Ford dealer scolds you for using 4wd?

Curious. Do you own a Bronco?

EZAPAR

Curious. Do you own a Bronco?

Yes 2021 Badlands Sasquatch

What happened, for those of us without internet, who can't watch the video?

All Terrain Nation
What happens when
the transfer case fails and the Ford dealership scolds you for using 4wd? Dave Z forum member here knows and isn’t happy how he has been treated by Ford
Warranty denied! - Ford Bronco broken transfer case in sand

As for the bit where he refers to the techs not knowing about the vehicles, ford puts us through trainings in regards to all aspects of the new models. We had a bronco specific training as well. When it goes in for a main shop diag it isn’t just some lube tech looking at the vehicle. I personally serviced several broncos. I’ve also attended off roadeo where they had us keep the vehicles in 4L which to me made me very uncomfortable haha. Driving continuously in 4L is not good for any of the drive train components. And as for it being an “off road” vehicle, the base model is capable yes. However the gearing in the 3.73 is not intended as an off road set up. Hence the different trim and diff options ie black diamond, badlands, sas package etc. I will add that with no external damage to the transfer case seeing the inside grenaded like that obviously happened from it locking up and it being forced to roll like when he was being dragged down the hill or whatever the tow truck drivers had to do to move it. But visibly seeing the vehicle dragged through a mud trail doesn’t exactly help his case. I‘ll add that dealerships submit everything to ford warranty. We can’t just go lying about the cause of failure to Ford. That’s called fraud haha. If Ford kicks anything back then the dealership has to eat it. Off roading causes damage. It’s just part of the game. Reminds me of this time we had a customer bring their mustang with a track pack in because the transmission blew apart when he told us he was launching it. Yeah the car has launch control. But but that doesn’t mean it’s guaranteed to not break. These are wearable parts. Shit happens. The transfer case locking up for no reason I would say should be covered. But watching the vehicle get dragged around then hearing the owner heard a pop is basically the equivalent to “I broke it moving it”.

ashirz_offroad

As for the bit where he refers to the techs not knowing about the vehicles, ford puts us through trainings in regards to all aspects of the new models. We had a bronco specific training as well. When it goes in for a main shop diag it isn’t just some lube tech looking at the vehicle. I personally serviced several broncos. I’ve also attended off roadeo where they had us keep the vehicles in 4L which to me made me very uncomfortable haha. Driving continuously in 4L is not good for any of the drive train components. And as for it being an “off road” vehicle, the base model is capable yes. However the gearing in the 3.73 is not intended as an off road set up. Hence the different trim and diff options ie black diamond, badlands, sas package etc. I will add that with no external damage to the transfer case seeing the inside grenaded like that obviously happened from it locking up and it being forced to roll like when he was being dragged down the hill or whatever the tow truck drivers had to do to move it. If it locked up on you and it was properly moved then yes without a doubt it should be covered. But visibly seeing the vehicle dragged through a mud trail doesn’t exactly help his case. All comes down to the dealership. Sounds like he brought it to a shitty one. I‘ll add that dealerships submit everything to ford warranty. We can’t just go lying about the cause of failure to Ford. That’s called fraud haha. If Ford kicks anything back then the dealership has to eat it. Off roading causes damage. It’s just part of the game. Reminds me of this time we had a customer bring their mustang with a track pack in because the transmission blew apart when he told us he was launching it. Yeah the car has launch control. But but that doesn’t mean it’s guaranteed to not break. These are wearable parts. Shit happens.

You lost me at 3:73 gearing isn’t intended for off roading. The base is an off road SUV, it’s just not as capable as the Sasquatch package.
I agree though that when we pulled the bronco out of the off road park it could have added to what had already broken. At that point though only an airlift would keep it from more damage.

From what I gathered from the owner the tech seemed less than interested in helping.
This is the 3rd Bronco in recent weeks to either blow a transfer case or differential.

Thank you for the reasonable comment

ashirz_offroad

I’ve also attended off roadeo where they had us keep the vehicles in 4L which to me made me very uncomfortable haha. Driving continuously in 4L is not good for any of the drive train components.

Why do you say it’s bad to drive continuously in 4L?

That's just awful. I hope Dave gets the dealership and by extension, Ford, to honor his warranty claim. It seems fair, given the description of the damage done under those less-than-extreme demands.

AcesandEights

What happened, for those of us without internet, who can't watch the video?

Dave Z was at a sandy off-road park driving in 4-Low. He was going down hill and heard a pop. Bronco wouldn’t move and had to be pulled out. Bronco then got towed a couple times to get it to the right techs. The transfer case was pretty much grenaded.

Techs claimed that Dave Z should not have driving in 4-Low and that caused the damage to the transfer case. Warranty was denied. Fix will be about $4k.

Typical dealer BS. First thing they try to do is blame the customer. The customer is guilty until proven innocent.

SlashRacer

Why do you say it’s bad to drive continuously in 4L?

4L is meant for low speed maneuvering. The amount of torque that’s being put out isn’t meant to be handled at higher speeds. Driving around continuously in 4L WILL cause failures.

All Terrain Nation
You lost me at 3:73 gearing isn’t intended for off roading. The base is an off road SUV, it’s just not as capable as the Sasquatch package.
I agree though that when we pulled the bronco out of the off road park it could have added to what had already broken. At that point though only an airlift would keep it from more damage.

From what I gathered from the owner the tech seemed less than interested in helping.
This is the 3rd Bronco in recent weeks to either blow a transfer case or differential.

