Problems with 1999 Ford Windstar SUSPENSION

Driving on interstate 81 in va. approx 65 mph noticed the rear end begin to sway as we were going around a bend in the road. after regaining control we exited the highway. i noticed that the two rear tires were leaning inward at the top. i then looked under the rear end and saw a crack in the rear axle about 18" from the driver side and 2 inches long from bottom to top. *tr

Noticed a bumping noise coming from back passenger side wheel area on '99 ford windstar (3.8l) lx. took to ford dealer today and they said rear axle has a hole in it, is cracked and broken. have read that this maybe a defect? *tr

Cracked rear axle - 1999 ford windstar. *tr

Rear axle of ford windstar van just broke. it is at a shop now to access the damage. *tr

Week of june 21st,2010 on west kimberly road van began to waver on dry pavement and i got it home safety. inspection revealed right rear wheel at a extreme angle left rear wheel also is at a slanted angle. rust has damaged rear axle bends where rear wheel are secured. left in garage as i can't drive it safety and do not have available money to get it repaired. right rear wheel is rubbing the underneath of van. old part is still on the van. *tr

I was backing my 1999 ford windstar van out of the driveway at 3:45 p.m. on a clear day, sunday june 20, 2010, when, without warning, the rear "axle" broke in half and collapsed. the wheels tilted in. results on a highway would have been disastrous or deadly. ford shows no recall for this issue, but numerous reports are online of the same problem for the same vehicle models of several model years. no repair report yet, as this just happened a day before this report. i haven't *tr

1999 ford windstar rear axle snapped in half while operating at 35 mph. *tr

Rear axle almost broke completely through....if i (or my wife) had been driving at highway speed and it broke it could have caused a major accident. *tr axles on vehicles should not break/crack in 11 or less years of use. there has to be a major defect in the rear axle on this vehicle and the longer it takes before a recall notice the higher the risk that someone is going to lose their life due to this defect.

My 1999 ford windstar rear axle broke in half. *tr

We own a 1990 ford windstar and my father and i were just pulling out a parking spot when we felt a "jolt" sort of like a tire popped. the vehicle was no longer moving when accelerator was pressed we got out to check what the problem was and our rear driver side tire looked inverted and we found out our rear axle had broken. we are now out of a car. i got online right away to see how much repairs would cost and soon found many related stories from other ford windstar owners who were experiencing the same problem. this is very frustrating as it is our only means of transportation and we might not have the money to repair it, if it even is repairable. *tr

We traveled from agawam ma to scarborough me for a family party. 20 minutes after we parked in the driveway, we started to back up our minivan because someone needed to move their car out. we then heard a loud crack while backing up in the driveway. the van began leaning to the left. we found the rear axle broken into two pieces. the break is located about a foot away from the rear driver's side wheel. we had to have the van towed to a local dealer, prime ford in saco me and had to leave it there for repairs. the service department says the rear axle was completely rusted out where the break occurred. we need to replace the rear axle, the left driver's side tire, and shock absorber that were damaged due to the axle break. we will let the service dept. know that we would like to keep the old part if possible because of this preliminary investigation going on now. we will also have to take time off from work to return to maine to pick up the vehicle once it is repaired. *tr

My rear axel in my 1999 ford windstar broke this am while my husband was pulling out of your driveway. we had no warning that it was broke. no one was hurt and we have not gotten it fixed yet but went out an looked at it an it looks to be almost dead center of the axel that is broke in half. *tr

Rear axle rusted and broke in half. *tr

Tl*the contact owns a 1999 ford windstar. while stopped the contact examined the vehicle and noticed that the rear axle was fractured. the vehicle was towed to an independent repair shop where a used rear axle was installed. the failure mileage was 155,000 and the current mileage was 158,548.

