GEN 2 KHC Torque Arm, anyone running it?

[lateralis]

Curious, was this installed per instructions?

Just wonder if others or myself will have this issue when installed.

Yes I installed it per instructions. They aren't very specific for tightening down the cradle (axle brace). After you make your cut it basically just says bolt the sucker down with the skid plate loose than tighten the skid plate bolts afterwards. I'll try to get a picture of the gap khcdave is talking about tomorrow that's supposed to be flush on the rear diff. I'd pay close attention to see if you have a gap there or not when bolting the cradle down. If you do look at the how the U bracket is sitting and see if its hung up on the diff. If it is you might have the same problem as me. I think the easiest way is to cut out that center section to make it flush with the horizontal piece of the U bracket, but I need to play around with mine some more to verify that the tabs on the cradle do in fact make contact with the diff if rocked down without the U bracket on. If it doesn't I'll add metal to the U bracket.

 

[nikhsub1]

This is the first issue I have seen with this. Is the axle cradle clamped down tight? Shouldnt be able to rock forward like that. Please send me some more pics

FYI my business partner has the torque arm and his seal in the differential (same as pictured I think) got toast and had to be replaced.

 

[lateralis]

FYI my business partner has the torque arm and his seal in the differential (same as pictured I think) got toast and had to be replaced.

What did he do to fix the clearance issue and did he actually need to replace the pinion seal or just the deflector piece?

I wasn't able to get under the truck today. Raining here and I can't fit the truck in the garage. Probably have more shots tomorrow or Wednesday.

 

[nikhsub1]

What did he do to fix the clearance issue and did he actually need to replace the pinion seal or just the deflector piece?

I wasn't able to get under the truck today. Raining here and I can't fit the truck in the garage. Probably have more shots tomorrow or Wednesday.

I believe he had to replace the seal and the white ring piece.

 

[lateralis]

So the weather hasn't cooperated past couple of days but tomorrow is looking good to get under the truck. I have access to a water jet so I ended up cutting a section out of the bracket. You can definitely just cut it out with and angle grinder but I was lazy. Putting some primer on it tonight so it will be good to go tomorrow. I also got in a new seal and deflector. I'm hoping the the seal is fine and all that leaked out was just some residual that was in front. I ordered a new diff cover and oil but none of the stuff has come in yet. When you order the deflector, you actually get 2. Not sure if you went to a Ford parts department if they would actually just sell one but all in all for the 1 new seal and 2 deflectors it was $36 shipped. So the plan for now is replace the deflector and reinstall the bracket and skid plate. See if I get any leaks and once I get the new diff cover and oil replace the seal if I need to.

 

[sixshooter_45]

What is Dave saying about this?

 

[lateralis]

What is Dave saying about this?

Nothing really just that I'm the 1st one they've ever seen with this issue and to let them know how it goes for me fixing the problem.

So I got a chance to poke around a little bit and the actual rear pinion seal is 100% toasted. I could tell now looking at the new one and seeing more leakage after a couple of days. In the pic with the damage you can see that there is nothing resting on the edge of the diff and that the plastic piece is front edge is round down to the inner circle. The darker looking inner circle is were the lip of the rear pinion seal used to be. Both the seal and the deflectors outer diameters are exactly the same and the seal lip is supposed to be sitting on the edge of the diff. You can see from the new parts just how much I chewed off.....

At this point I'm not going to bother getting into it tomorrow since I know I 100% have to replace the seal. My new Ford Performance diff cover should be in today or tomorrow but I have no idea where my gear oil is. I ordered it direct from Amsoil but the status only says "shipped" with no tracking number or anything. Site said that my servicing dealer is in Toronto (is Amsoil Canadian??). So now it's just a waiting game till I get everything in.

This double sucks too since my Raptor is my DD and I still need to go to work during the week. Gotta love the essential life.

 

[Joe12345]

Thanks for posting this up. I’ve been noticing driveway staining under my rear axel ever since the torque arm was installed, but just assumed it was water trapped in the skid plate coming out when I moved the truck.

Since today was finally a nice day I got under the truck and found my deflector to be chewed up just like yours, with a distinct burnt oil smell present as well. I’m assuming that since the deflector is chewed up, and the bottom of my diff looks “wet,” my seal is probably cooked too.

 

[lateralis]

My oil and rear diff cover finally came in late yesterday so I was finally able to get under the truck today. After about a week-ish of driving with the messed up seal it was kind of a mess under there. When I got the seal off it actually didn't look as bad as I initially thought, but it was still ruined along with the deflector. I've included some pics of the cradle to diff housing. There should be no gap like in the pictures when you install this thing. For some reason mine sits farther back or maybe the diff housing is a little bit longer. It might be a '19 or '20 thing I'm not sure, but it is a 100% fact that on mine the U bracket would sit at the edge of the diff pushing the front of the cradle up. If any of you have this torque arm with the skid plate option and have any doubt in your mind if its going to grenade your rear pinion seal, do yourself a favor and just cut that bracket. It's easy to do, wont affect anything and will give you a piece of mind. If not... well you might end up like me.

 

[lateralis]

Here is one more pic I got of the lack of clearance when the U bracket is whole. It's about 1/4" (the water jet took about 1/8" alone from cutting) to far down (would push the whole cradle up in the front) and if left at that height would probably need to go another 1/4 - 1/2" (maybe more) forward more to not hit anything. Again... any doubt... cut it out!

With that being said though, I do love how much the torque arm has calmed down the rear end of my truck. Hooks up great and feels super planted. I would do it again... but I just wish I looked closer at to what was going on up there as it would have saved me a lot of grief...