Problems with 1999 Ford Expedition WHEELS

Spare tire fell off. the tiny (1/8") steel cable that held spare in place under the truck body failed allowing huge spare tire to drop to road. fortunately, this happen as i was pulling into driveway after a 2000 mile trip. had this occurred on i95 in 75mph / bumper-to-bumper traffic, it would have been a disaster for the following vehicles. a web search shows that this is not uncommon and should the subject of a safety recall.

1999 expedition xlt 4wd w/17" steel wheels. while traveling on a well graded gravel road, about 35mph the ride suddenly became shuddering, like a tire was going flat. as i was slowing to stop & check it, but while still travelling about 20-25 mph, there was a sudden thumping thud, and the right rear corner of the vehicle dropped, as if the tire had failed, accompanied by immediate loss of speed. upon stopping & exiting to change the tire, i found that the right rear tire & wheel were completely missing, and the vehicle was resting on the brake rotor. upon closer inspection, there were no lug bolts upon which to mount the spare. i found the tire & wheel off the side of the road, fully inflated; and also found the hubcap & all of the lug nuts strewn along the roadway. the nuts had the sheared off/broken stubs of the lug studs still attached to them. no injuries resulted, nor was there any other property damage; no other vehicles or persons were affected by the incident. when the wheel came off of the hub, it did extensive body damage to the wheel well area and to the quarter panel/fender area. vehicle was towed to a repair shop, and my insurance company notified for a possible damage claim. i subsequently heard of a recall of newer ford vehicles with 17" steel wheels exhibiting this same problem, so decided to file a report.

Tl*the contact owns a 1999 ford expedition. while driving 10 mph, the rear of the vehicle jumped in the air as the rear passenger side tire detached simultaneously. the vehicle was towed to the contact's residence, but was not diagnosed by the dealer. nhtsa campaign id number 99v099000 (wheels:lugs/nuts/bolts) was referenced. the current and failure mileages were 150,000.

I work at a tire store and have seen on numerous occasions, lug studs snapping with torque wrench use of 100 psi. on ford and lincoln trucks and suv's. it is only happening to the ones with 10 mm lug studs. the metal on the inside of the stud has varying shades of grey in it. it looks like the metal is not the same all the way through. once the stud snaps, the nut can be screwed off by hand and is not cross threaded. when trying to torque them, the nut keeps turning until the stud snaps. we have done this using different impact guns and torque wrenches on a minimum of 15 vehicles with any where from 1 to 8 studs snapping. the customers think we are breaking them from incompetence. ford recalled studs from 1997 to 1998. i have seen it on 1999 and 2000 models with 10 mm studs. when i send them to the dealer on the later models, they are told it is not covered. *jb

Normal driving, shaking steering wheel, which lead to a broken wheel stud after it was already fixed in another recall. no injuries, was caught before any damage was done. *ak

While driving at 20 mph rear wheel fell off without warning. *ak

Dt: the vehicle does not start when there it rains, snows or any water relating issues. also, causes other electrical problems. dealer keeps replacing the computer, which never last. dealership replaced the windshield, and that did not fix the problem. ford has been contacted by the owner. ford recommended that the owner try another dealership. the owner has been to more than one dealership to try to fix the problem, and they could not figure out the problem either. the vehicle has been in the shop over these issues between 6-12 times, and now the dealership will not even give the owner an invoice. owner has spent about $4,000.00 over 8 months on trying to fix this problem. this owner is not satisfied with the dealership or ford. the water problems have been going on for two years. the wheel came off last year in july. the wheel started vibrating and the wheel just came off while driving. the wheel lugs: nuts and bolts brokenoff. 4 out of 5 lugs and nuts were missing. the odometer does not work. it blinks off and on. the odometer will stay off for months, when it comes back on the mileage may go forward or it may go backwards. the owner took the vehicle in and had the lug sand nuts a long with the rim and wheel repalced.*ak

While traveling at 45 mph and pulling a trailer down hill, and without any indication, left rear wheel separated from vehicle. tire/ rim and disc brakes were gone. please provide further information.*ak the lug blots sheared off causing the wheel to separated from the vehicle, all bolts sheared off at backerplate. nlm

Towing boat with the expedition. back left rear wheel ran off. contacted the dealership where i purchase expedition. wanted no part of what i had to say. they were contacted three times. next called ford @ 1-800-392-3673. told them i had been made aware of the recall on the wheels/lugs/nuts/bolts. but i was informed my truck was not included in this recall. i asked why did my truck have all the systoms of the recall. 1) wheel ran off 2) none of the remaining 3 wheels will not torque down tight. my truck is also still under warranty but i was told ford would not take care of the problem without a fee. i feel ford is at fault, but they do not want to help.*ak

Wheel of vehicle disconnected due to lugs:nuts: bolts shearing off. i was informed (by my brother who is a ford technician) that night that there is a recall on ford expedition for that problem.*ak

Dealer said that cotter pin on right front wheel was missing, an accident did occur. *ak

Recall (99v-009) should also include the 17" aluminum wheels as well as the 17" chrome wheels. consumer's 17" aluminum wheels cracked and caused vibration as stated in recall. *cj

This vehicle has been back to dealership seven times since purchase for warranty service problems and recalls. in may of 99 there was a recall on the wheel lugs: nuts. in september 99, november 99, and march 2000 it was in for windshield wiper problems; moulding replacement; twice for front end alignments (steers to right); and trailer hitch recall. the constant smelll of burning oil has just been diagnosed on latest visit to dealership 5/15/00 as needing a new cylinder head. vehicle has been in on three other occasions for this same problem, but they could never find it. now parts are on order---will take 3-4 days to obtain parts before they can repair it. regarding the "windnoise" dealer says its "normal" yet service bulletins have been issued on this problem (996780 & tsb 99-6-5). in november of 1999, the left "tie rod" broke off while we were in phoenix. a phoenix dealership did a same day repair for us. *ak