I have a 99 ford windstar. i was reading about a rear axle problem and when i checked mine, i found that it was cracked almost through. i wanted to add my name to the list of people who have had this failure. i purchased this car new and it has less than 80k miles on it. these vans are driven by moms with kids for the most part. ford needs to recall this car for this problem. *tr

While i was driving to work on may 17, 2010 i had two occasions when it felt like i hit small patches of ice and the van swerved on me even though it was a warm sunny day with dry roads. i called tragesser ford of ross ohio and made an appointment to take the van in on may 19, 2010. after inspecting the vehicle the next day they called me and said the rear axle had rusted through and broken and that i was lucky i didn't have an accident. they said although it sounds like a safety problem there were no recalls on the axle. i picked up the vehicle from the dealership on may 26, 2010 with a cost to replace the axle of $817.82. *tr

Information redacted pursuant to the freedom of information act (foia), 5 u.s.c. 552(b)(6) on saturday may 15th, around noontime, i was traveling on i-91 northbound in hartford. the van started pulling and swerving like i had flat tires. the van has 124,210 miles, and has been diagnosed with a broken rear axle. estimated repair cost for a 'used' axle is around $900.00. from what i've been reading, this is an inherent design flaw. vin # [xxx] . *tr

Information redacted pursuant to the freedom of information act (foia), 5 u.s.c. 552(b)(6) we have recently experienced a broken axle beam on a 1999 ford windstar. thank god nothing happened and no one was hurt. the car was swaying and knocking from the rear end and when we got home the rear wheels were cantered out. i looked under the car to find the broken axle beam and the only thing left holding it all together was a the torsion bar. i am very glad that we were not on a highway or too far from home, since we use the car to travel to ohio and florida . we then looked on the internet to find that many other people were experiencing the same problem and no recalls. although our car has 150,000 miles on it others had under 100,000. our main concern is the safety issue with our family. we travel a lot with our windstar as do so many other families with children do and it seems as if ford does not recognize the danger. i hope that ford does not wait for a death to deal with this problem as the part that failed should not have failed. this part is a main structure of our vehicle and seems to be poorly designed. i can't imagine how many other windstars are out there with an axle beam ready to break and how many families are unaware of this potential danger. the years of windstars that i saw on comlpaints.com varied from 1999 to 2003 and its only a matter of time before someone gets injured or killed. i ask you to please look into this matter as soon as possible. [xxx] *tr

While driving 65 mph on route 81, the car started reacting to bumps more severely than usual, and then there was a sharp noise at the rear of the car. after parking the car on the shoulder of the highway, we saw that the rear axle had broken, basically down the middle. the repairing of the car cost $960.12. *tr

Rear axle breaks in half! fortunately no other cars where around when this happened, online found very common, ford refuses to do anything! *tr

I was driving about 25 miles per hour and my real axel broke in half. *tr

Rear axle broke on ford windstar. *tr

Tl* the contact owns a 1999 ford windstar. while driving 35 mph, the contact heard a loud unusual noise and the vehicle became difficult to control. the contact stated that the wheels were folding underneath the vehicle. upon further inspection, she found that the rear drivers side axle was fractured. the vehicle was towed to a local repair shop. the dealer was contacted and the repair shop was awaiting approval from an adjuster to repair the vehicle. the vin was not available. the failure and current mileages were 135,000.

Rear axle of the car broke as we drove out of the driveway. *tr

Broken rear axle on a 1999 ford windstar. i was driving down the road at 35 miles per hour and the axle just snapped in half. the vehicle only has around 85000 miles on it. the reason i am filing this complaint is because one mechanic told me this is a consistent problem with this particular make and model. the tow truck driver said he had towed three of these same situations in the last two weeks and tows about 12-15 a year. the mechanic who repaired it said that he has fixed 4 of them. now this is just in my location so i can't imagine country wide that ford is not aware of this problem. had this happened on the highway this could have been very serious and i am also concerned that the way to repair it is to replace it with the same part that is defective. *tr

Van was made an occasional thumping sound that sounded like it was coming from the back of the vehicle. while turning into my driveway i heard a loud cracking noise and when i looked under the van the rear axle was broken almost all of the way through about 1 to 2 ft. from the left rear wheel. *tr

1999 ford windstar sel van broke rear axle beam earlier this spring. we have more than normal snowfall in sioux falls sd and our street department used more salt than in a normal year. axle broke at low speed while turning into a driveway approach. axle was broke or tore in two different locations. i have since replaced the axle with a used one not knowing of this issue ford has. *tr

