Problems with 2003 Ford Ranger STRUCTURE

Frame in rear of vehicle has holes on both the left side and right side. also where the spare tire is held is also rotted out , can not hold a spare tire. also the cross member that holdes the the gas tank strap is also rotting.due to the rotted frame the truck is unable to tow anything with. other than the frame the truck is in good condition

Tl* the contact owns a 2003 ford ranger. while taking the vehicle to receive new tires at schierl tire and service center (1002 s 8th street, medford, wi 54451; 715-748-2963), the contact was informed that the rear frame near the shackles and bumper was severely rusted. the rust was so bad that nothing could be attached to the frame. the contact called medford motors (105 wisconsin avenue, medford, wi 54451; 715-748-3700) who informed the contact that the failure was premature and the frame needed to be replaced. the vehicle was not repaired. the manufacturer was not made aware of the failure. the approximate failure mileage was 135,000.

The entire front of the bed rusted apart and now has a three to five inch gap between front bed wall and bed floor. needless to say the front bolts that attach the bed are no longer doing anything to hold the bed down. this results in the entire front of the bed flopping around and bouncing when driving. to add insult to injury the rear portion of the frame when the leaf spring shackles mount are rusted through with several holes visible, and the entire passenger side leaf spring shackle rusted apart and busted off the frame the other day while driving on a state highway at highway speeds. it took me 11 hours to grind off the old rivets and replace the shackle but am unsure if the frame will hold up due to the severe perforation's from rusting. the other side has not compromised yet but it is in really bad shape and will be falling apart in the next few months. hopefully it wont result in an accident when it does go.

Ranger rear frame is rusting heavily. spare tire assembly may be unreliable.

My wife got a 2003 ford ranger fx4 last year. as we looked it over we notice some bubbling rust under the paint. the dealer said he would paint it if we got the truck. ok so he did and it looked good. a few months later i started to notice more bubbling. last week i was driving it and i heard something like a thump, i looked in the mirror and saw the spare tire in the middle of the road. i pulled over and put the spare in the bed. when i got home i looked under the truck and noticed the spain tier area was totally rotted out. yesterday i pulled into the driveway and hear a squeaking noise. i looked around and noticed that the front passenger corner of the bed was hanging. i looked at the area and what held the bed up was totally rotted out. we are now afraid to drive the truck!!! what can we do? *tr

Severe frame rot (rust) at aprox. 85000 miles, already replaced left rear leaf spring mount (aprox. 2 years ago) frame cross braces are rusting through including the spare tire mount.10/10/16. my belief is that there was little or no corrosion resistant appliad to these frames upon vehicle assambly. good usable parts are hard if not impossible to find as most are as bad or worse than my existing parts. i believe this issue exists when vehicle is stationary or in motion.

Entire frame rusted out. won't pass inspection. obviously an ongoing problem. driver side behind cab to bumper very bad. it is actually allthe way into.we got it on a line of credit. we are out of 5000.00 . rest of truck is really nice

Rear half of frame excessive corrosion. frame, spring mounts, spare tire rack and main frame members rusted away affecting structural integrity. corrosion is significantly worse than would be expected for this age vehicle. rear spring mounts dangerously corroded.

Spring shackle support on rear of truck on drivers side of truck rusted completely off the frame and was replaced in the summer of 2015 , the other side was also replaced at the same time. spring pushed thru the truck bed. frame on rear drivers side of vehicle has rusted thru. spare tire holder rusted off causing spare tire to fall off somewhere while driving down the road. bed rail supports are rusted thru into the interior of the truck bed. rear shock body's are rusted off, shock supports rusted badly other places on the truck frame are rusted very bad also pictures are attached !!!!

Frame rusted-took it to be repaired. was told it is not reparable. too rusty and far gone to fix. take it off the road. not safe to drive.the rest of it is still in good shape.

While replacing fuel system canister i had to remove spare tire and noticed cross section of frame rusted through. i also noticed strap for has tank rusted trough. i will need to replace at my expense both.

