2000 Ford Expedition: ball joint or control arm failure

Filed May 17, 2014 · Suspension · 70,000 miles · IL

Taking off from a stop in the subdivision, my son with a friend in the vehicle heard a slight clunk, but the vehicle continued to move forward. He kept driving, but the vehicle "felt a little strange" he reported. He pulled out onto a major roadway and heard another loud noise, but the car kept going, so he pulled off the road as soon as he could, to discover that the rear end almost fell off the car. The car has 4 wheel drive with awd. The rear drive shaft got pulled out of the transfer case, dropped to the ground started to drag. It snapped off, breaking the pinion shaft, when pulling off the road. The rear lower control arms had rusted away and snapped off. I live in the rust belt in the chicago suburbs, and expect things like doors and fenders to rust, but a major piece of the suspension that holds the whole car together? Really? Doesn't that deserve at least a heads up mention in the scheduled maintenance manual, other than at intervals have the suspension checked? The manual pretty clearly describes checking things at recommended intervals, and I've always had it serviced at the local (now closed mercury dealer nearby). The vehicle has been garage kept, and I've owned it for 12 years. I'm extremely thankful nobody was injured. Ford currently does not have a technical service bulletin issued on this issue. If it had 200,000 miles and wasn't ever cared for or garage kept, then I'd be a little less surprised!! As of this writing I still haven't gotten the car fixed yet because it will involve getting the entire differential rebuilt. I had planned on keeping this vehicle for a whole lot longer than 70,000 miles. I'm being forced to shop for another family bus due to poor engineering on fords part. It would have been nice to have them send at least a notice to get these $100 control arms replaced before; it now will cost $2000 to make the vehicle drivable again.

Filed Apr 23, 2014 · Suspension · 130,000 miles · NJ

Tl* the contact owns a 2000 ford expedition. The contact stated that the rear of the vehicle began bouncing abnormally while reversing from a driveway. The contact soon discovered that the large, unknown pole was lying under the vehicle. The vehicle was towed to an independent mechanic, who diagnosed that the rear lower control arm needed to be replaced. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was notified of the failure. The VIN was not available. The approximate failure mileage was 130,000.

Filed Sep 8, 2012 · Suspension, Transmission · 118,000 miles · OH

When making a right turn onto a high-traffic, four-lane surface street, both rear lower control arms failed under acceleration. This failure caused the rear axle to twist, the rear differential to shift position, and for the drive shaft u-joints to bind. The result was an effective loss of power and an in inability to accelerate to match traffic flow. Several vehicles had to brake hard or swerve into the adjacent lane to avoid the obstruction my vehicle created.

Filed Mar 27, 2012 · Suspension · 290,000 miles · MI

Tl* the contact owns a 2000 ford expedition. The contact stated that the vehicle was taken to an independent mechanic, who detected that the rear lower control arms were completely rusted and corroded. The vehicle was then taken to an authorized dealer, where the rear lower control arms were replaced. The manufacturer was notified of the failure. The contact expressed concern of the potential safety hazard. The approximate failure mileage was 290,000.

Filed Sep 21, 2011 · Driver assistance, Suspension · 220,000 miles · TN

I thought when I bought this car that I would have a vehicle to take my son to get his chemotherapy but I thought wrong! It started with the air suspension that dropped to the ground when my shocks gave out and the rear airbags couldn't hold the weight of the vehicle but I was sitting in the car rider line at my son's school at a dead stop when they decided to go. (so much easier to look the fool) we then found hoses that had corroded apart that were vacuum hoses and thinking that was the problem we fixed them. It wasn't the problem. I didn't know then that my shocks were completely gone until we were jacking up the car and removing the back tires to inspect the airbags better when we saw that the rust had completely taken over the whole under carriage. Now I have front & rear trailing arms that have numerous holes from the rust eating through them, along with the fuel tank straps that have almost rotted themselves loose, and almost completely broken ball joints. I want to know who is coming to take my son to get his chemo since I don't have the money to run out and buy a new car? I give my cash to ford to keep my car afloat. I have had this car for 10 months and I owe $2800 but the thing is that it cost more for me to fix everything and replace all dry rotted lines, rust, ect and buy coil springs which I hear now have as many problems. Is ford going to pay for my son a new car since it is like this one would be totaled since it cost more to fix than it's worth? No, they don't care and I hope when they go home after reading this they can look their own child in the face knowing that my son doesn't have a ride to chemo 30 miles away! I guess it will take wrecking my car accidentally and killing the child I fought for 10 yrs to keep alive for insurance to pay for it or is ford going to have heart doing the right thing by recalling the things they know is their faults?

