I was told by alderman ford that the ball joints on my ford explorer were in a failure condition at 53000 miles--"unsafe to drive". This car has had normal driving use. I was told that ford's choice of "sealed ball joints" was the reason for the failure-prone ball joints, and that this is "normal". Are all explorere users in this endangered position? If so, is a recall necessary? Is there a way you can check how many owners have had to replace these bad joints? My 91 explorer went 135000 miles without ball joint problems. Ball joint failure at speed is dangerous. Thank you for your help.
1999 Ford Explorer suspension complaints
Page 2 of 3: complaints 11 to 40 of 65, newest first, as owners wrote them.
I was on the moterway {uk} towing a caravan I was doing 45/50 MPH truck past me by and made us sway I gained control and then the car&caravan started bouncing. Caravan parted from the car and then we flipped over on to the passinger side and then rolled onto the roof across 3 lanes.
Truck is subject to vibration when driven highway speeds. Several components that relate to control and stability were replaced by dealership with no change incondition. Owner is concerned about losing control with no warning.
While driving in overdrive at 50 MPH and going up an incline, vehicle vibrates erratically. Problem has not been remedied. *ak o2 sensor failed and was replaced. Fuel pressure regulator failed and was replaced. Consumer stated that the dealer can not do anything to fix the problem, which seems to be a manufacturer defect.*yh
When going up a hill at 55-60 MPH in overdrive there is a vibration sensation. Took vehicle to dealer, and they stated it was normal. Please provide any further information.
While driving 15mph and without warning front tire collapsed. Mechanic stated that upper ball joint was missing a nut which caused brand new tire to collapse.*ak dealer replaced broken right lower ball joint, brake hose, wheel speed sensor and rack/pinion unit.
While driving at highway speeds consumer lost control of vehicle. Dealer was contacted, and stated ball joints needed to be replaced. Please provide further details.
Consumer stated there have been numerous problems with the drive train, consumer began hearing an odd n oise in august 2000, and in april 2001, at that time dealer could not duplicate the problem, the dealership however did replace the driveshaft assembly, and the joint assembly spindle-arm, several months later the outer tie-rod ends were replaced, lower steering shaft which was leaking power steering fluid, the power steering pump and the rack and pinion, also parking brake does not release, and the cruise control cable was replaced, the check engine light illuminated.*ak
Consumer is having problems with the vehicle's suspension.
While driving, throttle/ air bypass valve malfunctions which causes accelerator pedal to stick, and pedal goes nearly to the floor. Also pedal has to be pumped before it releases. *ak the dealer said they can fix the problem, but the vehicle still hesitates and there is rough idle, the lower ball joints failed, and were replaced.
While driving, upper control arm disengaged from vehicle and wheel came off *ak consumer had stopped at a red light and went to accelerate when the light changed and the front of the vehicle dropped to the pavement, consumer no longer owns this vehicle.
When we took delivery of the 2000 explorer, the firestone tires were inflated to 20psi. We discovered this after an 800 mile trip. When inflated to 30 psi, the ride is terrble! When we complained to the dealer about the ride on the next service trip, they gave us paper work stating the tire pressure had been adjusted to 30 psi. The ride was bettter on the 10 mile trip home. Checking the tire pressure when we arived home showed them to be inflated to 20 psi. Reinflating to 30 psi caused the bone jarring ride to reoccur. Bottom line: ford has a suspension problem that their dealers are fixing by lowering tire pressure to 20 psi. How much of the firestone tire problem have the dealers created trying to sove custome ride complaints?
The plastic trim around the head liner was loose.
Consumer had firestone tire replaced with goodyear , which is now showing evidence of wear. Consumer feels its the suspension that is causing tire to prematurely wear out, and it is the only vehicle that has rear suspension lower than front.
While driving at 45 MPH and above vehicle wanders all over the road, and is very difficult to control. This wandering is worse under windy conditions. Consumer has contacted dealership, and was informed that vehicle' handling is typical of sport utility vehicles. Please provide any additional information/attachments.
