SAFETY ALERT! – 2002-10 Ford Vehicles – Steel Rims/Wheels – Unsubstantiated
admin | Mar 22, 2010 | Comments 23
“Unsubstantiated” – Research is continuing by NHTSA and Ford
THIS INFORMATION SEEMS TO ONLY BE AFFECTING ONE DEPARTMENT AT THIS TIME AND THE PROBLEM DOES NOT SEEM TO BE WIDESPREAD – PLEASE USE THIS AS INFORMATION ONLY AT THIS TIME
SAFETY ALERT!! IMMEDIATATE ACTION REQUIRED!!
** Submitted by a Member **
If you or any of your employees use and drive 2002 through 2010 FORD Expeditions, Explorers, Rangers, F150, F250, F350 F450, F550 with STEEL rims/wheels PLEASE take them to a Ford Dealership, reputable vehicle repair shop or tire shop and have the tires REMOVED from the wheel and the rims/wheels inspected for cracks as shown in the photos. Take the photos with you to show what you want inspected. I say this because the failure CAN NOT be seen with the tire on the rim/wheel.
This does NOT apply to vehicles with aluminum wheels.
If you are experiencing any of the following it could be signs that you have a cracked rim, slow or fast air leak, wobble or vibrations while driving.
This is a SERIOUS issue and we need to be sure to get those vehicles checked out.
For the newer vehicles that may be still under warranty it would be best to take them to a Ford dealership to be taken care of that way.
The USFS Region 4 is starting to get reports of cracked rims/wheels, just last week the H-T had 4, new Ford trucks inspected and 3 of them had cracked rims. So this is not just an issue with older vehicles.
There is no technical bulletin or Ford recall on this issue yet, please have you vehicles inspected.
If you personally own a Ford please take the time to have it checked out also, safety awareness and risk assessment doesn’t stop when we go home.
** Please put a comment here if you have seen this issue in your fleet **
for as many vehicles fitting this criteria why isnt this problem more prevalent?How often should this check be done?? some vehicles are 8 years old some are new?
ford engineers seem to be unaware of such a widespread problem?we are checking all vehicles in the fleet ,some departments are taking the vehicles out of service until inspections are completed.
I feel more research is in order, we are doing the inspections for safetys sake.
Interesting post. But are you sure?
We have a 2002 Ford F-150 with aluminum wheels. We have not inspected all of them, as we only had a problem with a slow leak on one wheel, and when it was inspected, there WAS a CRACK not caused by any impact. So there is a problem with the aluminum wheels, also.
You will note that the article cannot be substantiated and has been researched by the major manufacturers of fire apparatus with no confirmation of wheel failure at this time. If more information comes in, I will have it posted and updated.
Our 2003 Expedition was in for summer tire and rims and i just found one rim with the same problem. A crack just like the pictures in the alert. It also happens to be on a factory Police patrol car.
I have an ’06 F250 with 20″ aluminum rims(factory)and a spare set of 17″ rims with snow tires. I just pulled the wheels w/ snow tires off and put the 20′s back on. As I was checking the air pressure of each tire, I noticed one rim has 2 separate cracks, each about 1-1/2″ long between the “spokes”. One extends from the valve stem penetration and the other is almost directly opposite the valve stem. I’d say there is definitely an issue with the aluminum rims as well.
I live in WA state. I have a Ford E150 Cargo Van I have had 2 Rim crack in the last month. I develope a small leak in them and took it into the tire shop (last month) and they told me the rim is cracked. Again a different tire was leaking yesterday and sure enough it was also cracked. 16″ 5 lug steel rims.
bonjour
je vis en france
j’ai une ford fiesta de 2007 ou les deux jantes avants se sont fissurées à 45000 km pour la droite et 60000 km pour la gauche
sans aucune trace de choc sur l’enjoliveur ou le pneu
fissure d’environ 10cm
hello
I live in France
I have a ford fiesta 2007 or the two front wheels were cracked at 45,000 km for the right and 60000 km for the left
without a trace of shock to trim or tire
crack of about 10cm
I have a ’03 F-250 SD and have now had both front wheels crack with no impact damage, just a a big crack shows up on the edge of the rim. This is getting expensive.