Filed Aug 19, 2011 · Suspension · 111,000 miles · PA

We have a 2000 ford eddie bauer expedition with 111,000 miles. We purchased new &it has been garaged kept & always washed at the car wash after a snow storm. Took the truck for inspection on 8/15/11 and was told by the mechanic to stop driving the vehicle immediately due to failure of the lower control arms. We where advised if the control arms broke a serious accident could occur, especially @ highway speeds. The upper control arms are beginning to show signs of chipping of the powder coating which will more than likely lead to premature failure. We have researched this issue on line & found that there are others who are also experiencing the same issue with the rusting of the lower control arms. The truck is now sitting in our garage & we are waiting for delivery of the both the lower & upper control arms. Seems like there is some sort of rust issues w/ them for those of us who live in the snow belt region.

Filed Jan 26, 2011 · Suspension · 90,000 miles · CT

The lower control arms on the rear suspension have excessive rust and they break off with engine torque or throttle. The drive shaft breaks off when the rear axle rotates and this locks up the rear axle, and also snaps the emergency brake cable. The damages are up to 3500.00 dollars and climbing. This is happening on all vehicles where the new road salt is used in excess. This should be a major recall.

Filed Oct 3, 2010 · Suspension · 115,000 miles · MD

2000 ford expedition 4x4. Rear lower trailing arms or ( control arms ). Problem occurs when the powder coating flakes off exposing the bare metal. Control arms rust through and break in half. When this happens total loss of control can happen. Ford states they never had any complaints.

Filed Sep 19, 2010 · Suspension · 52,300 miles · NJ

The trailing arms/lower control arms on my 2000 ford expedition had rusted through & had to be replaced. I could not wait for them to fail given the hazardous nature of this defect. These parts should not have been made so poorly.

Filed May 29, 2006 · Steering · 66,548 miles · MA

Driving on 4 lane twisty parkway, the left tie rod broke without any warning, lost all steering control, applied brake and tried to control vehicle, took about 200 yards to come to a stop. Fortunately I was able to avoid a crash, had vehicle towed to dealer where car is always serviced and maintained, and replaced all 4 tie rods.

Filed May 16, 2006 · Suspension · 65,000 miles · MO

Dt*: the contact stated while driving 65 MPH the vehicle veered to the left, it also rattled on bumpy roads at any speed. The vehicle was taken to an independent repair shop where it was determined the front lower ball joints needed to be replaced. The dealer has been contacted. The shocks were also loose. Updated on 05/30/06.

Filed Feb 1, 2006 · Steering, Suspension · 51,390 miles · OH

In early jan 2006, we have a popping sound and movement in the steering wheel of our 2000 expedition. We could feel it moving in the steering when driving and were concerned. We have an extended warranty on our expedition so we took it to germain ford in columbus, ohio. They said the left front stabilizer link bolt had broke in half and the stabilizer bar was slipping on and off causing the movement and sound. They told me this was not a warranty item. My expedition has only 51,000 miles and is driven by my wife to work. At the same time the dealer told me by ball joints needed to be replaced. I said how can a steel bolt in the steering linkage actually brake and not be covered? I asked for the service mgr and he actually said to me "they don't make things like they use to". I then recalled a service notice some time back about something in the front end of expeditions so I looked through my files. Sure enough, ford sent out a service bulletin in 6-04 "titled tie rod inspection procedure". While the service bulletin covers a couple items it believe it shows ford knew they had a problem with the front ends and sent out a service notice to excuse themselves and to avoid paying for repairs. When the dealership told me they would not cover, I called the warranty hotline. The representative told me "ball joints are wearing out sooner then they would expect" but it was not a warranty item so I had to get those repaired as well. In summary, I believe the bolt breaking could be a safety issue and that for a customer to spend $800 to replace a broken bolt in the front linkage and ball joints on an excellent condition vehicle with only 51,000 miles is outrageous. I am guessing other expedition owners are experiencing the same problem and would like to file a complaint for getting ford to reimburse the $800 I had to spend in repair.