2018 Ford Raptor Front Differential broke in the snow they say that Ford may not cover it?

KAH24 said:

Dealership relationships matter 100%.

I understand OEM legal policies quite well. I‘m an engineer, but do not work for Ford.
When I off-road (hunt, fish, goof around)—it is in one of our beater Jeeps, UTVs, dirt bikes. That way if/when it breaks, gets bashed, dented—affordable and no tears.

I do not off-road fancy new factory vehicles under warranty—unless I am willing to pay the cost of repair for—if/when something (in the drivetrain usually) fails. If I take that chance, no guarantees.

With a factory warranty (including factory drivetrain warranty 5yr/60k miles):

—If you hit a curb with a Raptor, your warranty may not apply.
—If you go off-road with a Raptor, there is nothing in the legal OEM contract that says you will be covered when/if something breaks.
—I am not talking about Moss-Magnuson, etc.

OEMs are 100% within their right to deny any claim for damage occurring to a vehicle driven off-road.

NOTE 1: My OEM experience shapes my bias. Off-road your Raptor, etc., and have fun! If something breaks—it is not guaranteed that an OEM has to fix it.

NOTE 2: I maintain every vehicle our family owns (those under warranty) at factory dealerships—and do not modify anything. After warranty is over, I have at it.

NOTE 3: Only you can decide if hiring an attorney is worthwhile from a cost/benefit standpoint.

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Usually I'm one of the first to say "if you wanna play you gotta pay" or to point out people shouldn't be surprised if/when they have warranty issues when adding certain mods to these trucks - leveling springs, huge FMICs, 37"s, CAI's, turbo adapters, dual catch cans that require cutting/drilling, etc. - Stuff that is going to draw a dealer's attention & in many cases doesn't even add much performance or like in the case of the FMIC where a suitable heavier duty replacement can be installed in the proper factory location or w/ a CAI where it doesn't even add any performance only potential headaches - probably worth avoiding when you weigh "risk vs reward"

All that being said - it aint like this is a damn FX4 F150 or a Ram Rebel - its a Raptor w/ long travel suspension, the most powerful/torquey performance engine ever dropped into a 4x4 1/2 ton (until very recently), a unique to the Raptor only TC that allows for AWD, beadlock capable wheels from the factory, multiple terrain modes that literally DO NOT FUNCTION & WOULD DESTROY your truck if you were to enable them on pavement, a locking rear diff, & the tallest/widest most aggressive tires every fitted to a 1/2 ton until of course Ram blessed us all w/ an even more ridiculous offering in the TRX - the ONLY trucks out there ever made from the factory to be built w/ this kinda suspension & even advertised that they can jump - hell even have it worked into the trucks ECM/TCM to accommodate momentary flights through the air w/o damage!!!

Just like if you were to purchase a Z06 vette, a Mclaren, a Ferrari, a Viper ACR, ZL1 camaro etc. - LEGIT track ready high performance vehicles - the manufacturer often offers a 1-2 day "course" on a track or in the case of the Raptor - on an offroad Moab course - to really explore the vehicles true performance capanbilities & become familiar with it

Everyone is entitled to their opinion - but in a court of law I think it'd be a pretty damn hard sell to convince a jury that Ford wasn't anticipating that people would take this truck offroad or that they didn't specifically market it for that & encourage it......

So I don't think simply taking the thing offroad in stock form should be automatic grounds for warranty denial by any means

Badgertits said:

So I don't think simply taking the thing offroad in stock form should be automatic grounds for warranty denial by any means

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Ford can warrant anything they want. It's a written warranty. Did you read it? I haven't.

GordoJay said:

Ford can warrant anything they want. It's a written warranty. Did you read it? I haven't.

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nah besides I’ll probably hit a deer or get ran into by a distracted driver again before I have time to blow the diff lol

Good luck! Mine blew in dirt and they wouldn’t cover it. I fought for months and eventually they covered labor and gave me parts at “cost” it was a long and horrible process and I still may never buy another Ford because of it. I wish you the best of luck though! Hope things turn out better for ya!

