As far as the "fix it with a better bolt" idea- that's a band-aid. I think you're addressing the wrong problem from an engineering perspective. I have seen pics of bolts snapped- meaning they were subjected to enough force to actually break them. I've also seen pics of bolts that seem to be bent. It's actually possible that any replacement bolt from Ford has been designed to bend rather than break so as to contain the rear diff and minimize damage.
Under both of these scenarios, that bolt is held in plane by a high durometer bushing. You can't convince me that the bolt broke before that bushing absorbed some fairly large rotational movement of the rear differential prior to the failure. I highly doubt given the current bushing that an "upgraded" bolt will solve the problem. I'd instead go for the AWR or ID speed brace which provides another bushed mounting point as well as balancing the load horizontally across the rear of the diff.
You should also try to eliminate wheel hop- the violent wind-up followed by an unwind event will break just about anything.
Under both of these scenarios, that bolt is held in plane by a high durometer bushing. You can't convince me that the bolt broke before that bushing absorbed some fairly large rotational movement of the rear differential prior to the failure. I highly doubt given the current bushing that an "upgraded" bolt will solve the problem. I'd instead go for the AWR or ID speed brace which provides another bushed mounting point as well as balancing the load horizontally across the rear of the diff.
You should also try to eliminate wheel hop- the violent wind-up followed by an unwind event will break just about anything.
Last edited: