Problems with 1999 Ford F-150 STEERING

The overdive knob on gear shifter broke off while down-shifting from drive to 2nd gear. when researching the internet.... this seems to be a common problem!!!

Approximately two weeks ago (10/2014) i noticed that the headlights on my 1999 ford f-150 were not working. a few times once i returned to home i noticed that when i shifted the truck into park, the headlights came on. it did not appear to matter if the high beam or low beam lights were activated. i started to inspect the headlight operation and noticed that when i tilted the steering wheel to it's lowest position, typically it's operating position, the headlights turned off. when i tilted the wheel up slightly to the next position, the headlights would come on. today, 10/19/2014 i removed the trim around the steering column and noticed that there are two wires that have broken and separated from the wiring harnesses that attach to the turn signal assembly and several contacts that are loose in the upper harness. i have taken photos and a video showing the parts that are loose and or broken. because these broken wires and contacts are loose and affect the operation of the headlights, i am concerned about the risk of a short or sparks that they could create and without fully operational headlights, the vehicle is not drivable. i am the second owner of the truck and purchased it at around 11,000 miles. the steering column has never been taken apart nor has the trim around the steering column been removed. these wires could be seen moving as the steering wheel was tilted up and down prior to the signal assembly being removed as the headlights turned on and off with the light switch left in the on position. *tr

Complete loss of steering control. *jb

Dt: the contact took vehicle to have it inspected. the vehicle would not pass inspection due to the tie rod ends being defective. he was told the tie rods ends were corroded and worn out. *ak

Prior to this incident i had no indication of a problem with the steering or suspension system. on the evening of june 9, 2005 as i was braking and attempting to make a right turn into a parking lot i noticed that my truck seemed to skid. at first i thought it was the abs system since the road was wet. there was a vehicle in front of me, but i was able to stop without running into any other vehicle. because i did not realize what the problem was at that time i continued into the parking lot, and made another right turn into the parking space. at that time the truck did the same thing; it felt as though it was skidding. when i got out of the vehicle i noticed that the front driver and front passenger tires were pointed in different directions, so i knew that a tie rod had come detached. after towing the truck home i inspected it, and realized that the passenger inner tie rod had separated at the ball joint. inspection of the joint revealed that both pieces were significantly rusted. i have replaced the inner and outer tie rod ends on both sides as a precaution, since i did not know if the others would do the same thing.

Both tie rods broke on the 1999 ford f150 after 48000 miles. *mr *sc *jb

Dt consumer states while driving his vehicle the left tie rod broke, causing him to lose control of steering. the manufacturer did issued a letter in december, 2004, stating that the tie rods needed to be checked in the vehicle. comsumer states the tie rods appeared to be fine at that time. *tt

Dt: bought a used truck, and after the warranty expired had to replace the starter/the ball joints/he upper tie rods, and the control arm on both sides. engine manifold split, and exhaust system rusted. later, while driving tie rods came off. there was a slight drop at the entrance to the parking lot, and as vehicle went back up the drop, it slid and there was an impact. got out of the car, and saw that the tie rod came off and gouged into the pavement. spoke to the manager of country club chevrolet, and he simply gave consumer a discount on parts and labor. yesterday he went to a certified used vehicle dealer and asked for the 88-point inspection,, and they were unable to provide that information. *ak

Tie rod broke at ball joint while traveling at slow speed.(5 mph). *jb

Failure of front end sterring parts( ball joints, tie rods, and idler arm). on several occassions my mechanic has instructed me that i should have the front end check for wear and tear due to premature failures in these parts. this is the third time in the past 3 years (@about 20k miles per year) i have had major replacements done on these parts. i do not beleive the failure is due to driving conditions, most is at high ways speeds on reasonably smooth roads. the latest failure has me very concerned about the overall safety of the vehicle as i typical drive on the highway. my mechanic indicated if a failure occurs at highways speeds - it might not be a great outcome... i feel i am lucky in that every time i go to the mechanic (serveral times per year) i have him check these parts. i recently received an inspection in june 2004 and these parts were ok then. now (mar 2005) and i have a major replacement going on. the machanic indicated that i am not alone and the problem is very wide spread. do not get me wrong - i really like the truck and would buy another, but so far dealers (2 local) indicate that my problems are not as wide spread. hence i no longer go to ford dealers for service. the mechanic has also indicated that this issue may be larger in scope thant the firestone tire issues ford had years ago (speculation). but none the less - my mechanic has seen many of these issues and he is a small operation in a small town. at this stage i am unlikely to re-purchase a ford f150 and have major concerns over the saftey of the vehicle.