Thank you for the reasonable comment

You’re very welcome. And I’m sorry if I misunderstood. From what I gathered from your video and what was said, the owner got high centered and y’all “recovered” him. While that was going on I’m sure he remained in 4L while he was dragged out. Had he put the vehicle in neutral tow mode it probably would’ve avoided and catastrophic failures. Definitely a shit situation regardless but if I broke something off roading I wouldn’t expect it to be covered under warranty. Not saying it was entirely his fault. In this circumstance it’s difficult to tell wether or not the transfer case had an issue before or after the high centering recovery.

Indeed, @ashirz_offroad. Perhaps a close examination of the transfer case components will yield some answers. If the unit self-destructed under normal load, it would be of great concern to anyone with a similarly-equipped vehicle. If there was a defect in workmanship (hello, faulty 2.7L V6 valves) then it could - and should - be flagged as a recall item at no cost to the customer.

Just having heard this story, I’m going to be reluctant to use 4L unless it’s absolutely necessary. While attending the Moab Off-Roadeo, it was regarded as an ace-up-your-sleeve means of power train deployment, meaning it was for very specific use when overcoming an obstacle.

BuckYeah

Indeed, @ashirz_offroad. Perhaps a close examination of the transfer case components will yield some answers. If the unit self-destructed under normal load, it would be of great concern to anyone with a similarly-equipped vehicle. If there was a defect in workmanship (hello, faulty 2.7L V6 valves) then it could - and should - be flagged as a recall item at no cost to the customer.

Just having heard this story, I’m going to be reluctant to use 4L unless it’s absolutely necessary. While attending the Moab Off-Roadeo, it was regarded as an ace-up-your-sleeve means of power train deployment, meaning it was for very specific use when overcoming an obstacle.

Yeah for whatever bizarre reason, me and my buddy (who works at the same dealership as me) were instructed to drive the vehicle in 4L. The whole time. Even when we were driving through the parking lot to the trail head. As techs we knew that we shouldn't be but we figured, "hey they're not our vehicles and they told us to". I couldn't agree more that 4L is a last resort solution to get yourself out or when doing some extreme slow speed rock crawling. I agree 100% that anything that fails due to faulty manufacturing should absolutely be covered under warranty. Let's all be honest, these are Fords we're talking about. I can't tell you how many times I do warranty work throughout the day. Unfortunately in this case it's unclear as to what exactly caused the failure. Again I could be misunderstanding the situation. Was the transfer case acting up before he got high centered? Or did it fail after the recovery. Either way I hope the owner gets his vehicle back sooner than later. I know I loved my base 2 door and am excited to have my base sas built in December.

ashirz_offroad

4L is meant for low speed maneuvering. The amount of torque that’s being put out isn’t meant to be handled at higher speeds. Driving around continuously in 4L WILL cause failures.

If it’s bad to drive around in 4L, why does Ford have everyone at all of the offroadeo ‘s drive around in 4L?

My Sasquatch is being built in December as well, @ashirz_offroad! (I hope... we'll see.) :geek:

There's a guy in Bronco Nation that took delivery of his Bronco with little or no differential fluid in the case. How does that even happen? Needless to say, the vehicle never left the dealership and he had to wait while the dealer secured a new diff for him. Crazy times! So, yeah, it's anyone's guess as to whether the catastrophic failure was the result of shoddy workmanship or the driver's error. That's something for the guys in white lab coats (or blue coveralls) to figure out. But I do think the OP is right; it's wrong for the dealer to automatically assume or imply that the driver is at fault. I'll be following this thread to see if there's any illumination forthcoming.

SlashRacer

If it’s bad to drive around in 4L, why does Ford have everyone at all of the offroadeo ‘s drive around in 4L?

I’m assuming since the majority of people attending have little to no experience at all in off roading. And it is very slow paced in the beginning and throughout the day. I don’t think we ever really went over 10mph other than driving to and from the trail head.

BuckYeah

My Sasquatch is being built in December as well, @ashirz_offroad! (I hope... we'll see.) :geek:

There's a guy in Bronco Nation that took delivery of his Bronco with little or no differential fluid in the case. How does that even happen? Needless to say, the vehicle never left the dealership and he had to wait while the dealer secured a new diff for him. Crazy times! So, yeah, it's anyone's guess as to whether the catastrophic failure was the result of shoddy workmanship or the driver's error. That's something for the guys in white lab coats (or blue coveralls) to figure out. But I do think the OP is right; it's wrong for the dealer to automatically assume or imply that the driver is at fault. I'll be following this thread to see if there's any illumination forthcoming.

Yeah let’s hope the scheduling doesn’t get pushed back since the ordering banks are still closed 🤞🏽

Sand requires low range, there is enough slip in sand to not damage diffs or transfer case.
I'm not drinking Ferds koolaid 😡 , all these problems do nothing to help with the Broncos off road image but suggest its just another poser, a mall crawler.
The trails on the Cape have a speed limit on them that is so low you can't drive in high range.4l isn't last resort but required.
How come Jeeps don't have these problems?
😡

ashirz_offroad

I’m assuming since the majority of people attending have little to no experience at all in off roading. And it is very slow paced in the beginning and throughout the day. I don’t think we ever really went over 10mph other than driving to and from the trail head.

I have been offroading since 1990. 4L is not hard of the drive train below 10mph. In fact, its easier on the transmission when going up steep hills and over obstacles. I spend 95% of my time(6+ hours when I'm there) at Holly Oaks in 4L, but I never get above 10mph.

Nothing in any of the manuals say anything about not driving around in 4L. Why build it and put it in a vehicle if it's not meant to be used?