This data is from the NHTSA — the US gov't agency tasked with vehicle safety. Complaints are spread across multiple & redundant categories, & are not organized by problem.
So how do you find out what problems are occurring? For this NHTSA complaint data, the only way is to read through the comments below. Any duplicates or errors? It's not us.
The contact owns a 1997 Ford F-150. The contact stated that the frame was completely rusted. The vehicle was taken to an independent mechanic who diagnosed that the framework needed to be replaced. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was notified of the failure. The approximate failure mileage was 180,303.
The contact owns a 1997 Ford F-150. The contact stated that the entire subframe of the vehicle was severely corroded. The dealer stated that the entire subframe and rack and pinion needed to be replaced. The vehicle was not repaired and the manufacturer was notified. The failure mileage was 167,166.
The contact owns a 1997 Ford F-150. The contact stated that the spare tire cable, exhaust system manifold, fuel tank strap, brake line, bolts, erg valve, and the frame were rusted. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure and denied to buy the vehicle back or provide any assistance. The failure mileage was 220,000 and the current mileage was 322,000.
1997 F-150 was fueling up vehicle and heard pop and looked under vehicle and the rear gas tank strap had broken free of the slide in attachment on the outboard side of the tank. The strap was in perfect condition but the rear slide in mounting point on the cross member had rotted out completely. The front slide in point did not have any corrosion on it. Dealer did not want anything to do with it. Truck was purchased used from a large car dealer in June 2010.
I have a 1997 Ford F-150, I was changing the front brake pads and noticed a lot of rust on the frame and basically every thing else under the body. I took a screwdriver and pushed it all the way through the suspension travel stop. There are big chunks of rusty metal falling off of it at least every three or four months apart. I can take my finger and push through the front bumper. All the bolts on the exhaust manifolds and collectors are rusted off or all most rusted off. To fix the exhaust it will cost around $700, if the dealer done the repairs it would cost much more. The gas tank straps looks real rusty also. In my 54 years of life I have never seen a frame and the underside of a vehicle rust so bad. I live in the South so the truck did not see much salt.
- Butler, TN, USA
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The contact owns a 1997 Ford F-150. While driving approximately 35 mph over a bump, the vehicle began to tilt towards the front driver side. The vehicle was parked. When the contact inspected, he noticed that there were tack welding marks on the frame on the front driver side. The vehicle had not been repaired. The current and failure mileages were approximately 140,000.
While driving there was a severe shake in the entire vehicle that caused the transmission to come loose. This occurred because the rear right frame broke above the tire. Dealership indicated the was a common problem with these trucks.
Frame sheared at rear of correctlly and professionally installed class 3 hitch. The frame also bent between the front and rear leaf spring connections. The frame at the left leaf spring connection is cracked. There was no over loading of the tongue nor significant impact to shock load the frame. Ford is claiming that it is not their problem because it is out of warranty. All involved parties have never seen any thing like this before. They site that the after market hitch "could be to blame" although they did not say that the hitch was improperly installed. A 4 year old 70,000 mile truck should not fail towing a trailer that is less than half of the towing capacity for its rating, regardless of warranty expiration. No one was injured because it was discovered before total failure occurred. This could have caused a jack knife and/ or rollover of the truck and trailer. The towing capacity of the truck is 6600 lbs and the tongue weight max is 500 lb. Our trailer is a 10 foot 2 horse trailer weighing 2900 lbs empty and tongue weight of 250 loaded.
I have contacted the local Ford dealer to look into this. Ford is being very slow to fix this major issue. It effects 2/3S of all the 97+ F150S. No safety defect listed in summary.
What I concern about the cracks on the doors of the F150 I have seen about 20 trucks with cracks of 23 that have check. My truck is out of warranty but I think Ford should recall all trucks.
Crack is visible very clearly on drivers side. The crack is just appearing on the passenger side. Dont really know when the cracks appeared, heard about the problem and just went to see if it was on my veh.
A D V E R T I S E M E N T S
- New Straitsville , OH, USA