Consumer was driving the vehicle and tried to set the cruise control. it would not activate. consumer continued home, parked the vehicle. the next day consumer got into the vehicle, started the vehicle , and proceeded to place it into gear, but vehicle will not longer go into gear. will contact the manufacturer.*ak

I have a 1999 ford expedition. on saturday jan 15, 2005 my wife and i was driving and i felt the truck pulling to the right. i got out and sure enough, the left tie rod was broken. this is after replacing the right one 6 months ago. i know i should have had both replaced at the same time but i have less than 60,000 mile and don't really drive it that much. i don't drive it on rough roads or off road. i am amazed at how many others have had this same problem and there is no recall. *nm

While driving at 25 mph front passenger side wheel fell off. vehicle was towed to the independent shop, where the mechanic determined that tied rod separated from the wheel. *ak

Potential tie rod problems. *sc

I received notification from ford to have idle arm checked for defect at my expense. also if faulty, i would be responsible for cost of replacement. if this is a recall, this should be at ford's expense. i cannot believe that they would tell me that a recall would be at the consumers expense. *jb

The driver's side tie rod broke while backing out of his driveway. *mr *nm

While driving 35 mph vehicle vibrated uncontrollably. consumer was able to maintain control of the vehicle, and pulled over. vehicle was towed to the dealer for inspection and mechanic determined that the tie rods needed to be replaced. *ak the failure of the tire rod end caused loss of steering control. the passenger side front wheel turned all the way to the right which caused the vehicle to go in that direction. the consumer indicated that the manufacturer uses rod ends with no grease fittings. *nm

Right tie-rod failure 1999 ford f-150 pickup. *nm

While moving the vehicle from the driveway consumer heard a noise coming from the front end. the consumer exited, looked under the truck and saw that the left front tie road fell off to the ground. dealer was notified. *ak *nm

While driving 25 mph, tie rod failed. the consumer managed to pulled over and had vehicle towed to the dealer. the mechanic determined that tie rod needed to be replaced due to worn out parts. *ak the tie rod failure was sudden and without warning. there were no warning signs such as the front shimmy or any other control problems prior to the failure. the dealer found the remaining three ends to be bad and advised the consumer to replace them as well. *sc *jb

1999 ford f150 - driver side tie rod end failed - vehicle had less than 50,000 miles at the time - i am the original owner, nothing ever happened to vehicle that should have provoked such a failure - tie rod end snapped off suddenly and without warning while i was turning a corner at relatively low speed - because of low speed, i was able to maintain vehicle control and get vehicle off road - entire front suspension was inspected only 5,000 miles earlier when i had tires replaced, nothing was loose or showed unusual wear at that time. at the time, i was not aware that this was such a widespread problem with these vehicles and thought my occurrence may have just been a fluke. after i got the letter from ford, i realized that this must be more common than i thought. i don't believe that the inspection recommended by ford is adequate since it didn't stop my occurrence from happening. i am filing this complaint because i believe that ford should be made more accountable for this and i was offended by the letter that basically told me they had a problem but they didn't feel the need to do anything about it.*ak

While driving 20 mph right tie rod failed, causing the driver to drift to the side of the road. consumer had the vehicle towed to the dealership, and mechanic determined that right upper and lower ball joints had failed, and they will be replaced. *ak failure occured happened 2 more times. *la

While shifting from park to drive a bolt fell out of the internal area of the steering column. i put the truck back in what appeared to be park and got out to retrieve the bolt from the floor of the truck, when the truck moved backwards and causing damage to the door and rear quarter panel. the truck was not really in park as it appeared on the the gear selector, it was in reverse. the truck would no longer start in what appeared to be park. soerens ford of brookfield, wi. determined the bolt was a steerage linkage bolt. the bolt sits with the head facing downward and had simply vibrated loose out of the hole because there is nothing locking it in place. ford has determined that it is an insurance problem because of the body damage and the insurance company is calling a design defect.*ak

Ford f-150 , 1999 - tie rod to drivers side front tie rod joint separated while attempting to back out of parking spot. *jb

Tie rod end failure when taking left hand turn at low speed. vehicle only had 44,000 original miles! dealership (drum hill ford) and manufacturer (ford) refuse to accept responsibility since the vehicle is off warranty and the repair was done by a non-dealer (emergency repair). customer wants ford to inspect part, pay for repairs, and replace other tie rod end. dealer and manufacturer refused since they apparently don't care about customer safety. customer is very disappointed with quality of vehicle and lack of safety consideration by dealership and manufacturer. *la

Premature wearing on front end components - ball joints,excessive squeaking, break calipers, abs sensor replaced, repair broken starter wire, ball joint replaced - broken tie rod on august 18, 2003 at 59,000 miles - concerns over saftey of vehicle -