I have aluminum rims on my 2003 F150, I have had two cracked rims in the last two months, and the tire shop i go to has had 5 cracked ford rims this week alone. they say they get them all the time. How is Ford not doing anything about this, and where can I report it? I live in canada by the way, so this problem is widespread. I’ve read so many websites and people have same complaints- steel AND aluminum. Im losing my mind having to buy ssame crappy ford rims and having to pay for it when it is obviously a manufacturing defect. They better pray I dont get in an accident while I wait for another rim. Im NEVER buying a ford again
Same Problem this has been my 2nd tire,1st time they replaced it after a tire blow on the freeway. This tire is in shop now and asked to file a claim with FORD as i Await there is a hairline crack approx 6 inches on edge than another crack opposite side about 1/4 thick open and about 8 inches long. They want me to take the truck home today and await for the claim to be processed. Did I mention they said it was safe to drive off lot. LETS hope so… The truck is stock no modifications and are stock rims. Were in California. Truck is a F350 Diesel 4 x 4
Same problems with steel wheels on my ’06 150. Have had 5 rims fail. Have called Ford each time to no avail. Replaced the first four thinking someone was hung over on the wheel welding line. The fifth proves they could all be bad. Ford and their dealership have basically told me to pee up a rope. Nice engineering and great customer service Ford.
I have an 03 expedition fx4 with aluminum rims. Last month found a crack on the right rear rim. Put the spare on til I get new rims. two days ago the left rear was low and what do you know that rim is cracked too!
I have a 2006 f-250 with alloy factory wheels, I have had all 4 welded at least once, 2 wheels more than once. Ford keeps telling me they are unaware of any problems, BS.
i have a 99 ford f150 was on the highway coming off the highway all of a sudden i hear boom thank god it didnt do it on the highway what a mess that would be. so any ways i pull over my rim is split. now i have a nother one that leaks bet its the crack .called ford they say no complaint that year truck .wondering if its the original rims.any way still they are ford factory rims not after markets.
I have a 2006 single wheel F 350 with 18″ factory aluminum wheels. 3 out of 4 have crack from the edge of the bead seat going toward the center about one inch long. I would think Ford would value their customers enough to make it wright with us.
I JUST CHEKED MY RIMS ON MY 2006 F-250 ALLOY RIMS TWO IN FRONT ARE CRACKED. ONE CRACK IS 6 INCHES LONG THE OTHER IS STARTING. CALLED DOT MADE COMPLAINT. TAKE IT TO FORD THEY CAN HIDE THE CRACK FORM PUBLIC.
I have a 2007 ford f350. I recently found a crack running inbetween the spokes. the tire was actually pushing thru it. I went to my dealership and they said, and I quote “well it has over 100,000 miles on it.” really? thats a structural problem. I tried with every level of management that day. as luck shall have it, when I was leaving, another gentleman came in with the exact same problem. they finally believed me and went to Ford. Ford claims there is not a problem so I guess all of us must just be f@#$ing nuts. we are currently filing a BBB complaint and contacting the states attorney. I will not accept buying a heavy duty truck that cant handle weight, seems ridiculous. Nor will I or should anyone else, accept a brand new version of the same exact shitty rim. we all should have a new and better and safer replacement.
I have a 2010 F-350 and my aluminum wheels have cracks between the spokes on 2 wheels. Another person in my small town has the same issue. Ford says I am the only one reporting this problem. BS. I want what is right. This is a factory defect and a safety issue. I don’t feel that I need to pay the $1,000+ per wheel they want for their factory defect. Has anyone else experienced this issue? bob@bobpat.com
P.S. The above was a copy and paste since I’m sending this out to as many sites as I can. After reading numerous posts, it is clear Ford knows and is clearly aware of the problem. This further infuriates me that they are giving the same untruthful answers to those who bring this to their attention. I believed I was the only one experiencing this problem after talking to the factory, but now I know they are bold face liars. That really makes me mad. Why lie? No I’m determined to get satisfaction. I paid their price for their product. I want it to perform properly. How do you get Ford to respond? A class action suit? Bob Patterson
After talking with my dealership and the Ford Customer Care line, who told me there was nobody I could talk to at Ford to try and get an investigation started. I am filing a complaint with the State Attorney’s Office. I recommend everyone who has had an issue do the same. Maybe then we can get the replacements we deserve.
I gave Ford one more chance at redeeming themselves and got the same reply from their customer care unit that I got before. I responded and told them that I had hoped they would be more concerned about the safety of Ford Owner’s, but was going to pursue this in the Court of Public Opinion. I encourage everyone with this problem to please contact me at kramirez22@q.com with your stories.
I am planning on contacting media to tell them about our problem and also filing with the State Attorney’s office.
I discovered that the email I gave you is not operational. Please send emails to kramirez@mchsi.com. I look forward to hearing from you and will keep everyone updated on this site as to my progress with this issue.
Please everyone file a complaint at ODI.NHTSA.DOT.GOV. I just did and they are supposed to investigate it. If I am the only one who complains, nothing may happen, but if everyone starts filing complaints it may help us.
Contact me at kramirez@mchsi.com please with your stories. I am also filing a complaint with the State Attorneys office in Iowa where I live. Please do the same where you live. If enough of us do this we can only hope to get Ford to listen.