This complaint is about my 2003 ford ranger edge 4x4 that has 70,000 miles on it . my truck looks great but i just found out that my frame is gone an i can't believe that this could happen its so far gone ( rusted away ) . i have been online an have found that i'm not the ( only one ) with a ranger that still looks great that is rusted away like mine , toyota stepped up an took care of it's customer's i'm sure they got a push to do it . by o d i . ford needs to step up an fix this for us ranger owner .i will have to park my truck an wait to hear if your department can help us buyer's of american products. *tr

Chassis and suspension exhibits excessive corrosion for the year and miles. very heavily corroded and pitted while the exterior is rust free. the truck is a 2003 with 90000 miles. *tr

2003 ford ranger suddenly accelerated upon attempting to park. i was pulling into my parking spot while apply the brakes when my vehicle suddenly accelerated, jumped a snow bank and hit a light pole. independent witness reported the vehicle just took off, rear wheels rapidly started turning. i contacted ford motor co. who did not seem too concerned about the incident and had no interest to inspect the vehicle.

The under-bed spare tire holder rotted off the frame and dropped the entire assembly to the ground while the vehicle was driving. *tr

Truck made a clunking noise going around a turn. checked it out and found the rear spring shackle and hanger had rusted off. when replacing found the spare tire well and hanger all rusted which could have dropped the spare tire onto the road. also the frame is rusted completely through and needs repaired. also with it rusted at the rear where the hitch attaches i could lose anything i maybe trailering. my frame is horrible for the year and unsafe. *ja

Lost all brakes while driving. found all brake lines rotted and in need of replacement. while replacing lines, noticed excessive frame and cross member deterioration from rust. bed cross members completely rusted away and rear spring hangers rusted so bad they are ready to break off. *js

The rear frame is rusted so bad it won't pass inspection. the rest of the truck is in great shape. *tr

I discovered that the truck bed had rusted completely through and has severe rust on the frame as well. the rest of the truck is in very good condition with no rust showing anywhere. all of the rust is on the passenger side of the truck bed. it appears to have started at the heat shields. the truck had a sprayed in rhino lining that ford sold when i bought the truck new which hid the problem until the bed gave way completely and now has one 5"x 8" hole and another smaller hole. *tr

Body, chassis, and all suspension is rusted to a non-repairable condition. bolts have to be cut to free, body underpinnings have denigrated to nothing, and paint is bubbling. *tr

Structure rotting out had to replace shock mount and a strut to pass inspection. now have 34000 miles on it and the spare tire casing separated from the body, the strut holding the transmission is rust so i can't trust it to drive. the body is in perfect shape. *tr

I was attaching utility trailer to my truck. i jumped in the trailer to get the ball to seat in the receiver and noticed the bumper pulled away from the body of the truck. i looked under neath and saw the frame broke in front of where the trailer hitch was attached to the frame. the metal is paper thin there.i'm curious if there is a recall as this seems very dangerous. my cell # is[xxx].thank-you. [xxx] information redacted pursuant to the freedom of information act (foia), 5 u.s.c. 552(b)(6). *tr

The rangers frame coating system is failing in several areas. the paint is just peeling off. there is also a significant amount of rust on the underbody of the cab and truck bed. this vehicle has less then 55000 miles and originally in the state of va. the vehicle was willed to me and just brought to the state of ma. in august of 2011. it has not been exposed to a new england winter road conditions. the winter road conditions will only compound the issue. i can provide pictures upon request. i stronglyrquest that some action be taken to investigate the paint system failure. *tr

I own a 2003 ford ranger i bought new. on november 26 2010 i pulled into the parking lot @ work and my clutch and brake pedals fell to the floor causing a minor crash. the pivot bracket that holds the steel pedals is made from cast aluminum. i have been a aluminum welder for over 10 years and in my opinion this bracket is very substandard. i searched the web and found that other people had the same thing happen on rangers and other trucks and ford cars. if i was on the road this could have been much worse. i sent pictures and a piece of the bracket to a recall investigator. he said its not a common failure since he cant find any complaints. *tr

Tl* the contact owns 2003 ford ranger pick up. the contact stated that the frame bed was excessively rotted. the vehicle was taken to a dealer where the technician who confirmed that there was significant damage to the center frame. the vehicle was not repaired. the manufacturer was notified of the failure. the failure mileage was 48,000. the current mileage 53,000. updated 9/29/14*cn