I am a retired former technician/manager for ford dealers for 41 years. to keep myself busy, i work on friends vehicles. recently i have noticed a concern with ford windstars. the rear axles (i-beam assys) break in half while driving, causing the rear of the veh to lose control. the first one i saw ( a 2001 my veh) was only cracked half way, i replaced it before it broke. last week i had one ( a 1999 my veh) towed to me broken in half. luckily the vehicle was going slow & was pulled over without incident. i also noticed the crack & the break occurred at almost the same location on the axle (approx. 12" from the left side). in both cases i replaced them with used parts from an auto wrecking yard. this was due to the outrageously high price of a new part from ford. i asked around at local shops & even with some of the tech's where i used to work & was told that they had indeed seen this concern before. i was wondering if the nhtsb was aware of this concern. as a former ford dealer employee, i know manufacturers have programs asking customers to bring their vehicles in for a "safety check" & possible repair. i believe this might be a good idea for you to "suggest" to ford before one of these axles breaks at speed causing major damage or loss of life. i have access to the broken axle if anyone cares to inspect it. i also cut the cracked section out of the first axle & gave it to the owner to retain should anything program-wise ever occur. note: the information in the consumer portion of this form is mine, not the owner of the vehicles repaired. since there is more than one veh involved i left the vin section empty. if absolutely necessary i can supply both vins. but since the year of production does not seem to matter the vin seems irrelevant. *tr

1999 ford windstar, rear axles assembly, rear axle snapped in two. found while inspecting left rear tire assembly which had turned into vehicle. upon inspecting why wheel ad turned inward, it was found that the axle assembly had snapped in two and was hanging on the ground. ford dealer(sarat ford-agawam,ma) stated the dealership replaces rear axles all the time, mechanic stated he has replaced 3-4 axles himself. it was found that the broken axle was the second axle on the vehicle that had been replaced. the dealership took the two pieces of the axles and disposed of them. pictures were taken of the broken axle along with receipts for the replacement part. *tr

1999 ford windstar, pulled out of driveway & proceeded to drive down street, car started to fishtail & tire on right rear sounded like it was rubbing fire wall. thought i had a flat, got out & looked, no flat but wheel was bowed in. i turned around & went back home, pulled into driveway & got under van. the rear axel was cracked. called to get another axel to repair van & was told by several different places i called that this was a common problem with that van. called ford dealer & was told that their was never a recall on it.if i had been driving on the freeway going fast & this would have happened myself & others could have been killed. i am not concerned about myself for now because i am fixing my van myself, but their are a lot of these vans on the road & most of them are probably driven by women with kids in the van & i am concerned about them if this happened to their van. i could not afford a new axel so i bought a used one at a junk yard, my concern is if their is a problem with this part how long before it happens again. i may not be as luckily next time. please check this out before someone is killed.. *tr

1999 ford windstar, 118k miles. van has unstable steering and noise in right rear wheel area. while driving at slow speed and taking it to repair shop, the noise gets louder and my son following me reports rear tires becoming misaligned. right tire is smoking and tire fragments are evident. repair shop reports that rear axle is broken and needs to be replaced. right tire also needs replaced. i have asked for old parts to be saved for my personal inspection. after some web browsing (carcomplaints.com), i have found similar failure events from other ford windstar owners mostly from northern midwest and northern eastern states, i.e. winter states. all complaints observed were for windstars over 10 years and / or 100k miles. *tr

Ford windstar cracked axle in california. had ford replace the axle----this was not under a recall notice 6 months ago. as it was announced today, we are amazed that california would not be considered a cold weather state (poor designation, given that cars move). we frequented lake tahoe (calif), sierra nevadas (calif), and nevada (have to cross thru snow to get there) in our family's minivan. our repair is already paid for & van sold (this scared us) so my memo is not for my family, but for everyone in the state of california. please reconsider & add ca to your recall. *tr

My wife and 2 kids were getting off i-696 to mound in our 1999 ford windstar when the rear axle snapped. the van swerved and then rolled 3 times. the van came to a rest upside down and when the rear axle snapped it went through the gas tank and covered our baby in gasoline. this happened on 1-21-2010. i've been reading of the same failure on other windstars and decided to contact you. the van was totalled. *tr