While traveling at approximately 20 MPH vehicle was making a rumbling noise, and vehicle was being pulled to right. Consumer suddenly lost control of steering and brakes. Consumer was able to bring vehicle to a stop. Dealership examined vehicle, and determined that front wheel bearings have blown apart, and axle popped which resulted in loss of steering and brakes. Please provide any additional information/attachments.
When roads were wet vehicle started to fishtail. Consumer had an accident while driving 65-70mph in rain. Vehicle started to fishtail, spun 180' went down an embankment then hit a tree. Consumer could not control vehicle. Vehicle was totalled. On december 15, 2000 consumer had a similar accident, road was wet, hit a patch of slushy snow, vehicle went into tailspin, and rolled over, damage was around $ 4500. *ak tires were firestone wilderness, p235/70r16.
The firestone wilderness at (p235/75r15-105s) tires are continually in need of air, once or twice a week, the front end suspension was out of alignment causing the tires to wear unevenly.
Vehicle pulled to right at any speed. Dealer notified, and was unable to find a solution. *ak
It admits noise from front right wheel between 0-30 MPH. Has not contacted dealer yet.
While traveling noticed that front wheel made loud noise. Dealer has been contaced. Please provide further information.
I saw the recall on earlier vehicles, but the ford dlr on this request replaced the front end suspension on my truck after claiming they had seen a lot of problems like this and ford called it an "engineering flaw". I am hoping the federal safety agency will review this problem and expand it's recall.
The left side front tire have been replaced 3 times due to excessive wear, the right side front tire has been replaced once due to excessive wear, the vehicle has been aligned many times to correct the problem, however the tires still continue the wear pattern, no name or size of tire was given, the problem could be the tires or the suspension.
The vehicle became very unstable when the consumer turned the steering wheel to the right gradually.
Had tires replaced with michelin brand because of firestone recall.
While driving 10- MPH , had stopped raining about 15 minutes earlier, vehicle headed towards the highway, and suddenly lost control and rolled over into an embankment.
When I had the firestone tires replaced, the mechanoc showed me the shocks-the driver side rear was badly damaged, the passenger rear was damaged, but not as bad as the driver side. The front shocks were not damaged. Interesting that (a)ford explorer(b)rear left shock completely blown (c)rear passenger shock damaged but not as bad as driver side (d)front shocks not damaged (e)I believe there have been more problems with ford explorer firesstone tires on the driver side rear than any other location. Design defect by ford?
From new we have complained about the car wandering at freeway speeds, it feels like you have limited control of the car. Also there is a vibration on the steering as if the wheels are unbalanced. The problem actually got worse after the tires where replaced as my car was one of the cars which had the recalled firestone tires on it. Its been to the dealer on 4 occasions and they cannot solve the problem, they are now calling in the ford engineers to try and solve the problem. We have also had a suspension squeek which occurs when you are driving normally and also on bumpy roads.the car has been in 4 times as well and the dealers have just lubed the suspension, the squeek is back after a day or so, the dealers also cannot solve the problem, and find some lovely excuses as to why there is a squeek ie after market running boards. The front brakes had a vibration and the dealer found the rotors out of round and skimmed them. When I queried why they did not replace the rotors, I was informed it was normal for rotors to go out of round,this has never happened on any of my other cars so I find this a poor excuse. There have been other problems as well with this car and I feel the dealers have had enough attempts to repair the car,and its time for ford to take this car back and give me a new one,or refund me my money so that I can go and purchase something else.I bought a new car so that I would not have to worry about brake downs ect and because new cars are supposed to be safer. This is not the case with this ford explorer.
Some of the rollover problems could be attributed not only to firestone tires but the steering which oversteers, is as sensitive as the power steering in the 1950 7 1960's. Suggest you look into this. This vehicle handles very poorly on wet roads and small puddles, it wants to go whereever it feels like. Suggest you look into this. Should also have the extremely high center of gravity looked at closely.
The firestone tires on the vehicle were replaced due to recall, prior to recall replacement the vehicle experienced problems with road handling and front end alignment,after tire replacement the vehicle still had trouble with the front end alignments, consumer is concerned that the problems are not just related to the tires but the front end suspension as well.
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