Tl* the contact owns a 2001 ford e-150. the contact stated that while reversing, he heard a loud dragging noise. the contact mentioned that after inspecting the vehicle he noticed that the tie rod was fractured. also, he stated that he had replaced the entire front end of the vehicle 30,000 miles before the failure occurred. the vehicle was towed to the dealer however, the technician was unable to diagnose what had caused the failure. the manufacturer was made aware of the failure. the vehicle was repaired. the failure and current mileage was 171,578.
With only 43,000 miles, and 21 months old, i had to replace outer tie rod, drag link, and ball joints on our 2001 ford e-150 van. the vehicle has only been used as a private vehicle. maintenance has been per ford schedule, and performed by the same ford dealership which did the state inspection which lead to the part replacements. while ford did contribute about 40% towards the work, it seems suspension and steering parts wearing out so prematurely is a defect which should be concidered for recall. pursuing further with ford only resulted in phone call claiming that the wear rate was not unusual.*ak