The bolts take some mileage to break, and an open recall at point of sale is the same as a stop sale, which ford wouldn’t agree to unless forced.

Ford can probably sell them as is, and recall them incrementally to maintain the ability to sell.

 

The dealer tried to sell me a new 2023 with a build date of early Dec 2022 but later they had to stop the sale after they discovered it had an an open recall for the axle bolt.

Fortunately they found another one with a build date of April 2023 and was able to sell it.

i still question what changed after 12/25/22 because I never heard of any reports of trucks built after that date ever had the axle bolts break. However trucks built before 12/25/22 that had the axle bolts break, dealers replaced them and some owners reported them of breaking again.

 

I took my 22 in for a the auto up/down windows (again), and the right axle had the bolt head sheared off. ~20k miles.

I consider myself a fairly attentive driver and if I use the radio it’s at a low volume. These trucks are quiet and I didn’t hear the head in the wheel bouncing around. They said it was very obvious when pulled into the shop.

What actually happens when these fail? It’s a full floating axle so the wheel won’t fall off. Does the diff wear quicker?

 

It's considered a "3/4-floating" axle, not a "full floating" axle. But no, the wheel the won't fall off if the bolt breaks.

If the bolt breaks, the shaft apparently can shift inwards/outwards relative to the hub, which can cause fretting of the splines on the shaft and hub. If the splines are worn, then there may not be a good connection between axle and hub. In that case, the wheel may lose power, or the truck may move when in park (if the parking brake is off). More info here:

 

Or not move at all, 2nd breakage on our fleet truck, this one at 115k miles or so

 

Mine also broke the bolt off. 2023 SC 5.0 w maxtow, 20k miles, built 6/23 and currently no recall for my truck. Bringing it to the dealer Monday morning and they confirmed to me after I asked, that the axles are readily available, although not in stock there. They're telling me most likely it will be a warranty repair because of no open recall for my 150

 

I'm sorry to hear that. Don't know why Ford didn't recall your truck too. Especially with the same bolt design. So if Ford is still designing the half shafts with the same bolt and have not included those half shafts then what changed in the design that has Ford thinking that the newer half shafts were good.
I hope they will warranty your half shafts. From what I understand when this issue first came up a few years ago Ford would not warranty the shafts and owners had to pay out of pocket until Ford start a CSP and offered at that time to reimburse owners for the repair. I hope your case is different. Good Luck.

 

It's not holding the wheel hub, it's just holding the axle to the bearing. If you remove the axle and this bolt, the wheel hub would still stay on. The hub and its bearing carrier bolt onto the axle directly.

 

My 2021 3.5 EB MaxTow had driver side bolt broken at around 20K kilometers at end of 2022, got to dealer and fixed it by replacing axle and it is all good since then. The bolt on passenger side is still stock, no issue.
So I am guessing the design is good, but material was the cause.

 

here's my reply in the other thread

My update

I dropped off my truck at the dealership this morning. No loaner available but they drove me home, 35 minutes away. They called me this afternoon. Since my 23 is not listed in the safety recall because of the 6/23 build date, they are replacing just the one axle that has the broken bolt, under warranty. I’m fine with this for now. I have trips coming up. I’m sure I’ll eventually be eligible for the finalized recall in 25. They said they are having computer issues with ordering the axle from Ford but they said they will try to get one from another dealer tomorrow and fix it tomorrow. We’ll see what happens. They also updated the ac module according to the TSB. My ac crapped out twice last summer but not since. I’ll report back when it’s done.