Good morning, everyone.
Here's today's recall notice from 4DUH:
http://cnnfn.cnn.com/2000/12/01/recalls/wires/ford_recall_wg/
Ford recalls 876,000 SUVs
Automaker to replace faulty
suspension
parts in Explorers, Mountaineers
December 1, 2000: 8:27 a.m. ET
WASHINGTON (AP) - Ford Motor Co. is recalling 876,413
Explorers and
Mercury Mountaineers to replace faulty parts on the
suspension system.
Thousands of the Explorers, the world's best-selling
sport/utility vehicle, already
are under recall in connection with the Firestone tire
problem.
The recall affects 1995 through 1997 Explorers and 1997
Mountaineers, which
have sway bar links that can break off, especially in
cold climates. The sway
bar connects the left and right front wheel control
arms and helps control the
pitch of the vehicle in turns. The recall covers
846,591 Explorers and 29,822
Mountaineers.
Ford (F: Research,
Estimates) will
notify owners by mail and
its dealers
will provide free
replacement links
that are wider. The
recall ends an
investigation by the
government's
auto safety agency, the
National
Highway Traffic Safety
Administration.
The agency opened a
preliminary
investigation into the
problem Sept.
20 after an agency employee who was having handling
problems with his
vehicle discovered a broken link. The employee's dealer
told him that he had
sold many replacement links to other drivers with
similar problems.
NHTSA investigators went to their parking garage at the
Transportation
Department and examined 28 Explorers. Seven of the
SUVs, all either 1995 or
1996 models, had repaired or broken links, so the
agency opened an
investigation to assess the scope of the problem.
At the time, a Ford spokesman said the company did not
believe it was a
safety problem, but further testing showed it could
affect handling and safety,
Ford spokesman Mike Vaughn said Thursday.
"We went back and we decided that, yes, there is a
small risk at the extreme
limits," Vaughn said. "We felt the right thing to do is
administer it as a safety
recall."
NHTSA has collected 13 complaints from owners who said
that stability was
reduced during a lane change or turn, especially at
speeds above 40 mph. Ford
received 262 owner and field reports of the problem,
including two reports of
minor accidents that may be related, Vaughn said.
He said most of the reports came from New England and
Canada. NHTSA
officials say the sway bar problem did not cause tread
separations on Firestone
tires that were used on the Explorer.
Bridgestone/Firestone Inc. has recalled 6.5 million of
its ATX, ATX II and
Wilderness AT tires, which reportedly have been
involved in accidents that have
killed at least 119 people and injured more than 500.
Most of the accidents
involved Explorers.
(Copyright 2000 by The Associated Press. All
Rights Reserved.)
stories
Fifth recall on Escape SUV - Nov. 28, 2000
Ford recalls Mustangsl for brake fault - Nov.
6, 2000
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