welders to join metal when it really matters. My concern is that the dealer will have someone slap a bead on the axle without the right prep or considerations. Burn through on the tube, coking of the lube on the inside, warping of the tube which stresses the bearings, changing the temper of the tube which results in more problems...and I can't wait for someone to burn through a brake line and cause a fire in the shop. Maybe the best approach is to load the bed to bring the truck up to rated GVWR, go out on the road, bring it up to speed, and hit the brakes to see what happens...

Just saw on my Ford Pass App that my beloved F350 is being recalled for a defect with the rear axle (Dana M275). Apparently, because of thin tubes and weld locations, the axle may detach! I poked around on the Web, but could not find a lot of information on exactly what the problem is or how it was discovered (I think I know the answer though...). Anyway, I guess about 35000 of us will get recalled. It's interesting that there are only 35000 units recalled and that the time span for the defect is August 2020 to May 2021. That made me wonder if the defect is specific to a certain batch of M275 axles vs. the entire production run. I also wondered why the F250s were not recalled, but I am guessing that the payload rating is not enough to warrant concerns. Anyway, I will keep looking for more information and post it here if I find it. If anyone else has information to share that would be good to! Happy hauling...

If you are up in the Seattle Area, go see Brian Camp at Korum Ford or Steve Cunnington at Ford of Kirkland. Both are old school solid guys who will treat you right. Korum offers a lifetime warranty on the powertrain (selected components) FWIW.

Hello cyberdan - truck arrived this morning. A little early but that’s fine by me! Thanks for the tracking updates, it made the wait a little less painful!

Well I ended up ordering new fasteners. Everything comes in packages of four, so I have twice as much as I will need. If anyone in the Seattle area is interested in buying the left overs, let mw know...otherwise, they'll go in my nut and bolt organizer...

The cause of the change in the date is not clear to me or anyone else as far as I know.

Hello - This request may violate rule 9 and 11. If it does I will expect not to get a response and will not bug you. I was wondering if you could let me know if the “location” of the truck has updated. The reason I ask is that the date on the bottom of my window sticker changed from 2/11 (when I am purely guessing the truck was loaded onto a rail car) to 2/19. Your update had let me know that the truck arrived in Minot ND at just about midnight on the 12th. VIN = 1FT8W3BT2MEC91328 Since the date on the sticker had changed (and again, I have no reason why but I am guessing that something happened), I was wondering if the truck had arrived at a new place. If this request was in line with the rules (since the ETA of 3/3 has not arrived), I wanted to see if you could let me know where the truck is. Either way, it looks like I will get the truck in a couple of weeks. I’ll send a photo then. Thanks…

Ok. Sorry. But it’s like the night before Christmas. I guess I’ll just try to “go to sleep” knowing that Santa will be here soon enough...

The TFL videos are awesome. I have seen their method. I’ll probably just do that (and save myself a bunch of time at the pump and the evil stares from the people in line)...

I think it means the truck is actually being built. The date on the bottom of the sticker is wierd. For my truck, it started with 1/27 (I believe the day the order was pulled), 1/28 (the day it went to plant), 2/4 (day built - this roughly coincided with the dealers system which said the vehicle was "scheduled to day" of 2/2), 2/11 (I am guessing the day it loaded onto the rail car since it arrived in ND at midnight on the 12th...but Alumizilla said it was "in transit" on the 7th...but I know it had to go by truck to the rail depot), and finally 2/19 (when I am guessing it arrived at the Rail Depot in Western Washington state). This is all pure guesswork on my part. I am not completely sure what causes the date to change. I am sure someone knows! I hope this helps somewhat...

Hi all - for those who put new shocks on their trucks, did you re-use your shock bolts? I have a F350 4WD en route and plan to replace the shocks with Bilstiens. The service manual says to discard all of the bolts and nuts. I am guess they are torque to yield but don’t know this for a fact. The parts guy said it’d be about $50 for new hardware and also said that most DIYers don’t replace the hardware. He suggested that I go to Tacoma Screw (if it is a fastener, they probably have it) and get the fasteners there. I am interested in any input from you guys... thanks...

I really wanted the LEDs and was willing to pay the extra $1k for it. But, I did not want the stuff that came with the Ultimate package (except maybe the power adjustments for the steering wheel and the ambient lighting). In the end, I just went with the Value Package and I will be happy with it. Maybe there’s an easy hack to add the interior lighting but if not, I won’t worry about it. The interior ambient lighting is a nice feature in my 4Runner but not a “must have” for me. I think my truck might have arrived at the local rail depot today so I am getting closer to my delivery!