Was moving 15mph when a pop sound was heard. Right side went down. Was barely able to steer vehicle. Took vehicle to firestone retailer & informed it was torsion bar that had snapped.
1998 Ford F-150 suspension complaints
Page 4 of 6: complaints 71 to 100 of 132, newest first, as owners wrote them.
Torsion bar failed causing lower left side to pull to the guardrail, consumer was driving at the time and had heard a loud noise.
While driving at approximately 20 MPH consumer heard a popping noise. Apparently torsion bar completely snapped which caused vehicle to become lop sided. Please provide further information.
Consumer got in vehicle and torsion bar on left side broke. Dealer had no explanation, they repaired it. Consumer was concerned that this problem could result in a serious injury or death. Consumer changed his own oil & hoping this wasn't a problem.
The bar failed within two days of each other-we had the front right fixed then later that day after getting the right fixed. The left side went out. It went out with no warning and we discovered ice in the bar. If we were driving faster I would of lost control of the vehicle. Especially in the climate that we live in-snow, ice are apart of our day. We have read this is a problem happening to most trucks. We would love to see a recall so no one gets hurt or is inconvience like we were-total days without truck 5.
The dealership is calling the torsion bar a "wear and tear item" therefore it is considered a warranty item and not a manufacturing defect. For my truck, which is used as a commuter vehicle, has the "off-road package" and has seen a non-paved road all of 5 times, I find it unacceptable that this item is not covered under some sort of warranty or recall. I have searched the federal safety agency database and seen numerous (36) customer complaints on the same type of failure. I could understand the torsion bar failure (maybe) if the truck were used on a daily basis for construction purposes or if I exceeded the recommended uses of the vehicle, but I have not. The truck is at less than half its expected life and yet one of the main suspension components had failed. This bar replaced the coil springs on the past generation of trucks. Have you never heard of coil springs snapping? I also find it rather troublesome that ford has recently been accused of turning the other way when problems arise with its vehicles. Is this going to become another firestone recall scenario or will ford take responsibility for its engineering/manufacturing mistakes? Im starting to wonder what built ford tough actually means.
Passenger side torsion bar failed and suspension dropped. Fortunately vehicle was stopped. Broke at rear mounting at tensioner point. Ford replaced under warranty but refused to change driver side even though it exhibits significanct surface corrosion in the same area. From my search of the federal safety agency and other internet data and from ford employee comments this appears to be a repeat problem for this vehicle. I have electronic photos showing pitting and corrosion of driver side torsion bar that ford states is acceptable. I have noted that the federal safety agency opened an action #pe98-009 on this matter 13 feb-98 and closed it 30 june-98. I've also noted numerous complaint filings for f150 torsion bar failures with the federal safety agency and other internet data bases. This would seem a highly dangerous situation that could result in accident and fatalities if breaking at highway speed. I beleive this warrants a new investigation and issuance of corrective action requirements to ford. The fact that complaint files indicate frequent back orders for parts might indicate ford is doing a lot of replacements.
Right front of vehicle dropped, right front torsion bar broke, remove old and install new torsion bar
Defective torsion bar broke in parking lot. If vehicle was driven it could have caused a crash. *ak
Torsion bar snapped while merging onto interstate, dropping the front end.
While driving the right torsion bar broke at 14000 and the left torsion bar broke at 19400, both caused the front end to drop. Nlm
Front torsion bar broke while vehicle was sitting in garage overnight. Dealer notified.
Complete failure of the torsion bar on the front left of vehicle. Break is about six inches from the front of the bar. Vehicle had been parked for in excess of three hours on level ground when failure occurred. Have over 30 witnesses that can attest to when failure occurred.
Front torsion bar broke while driving which may have caused a loss of vehicle control. *ak
Torsion bar broke in half causing temporary loss of control when vehicle collapsed onto the front suspension.
Front left torsion bar snapped in two, without warning, while driving on a smooth road. The truck pulled hard to the right, as the suspension collapsed. Ford replaced only one torsion bar: I am afraid the other torsion bar will also break.
Front left side torsion bar broke while backing out of a driveway, causing suppension to drop onto the ground . The dealer has been contacted.
The torsion bar snapped causing the front end to fall. On the drive to the dealership could not exceed 30 MPH because truck would begin to bounce and cause steering difficulty. I am employed with an automotive supplier and the engineers at work tell me that had I been driving when this happened, I would have more than likely rolled the truck. I drive a significant distance to and from work and most of this mileage is via the freeways. I have done some ressearch and find that many ford 1998 4x4 f150's have experienced this problem. The mechanic at the dealership has assured me that this should not happen again. Sounds like a faulty part and yet no recall from ford. The second item is a crack in the sheet metal of the door. I discovered this last night after reading about the problem from many f150 owners on the internet. Although I picked up my vehicle from the dealership only last night I will be returning once again today. This also seems to be a design flaw that is being ignored by ford.
Rear leaf spring snapped under normal use, frame came down on the axle due to failure. Mjs
While driving at 25 to 30 MPH the front torsion bar broke, causing a lost of steering. Dealer has been contacted.
While driving at highway speeds vehicle will begin to sway, making it difficult to control.
No summary listed for above vehicle.
The torsion bar is part of the suspension, and it broke while my truck was parked in my garage. I'm worried that if it broke while it was parked, it could break again while being driven. The ford dealership admitted to me that they had changed several other broken torsion bars, in fact when I called them to report the problem, they new right away what part had failed. The problem I have is they replaced the torsion bar with another exact same torsion bar. I have little confidence in this part or the dependability of my $30,000.00 truck.
Leaf springs became misaligned without any heavy duty towing or off roading. Recall said they could fail under heavy work. Before recall clip was installed, the springs became misaligned. Took to dealer, installed clip and said found no problem with springs. Left them in misaligned position.
While backing up out of driveway, right torsion bar broke in half, causing the right front end to drop down about one foot.dealer is aware of the problem. Truck is being repaired.
I was lucky it was parked. This could be very dangerous on the freeway.ihave heard that this has happend to other people.I feel that this truck has very unsafe springs and torsion bars that could break at any time.which could cause loss of control.
Consumer put vehicle in reverse and heard a noise. Vehicle began to roll forward into traffic, consumer learned that the rear driveshaft broke in april 98. Also, in jan. 99, while consumer slowed down to make a turn, the left front torsion bar broke, the frame dropped, damaging the upper control. Consumer will provide VIN# when received.
Both torsion bars failed.
Front torsion bar broke, causing the right side of the vehicle to fall onto the frame. Cause unknown. Please give any further details
Consumer parked vehicle and noticed front end was down . Backed truck up. Took it to repair shop, and was told not to drive. Vehicle was towed to ford dealership. Dealer said problem was common, and they would replace the torsion bar. But part was on back order. Once the part was received, it was replaced on driver's side. Consumer requested that passenger's side torsion bar should also be replaced.
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