Ford recalls more than 774,696 explorers over possible seized ball joints

Ford said friday that it recalls 774,696 Explorers, from model year 2013 to model year 2017 due to a possible ball joint problem. This is in addition to the recall of 40,995 Lincoln Aviators for possible battery wiring harness problems and 34,939 F-350 Super Duty for “rear axle housing spring seat interface weld problem” . Ford has a busy Friday.

The Explorer recall is the largest, with 676,152 of the SUVs recalled in North America, the rest overseas, including 59,935 in China. Here, Ford says the affected cars are located in “high corrosion states,” as defined by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, or in cold states that use a lot of salt in the winter and are also very wet. There, Ford says some explorers, “may encounter a seized thru-axle ball joint that can cause the rear suspension link to break.”

Ford says it is aware of six different injury allegations related to the recall.

Affected vehicles may experience a thud, unusual handling, or a misaligned rear wheel. A ruptured rear link dramatically decreases steering control, increasing the risk of an accident.

Ford says it will start trying to reach affected owners from Aug. 23, with the cure being a replacement ball joint and replacement toe link, the latter part with a “revised design.” It seems to be somewhat related to a reminder from November which also dealt with corrosion in the Explorers of those model years, and Ford is far from the only manufacturer to face reminders related to corrosion in recent years.

On the F-350 Super Duty, Ford indicates that some 2020-2021 F-350 Super Duty “for a rear axle housing spring seat interface weld problem”.

Affected vehicles may experience rear transmission disconnection. Customers may experience vibrations and / or jerks when driving at freeway speeds and / or chills when accelerating. In the event of an unplugged driveshaft, customers may experience a loss of engine power while driving or a loss of the transmission’s parking function if the parking brake is not applied, increasing the risk accident.

Ford says it will begin notifying owners on Aug. 16, with the fix being either a new axle housing or a weld repair.

Finally, on the Lincoln Aviator, Ford indicates that some 2020-2021 Aviators have a battery harness that “may not be properly secured, allowing contact with the A / C compressor pulley.”

Over time, the A / C pulley may rub through the wire harness insulation and come into contact with the positive (B +) circuit of the non-fused battery, causing a short circuit and potential fire.

Owners will be notified starting July 30, Ford says. With the Aviator and F-350 Super Duty recall, Ford says it is not aware of any incidents or injuries.

As always, do your recalls, although Honda recently recalled my Fit for a corrosion issue with the driveshaft, and I took it to my local dealership, which of course was ravaged by the job because a lot more people are repairing their cars these days as the used and new market for cars is temporarily fucked.

My dealership picked up my car on a Sunday and I only picked it up the following Friday which I didn’t really care about as I didn’t need my car to get around and it was Honda’s job to park my car free for a week, not nothing in New York. Still, that’s a long time for any repairs, let alone a recall, for which dealerships should be a little better prepared. It all probably works as expected.