My rear axel is broken on my 1999 ford windstar. happened january 1st 2010, atleast that is when i noticed it. on my way home from work, felt like i was driving on ice! car has always been babied. no history of abuse. this is a factory issue and in reading hundreds (literally) of threads, this is a common problem. needs to be recalled. could have killed myself and my children had they been in the car. what if this happened on the freeway! *tr

Our family was in our 1999 ford windstar lx 3.8l v6 when we were loosing control over the rear end of our van. we thought we had a tire problem. we drove to the tire store. they showed us that our rear axle had almost broken completely in half. with some research, we found this has happened to many families and we could have been injured. thank god we made it to the shop in time. *tr

Ford windstar seems to have a design that is a definite hazard with the rear axle member. the stamped rear axle assembly will fail after 100,00 mile by cracking and failure is quick to come. there are numerous incidents of it from 1996 to present, i have a 1999 and my wife kept telling me about a rubbing sound she hears when turning into the alley and i could not trace anything down. i then turned out of our alley and then it broke 95% through. i thought it was a flat at first and then found the crack in the axle assembly. praise god i was not on the highway doing 65 mph. i am waiting to get into the mechanics 12-30-2009 and will cast around $1000 parts, labor and tow and 2 new tires. *tr

1999 ford windstar, control arm broke off sub frame causing vehicle to come to a dead stop and front end to drop. there was no warning except the vehicle started to pull to the right a little. to fix the problem, had to replace sub frame. the bracket where the control arm should be was completely gone on the passenger side....it was still together and intact on the drivers side. you lose total control and cannot steer the vehicle. *tr

Noise on minivan husband looked for reason and found axle cracked, went and replaced it with another used windstar axle and paid for it.*tr

Tl* the contact owns a 1999 ford windstar. the contact stated that the vehicle was taken to an authorized dealer in november of 2010 for repairs under nhtsa campaign id number: 10v385000 (suspension:rear:axle:non-powered axle assembly) and nhtsa campaign id number: 09v399000 (vehicle speed control). the contact stated that the vehicle had been in the dealers possession for an abnormally extensive amount of time. the dealer advised that he was awaiting the necessary parts to arrive in order to complete the repair. most recently while the vehicle was still in the dealers possession, the contact received notification f a third recall under nhtsa campaign id number 11v030000 (structure: frame and members:underbody shields). the contact expressed frustration for the extensive length of time the dealer had been waiting on the recall parts and had possession of his vehicle. the failure mileage was approximately 80,000.

While cornering at 20 miles per hour, my 1999 ford wind star gave out a loud metal cracking noise. the driver side of the rear axle assy. had snapped exactly where everyone who has complained about the same thing on line did. this is not coincidence nor from those, rotten denying reps of ford, telling us that this is from jacking up the car using the improper position on this axle. go to the actual ford service manual and you will see instructions on doing a lot of rear end work using this rear axle housing as a jacking point ( center of housing assy. ). i work from these expensive factory manuals. ford has a defective part and refuses to admit it. anyone with basic mentality can understand. this is about money, not safety. i would not blame any man that would lose his family due to this nonsense denial from getting a gun and shooting these '!@#$%. they don't seem to give a'!@#$% about their faulty parts nor families. so far i have not heard of anyone dying in a crash, but i'll bet it will happen, if it hasn't already. *tr

Tl*the contact owns a 1999 ford windstar se. the contact was driving approximately 5 mph, attempting to make a right turn when a loud popping noise sounded outside of the vehicle. the vehicle continued in operation; and upon reaching the destination it was discovered that the front "a frame" completely fractured. the vehicle was taken to an independent mechanic where the "a frame" was replaced. the contact stated there was a recall related to the same failure with the rear suspension under nhtsa campaign id number 10v385000 (suspension:rear:axle:non-powered axle assembly). the failure mileage was approximately 70,000.