Turbogoat324 said:

Good luck! Mine blew in dirt and they wouldn’t cover it. I fought for months and eventually they covered labor and gave me parts at “cost” it was a long and horrible process and I still may never buy another Ford because of it. I wish you the best of luck though! Hope things turn out better for ya!

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You had a 1.5" front suspension lift, which increases front axle angles and places additional torque on the differential. No OEM is going to cover that failure. You modified your vehicle, you have no reason to be mad at Ford for the resulting failure.

You’ve spoken your mind about it and although the cv angles are altered that small of a change should not put enough stress on the carrier to blow the housing apart. You have your opinions I have mine and in my opinion a set of fox Coilovers tested on many vehicles with no issues should have not caused that. But I don’t want to reopen that can or worms. I just wish this guy better luck. And you are incorrect about companies warrantying modified vehicles. Some dealerships are more meanie than than others.

Turbogoat324 said:

You’ve spoken your mind about it and although the cv angles are altered that small of a change should not put enough stress on the carrier to blow the housing apart. You have your opinions I have mine and in my opinion a set of fox Coilovers tested on many vehicles with no issues should have not caused that. But I don’t want to reopen that can or worms. I just wish this guy better luck. And you are incorrect about companies warrantying modified vehicles. Some dealerships are more meanie than than others.

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You can't modify a vehicle and then blame the manufacturer for a failure based on your personal beliefs of what you think "should" not matter. Manufacturers only warranty what they design, engineer, and build; not what customers modify. Ford, and all other OEMs, only durability test their vehicles in factory configuration. That's more than fair. A set of fox coilovers that you claim were "tested on many vehicles with no issues" means nothing; that is not empirical data and it's not what the manufacturer sold you with a warranty.

I am 100% correct about warranty modifications, as it's not up to the dealer. They are required to abide by the Warranty & policy Manual; it's not a choice. Anything else is warranty fraud. Once a field rep gets involved, either the customer is paying for the repairs or the dealer is eating the claim.

Not in my experience. I have had cv boots and suspension bushings warrantied with modified vehicles with other manufacturers many times. Its not even worth us conversing because you seem like someone who has an answer for everything and isn’t very willing to change your ideas, (Which is fine), so it just won’t end in us agreeing. I understand what you’re saying about me modifying the cv angles but if the tolerances of fords diffs are that low, which I doubt they are, then I don’t want to worry about that again anyway. As I said before for what I was doing (driving on a dirt road to a campsite)and with the small increase in axle angle while driving that should not have happened. But I understand how warranties work and Ford is not responsible. I feel like my diff was defective considering how many people have no issues even when adding additional travel, but yes, Ford owes me nothing. A lot of why I was so mad was the communication (or lack there of) and the process as a whole.

Turbogoat324 said:

I have had cv boots and suspension bushings warrantied with modified vehicles with other manufacturers many times. Its not even worth us conversing because you seem like someone who has an answer for everything and isn’t very willing to change your ideas, (Which is fine), so it just won’t end in us agreeing.

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You’re talking past each other. FTO is saying the manufacturer; Ford in this case, ONLY warranties the vehicle as delivered. He’s not wrong. You’re saying that in your experience - and mine too- some DEALERS ( stealerships ) who are agents of manufacturers have let it slide or permitted repairs on very close to modified components. That -could- be warranty fraud as FTO says, or, it could be completely unrelated. It’s case by case when there are modifications.

smurfslayer said:

You’re talking past each other. FTO is saying the manufacturer; Ford in this case, ONLY warranties the vehicle as delivered. He’s not wrong. You’re saying that in your experience - and mine too- some DEALERS ( stealerships ) who are agents of manufacturers have let it slide or permitted repairs on very close to modified components. That -could- be warranty fraud as FTO says, or, it could be completely unrelated. It’s case by case when there are modifications.

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Yeah for sure. Like I said I’m not trying to get in any arguments. I respect every member on here and def don’t want to re open my Ford diff experience. I’m over it and I’ve moved on. I still love my truck but the whole experience with Ford has just left a sour taste in my mouth. Hope everything works out for the OP!