3 Things I Learned During a Service Today

[HalfmuleFarmer]

First, props to my (relatively) small town Ford dealership, Cedar City Ford—they’re great (so far). Three simple items today on my 9-month old, low mileage (7500mi) Badlands, which were good info, for me anyway :

1. 5-tire rotation. No problem. Good info from tech who said, “Yeah, I’d of course recommend all 5 be in the mix for any truck with larger tires. We’ve seen more than a few fleet pickups come in where someone has put on a new spare when the other tires are down 1/2” of tread and left it, and they end up tearing up the diff.” Which makes complete sense once he said it, but I’d not thought of that.

2. I wanted to do any early swap of differential and transfer case fluids, and the tech offered to “look at them, and see if that’s necessary.” Front diff and transfer case were “totally clear” but rear diff was “very slightly glittery” so we changed just that one. Saved a few bucks and good peace of mind.

3. We discussed rear LCA and rear shock mount skids and he said, “definitely recommend for Utah trails,” even tho the 2DR Badlands is solidly armored up (was cool to see the full undercarriage). Interestingly the only thing really exposed is the exhaust, which I’m guessing is for heat dissipation.

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[jrollo7]

First, props to my (relatively) small town Ford dealership, Cedar City Ford—they’re great (so far). Three simple items today on my 9-month old, low mileage (7500mi) Badlands, which were good info, for me anyway :

1. 5-tire rotation. No problem. Good info from tech who said, “Yeah, I’d of course recommend all 5 be in the mix for any truck with larger tires. We’ve seen more than a few fleet pickups come in where someone has put on a new spare when the other tires are down 1/2” of tread and left it, and they end up tearing up the diff.” Which makes complete sense once he said it, but I’d not thought of that.

2. I wanted to do any early swap of differential and transfer case fluids, and the tech offered to “look at them, and see if that’s necessary.” Front diff and transfer case were “totally clear” but rear diff was “very slightly glittery” so we changed just that one. Saved a few bucks and good peace of mind.

3. We discussed rear LCA and rear shock mount skids and he said, “definitely recommend for Utah trails,” even tho the 2DR Badlands is solidly armored up (was cool to see the full undercarriage). Interestingly the only thing really exposed is the exhaust, which I’m guessing is for heat dissipation.

looks like you have a solid dealership Service department and tech.

 

[ThunderFlash]

We discussed rear LCA and rear shock mount skids and he said, “definitely recommend for Utah trails,”

I went with the RCI lower rear shock skids because they provide some protection for the control arm, which is much higher than the shock, but still pretty vulnerable. Pictures aren't great, but the skids are pretty decent!

 

[HalfmuleFarmer]

I’m looking at these, both for LCAs and shock mounts (I’m Hoss 3.0).

 

[ThunderFlash]

We’ve seen more than a few fleet pickups come in where someone has put on a new spare when the other tires are down 1/2” of tread and left it, and they end up tearing up the diff.

Is this really a big issue with our electronic lockers if they are only used off road or other low traction situations? I could see it being a problem with a posi or limited slip diff, but ours are open unless locked, correct?

 

[HalfmuleFarmer]

Is this really a big issue with our electronic lockers if they are only used off road or other low traction situations? I could see it being a problem with a posi or limited slip diff, but ours are open unless locked, correct?

Interesting. I’ll say yes, and then I dunno. Deferring to someone with more trans/diff expertise!

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