Consumer states that while driving at any speed and no warning the steering bolts are lose and it is causing the steering wheel to jump around, making it hard for consumer to steer the vehicle. dealer notified.*ak

When pulling out of my driveway, my lower tie rod on driver side broke. no prior warning could be felt. *jb

While backing out consumer heard a loud noise from front end. dealer determined tie rod end had broken on driver side of vehicle.*ak

While traveling on highway and without prior warning inner tire rod broke . dealership is aware of problem.*ak

Since 74,000 miles two front tie rod ends have failed within five months. dealer and manufacturer have been notified. feel free to provide any further information.*ak

Steering sector was making a noise when turning steering wheel left or right. contacted dealer, and dealer could not fix vehicle . contacted ford, and ford went along with dealership. *ak *slc

Steering gear box has been replaced twice. contacted dealer. *ak

While pulling into parking lot vehicle was hard to steer, mechanic determined the inner tie rod had broken. nlm

We could hear and feel a "clunking" through the steering wheel. took the truck to the dealer to have it checked. found that the lower steering shaft was broken and was advised to stop driving the vehicle until it could be repaired. was also told by the service manager that this problem was fairly common with the f150 and in fact they had the required part to fix it in stock. this truck is only two years old and has never been driven off-road or involved in any type of accident. i am very concerned that this type of failure could occur, and apparantly is not uncommon. the break was apparantly in a "knuckle" in the steering shaft, which is why we could still steer the vehicle at all.*ak

While traveling at approximately 10 mph under wet/rainy conditions consumer attempted to make a right turn when vehicle failed to follow path of road, and went straight ahead. *ak as condsumer was driving engine light began to flash, and then vehicle stalled, no power steering as well as brakes failed vehiicle went straight into a ditch, consumer suffered injuries, contacted dealer but not willing to even inspect vehicle.*jb

Consumer stateed that the wheel locks up while braking also,the brake pedal, drum, rotors and pads were failed and replaced. *yh

The steering geometry and suspension travel lend the vehicle to excessive over steer resulting in loss of control. yh

Truck was unstable with cause unknown by dealership. owner has taken vehicle in for corrective action several times, however nothing has changed. vehicle vibrates excessively when at idle with rpm gauge fluctuating up/down. *ak consumer states that the engine runs rough, oil level dropped and there was a clicking noise in which the dealer replaced the fan blade and fan clutch. rear brakes experienced grinding, dealer applied a silencer to the front and rear brake pads. consumer has experienced several problems with the a/c and heater, problems still exists. vehicle uses a lot of gas, idles rough and experiences small hesitation upon acceleration. vehicle kicks into gear. vehicle drifts to the right, while driving at higher speeds, vehicle and steering wheel vibrate. driver side rear view mirror rattles when closing door, when everything is closed there is an outside noise, dealer resealed the windshield. when turning on the lights, the clock and a/c are delayed. there is a whining noise when turning steering wheel. window control buttons stick at times, dealer replaced the window switch. *slc

Was going 65mph when the steering got real stiff. was hard to turn. had come to a stop. unable to turn steering to turn wheels. master clutch slave cylinder had very little resistance on the clutch when the pedal was pressed. when the vehicle is cold it can happen. vehicle is very difficult to shift into another gear. will be taking vehicle to dealer. *ak

Lost control of vehicle while driving 45-50mph on rain slick roads. vehicle hit a pole, head on, on side of road & neither air bags deployed upon impact. driver hit head on steering wheel. had emergency treatment. *ak

Consumer was driving approximately 35-45 mph when another vehicle pulled out. consumer swerved/lost control and ran into a yard, hitting a big tree. shoulder seat belt strap did not lock. consumer's chest hit steering as steering wheel broke down and went into the dashboard. consumer's head hit the windshield and cracked it. pictures are available. ak

While driving at 10 mph and pulling into the driveway steering started working intermittently, and the consumer could'nt turn the steering wheel the way he was turning. *ak

The steering on my 1999 ford f150 supercab (lariet model) will not come back to centering. when i slightly turn the wheel to the left or right it just keeps on going in that direction. i have had this in the dealer for them to look at and they admit there is a problem so thay contacted the ford engineer and was told they all do the same on the 1999 f150 pick-ups with supercab and v-8 engine. it seems to be only on this suspension on this model. i have driven others and they do the same. this is a very serious steering problem. i almost was involved in an accident on snow covered roads due to this problem. this vehicle and others i drove of the same style from the dealer were all the same. i would appreciate an investigation on this very serious steering problem. this vehicle just will not go down the road straight without forcefully turning the steering wheel back to center to constantly correct it.