Spare tire carrier rusted off of truck so we then took further investigation. my husband laid under the bed of the truck to look at it and then seen a hole in the floor of the truck bed. so right then he removed the bed liner that was it in and sure enough there was a huge hole. then also seen the frame was broken and rusted very badly. so he removed the truck bed itself from the frame and seen how bad the damage was. it has since cracked due to the obscene amount of rust of the frame of the truck. there are also rust spots in several spots on the body of the truck but are not as concerned about that as the fact that the frame is broken. the dealership so far is not taking responsibility for this. we feel they have tried to cover it up. we have filed a complaint with the attorney general's office and are still waiting for a response from the dealership. ford motor company is not taking responsibility for it. we have pictures available which we have shown to a mechanic at our closet ford dealership and he stated this was absolutely unbelievable. this is a 2003 ford ranger. has not been wrecked or damaged in any way. *tr

2003 ford ranger passenger air bag did not deploy until 2 or 3 sec. after the accident truck hit tree about 40 mph drivers air bag went off passengers did not go off passenger broke back rear bed of truck came into truck leaving a arrow shape peace of steal approx 4" long inside of truck cab ware a 4 to 5 foot tall person would have it perched into head because of being belted into seat. *tr

While using ramps to load lawn equipment into the bed of my 2003 ford ranger pickup, both of the tailgate limit cables broke simultaneously. examination of the failed cabled indicated they both broke at the same location, roughly the midpoint of the cable where it is folded when the tailgate is in the up position. it would appear that water might have entered the cable sheath and rusted the cable. this failure resulted in the tailgate dropping approximately six inched and nearly causing two persons plus heavy equipment to fall to the ground. this could have resulted in serious injury. this appears to be a classic design flaw. i tried to get new cables from ford, but they are on backorder pending re-design (according to the parts department at the ford dealer i went to). this seems to indicate that ford is aware of the problem but has not notified its customers. *tr

My son-in-law was helping unload a box from the bed of my 2003 ford ranger pickup and was standing on the tailgate. the combined total weight was less than 200 lbs. while he was standing on the tailgate, both cables securing the tailgate snapped without warning, causing him to fall off the truck tailgate. he was not injured. some scratching of the tailgate occurred as it struck the bumper. i took the truck to the dealer, but since it is a few months past warranty (although with only 21,000 miles). they would not cover the cable replacement. i called the ford consumer line, and was told they were not interested in repairing the defect either. there was no existing damage to the cables, and the truck is not used commercially, nor has it been in an accident. the parts have not yet been replaced. the old parts are available for inspection at any time. *nm

Severe water leak in roof and rear window exact location not determined yet. owner noticed water dripping on drivers seat. under heavy rain conditions the cab will fill up with water -all over the floor, carpets, mats, etc. water has caused damage to interior and upholstery. i took the truck to ford''s service department and they refused to look at the vehicle as well as repair the leak and damage to interior. they told me leaks are common and they will do nothing about it. second defect: automatic transmissions does not shift correctly will even get hung up in a gear; causes heavy vibration upon braking. some steering and suspension components have been recently replaced by owners expense. *jb

Slid off road, drivers tires blew out vehicle rolled twice. driver nor passenger seatbelt restrained upper body. driver's head wedged under steering wheel and upper left back shoulder and arm exited the vehicle. roof caved in on driver, resulting in multiple breaks, fractures and partial parallization. passengers legs hit chest from lack of restraining seatbelt. *ak

the silver coating on the dash board around the radio and ac unit is rubbing off. *la

Purchased a new ranger xlt extended cab dec. 20 2002. while trying diagnose why the door ajar system was malfunctioning, i noticed that the driver side door was not straight. it has since become a problem while driving on the highway and taking right hand turns, where air can be heard through the door opening. the service manager where i purchased the vehicle stated that it was just that there is a different sound when turning because the air travels a different path across the truck body. he has not tested the issue on the highway because we were pressed for time. the service manager and auto body manager did agree that the door was not straight along the front and top edges and agreed to perform a repair and install a new door from the factory. the problem there was that i was told that a door installed as a "repair" would be painted at the dealership and would not have the quality of a factory installed door. the service manager also stated that he could not guarantee that a "new" door would fit any better. i admire him for his honesty to the end. i paid for a new vehicle, not a sub-standard repaired vehicle, especially since the problem existed off the factory floor. this isn't a warranty repair, but a defect. i am outraged.