Rear axle 1999 ford windstar snapped in half while backing out of driveway replaced with one from junkyard and that one has cracked also in same place approx 4/1/10 welded that part. *tr

I have been hearing a clanking noise from the rear of my car. i brought it to my mechanic who told me i had a crack in my rear axle. he said it was the third windstar he had seen with the same problem -- two 1999 windstars (one being mine) and a 2001 windstar. this is possible a recall situation. *tr

1. rear of van swaying and a squeaking noise..............2. investigation revealed the rear axle cracked at the mid point 3/4 the way through..............3. plan to replace the axle, have not done so as yet. i will keep the old axle or make it available if needed.............."the whole story"..............over the last couple of weeks i've noticed when hitting a bump the rear of the van would sway a little, and occasionally i?d hear a squeak/screech that sounded like it was coming from under the van. i decided to investigate the under carriage of my vehicle, i was shocked, dismayed, dumbfounded, and disbelieved what my eyes where showing me. the rear axle, a rather beefy looking piece of steel and engineering, was cracked of the way through. after doing a little research to my surprise i found this to be a common problem with windstar vans. apparently dozens of windstar owners have had this problem and apparently ford like the valve cover snafu has decided to ignore it. please, before someone tragically pays the ultimate price make them stand by their product and fix this problem. *tr

Rear axle broke on my 1999 ford windstar without warning. thought i was hydroplaning, as it was raining. at 60 mph, i started to loose control and i slowed down to 40mph. i drove 5 miles, thinking i was getting a flat tire. as i pulled off the road, rear tires were scraping the fender and i discovered the axle had broken in half. *tr

Rear axle snapped into 2 on 1999 ford windstar. *tr

On may 22 my 1999 ford windstar van started to make a squealing/whining noise at approximately 10:30 in the morning during what should have been a 40 minute drive to my mothers house. due to the weird noise i stopped and checked the air pressure in my tire (right rear) where the sound seemed to be originating from. the pressure was a little low so i topped it off and continued on my trip. the sound continued and i decided to stop at a service station about 20 more miles into the trip. the service station was little help, they checked my power steering fluid, drove the van around the parking lot a couple of times and it made no noises. the attendant told me he didn't have any idea as to what the sound might be and asked if i could return in an hour when his superior would be there. i agreed to return after dropping off my kids at my mothers. after going on down the road about another ten miles i felt the steering wheel start to float and drift and my brakes became useless and the van came to an abrupt halt and there was a huge bang as the entire rear end of the vehicle became disabled. as we all piled out to see what was wrong we found the rear wheels pointing inward under the van at a backwards angle. some men came to help me who were nearby they informed me my axle was snapped. looking under the vehicle i could clearly see they were right. my van will be repaired this weekend. i called ford they basically told me to eat the repairs myself. in wv a yearly inspection is required, i passed inspection at the beginning of april which tells me there was nothing visually wrong with my axle less than two months ago. i find it hard to believe that without any outside damage or force (accidents, force ect) an axle can just snap in two. if i had been traveling any faster my 4 children and myself would have been killed or harmed as at the moment it broke i had little control over the vehicle and the brakes were failing. only people with children buy mini-vans, this is scary. *tr

Rear axle beam failure, 99 ford windstar. axle ailed (broke) on 4-8-09 at 96,765 miles and then again on 7-13-10 at 107,500 miles. first time the axle snapped on the driver's side of the vehicle and the 2nd time it snapped on the passenger side. both times the vehicle was parked when the axle broke. the second axle was a used part which was installed as a replacement for the 1st. axle after it failed. *tr

Front drivers side springs fractured just like those specified on ford windstar 1997 and 1998 assembled at oakville plant between aug 1996 through july 1998. the defective springs forced ford to issue recall 01s19. my 1999 windstar was shipped nov 1998 and i suspect with bad springs because other 1999 ford windstar owners have complained of the same spring breakage causing punctured front tires. my springs were found defective and now fail nh safety inspection. please act swiftly my funds are very low! *tr

Tl*the contact owns a 1999 ford windstar. while performing an oil change, the mechanic noticed a crack in the axle of the vehicle. the axle was cracked in half and the vehicle is currently not being driven. the dealer and manufacturer have not been notified. the failure mileage was 120,000.