Consumer Complaints
| Fail date | miles | occurences | Purchase date |
|---|---|---|---|
| SERVICE BRAKES | |||
| 12/20/2012 | 133000 | ||
| Pulled into parking space, applied brake and pedal went all the way to floor. truck rolled forward into bumper of parked car. upon inspection, found steel brake line rusted through, just above flex line running to driver's side front brake, with brake fluid flowing out of corrosion hole. there was never any indication that the truck had any problems at all with the brakes. i was on my way to the highway and am thanking god i decided to make a quick stop to my local food store first. it could have been a huge disaster! i can't believe fuel and brake lines are not required to be made of stainless steel - most especially in states that salt the roads in winter! | |||
| SERVICE BRAKES, HYDRAULIC | |||
| 10/19/2010 | |||
| Three brake lines rusted out and leaking in last 2 years incident date is an estimate | |||
| 04/04/2012 | 157000 | ||
| Tl- the contact owns a 1999 ford f-150. while driving approximately 45 mph, the contact depressed the brake pedal and noticed the brake pedal dropped to the floor board abnormally. the contact used the emergency brake and was able to stop the vehicle. the vehicle was not taken to the dealer for diagnostics. the contact inspected the vehicle and noticed brake fluid leaking from the brake lines as a result of corrosion of the brake lines. the vehicle was not repaired. the approximate failure mileage was 157,000. kmj | |||
| 04/04/2012 | 157000 | ||
| Tl- the contact owns a 1999 ford f-150. while driving at approximately 45 mph the contact depressed the brake pedal and noticed the brake pedal dropped to the floor board. the contact used the emergency brake and was able to stop the vehicle. the vehicle was not taken to the dealer for diagnostic. the contact inspected the vehicle and noticed brake fluid leaking from the brake lines do to corrosion of the brake lines. the vehicle was not repaired. the approximate failure mileage was 157,000. ds | |||
| 12/01/2011 | 76825 | ||
| Fortunately, i was under 1/2 mile from my house. my road dead ends onto another. i applied the brakes and the pedal went to the floor as i approched the stop sign. i went throught the stop sign and into the drainage ditch on the other side of the road. because my vehicle is 4 wheel drive, i was able to get out of the ditch and return home. upon inspection, i found that the brake line that goes from the front to the rear was rusted and failed. there was little damage from the crash, just a fender that needs replaced. i am anal with regard to my vehicles condition and maintenance. to have a failure like this on a what is supposed to be the best built truck is absurd and totally unacceptable! my brothers 1999 honda, my step son's 1991 nissan stanza (recntly sold) a 1993 geo prizm (i.e. toyota corola!!!) recently sold had zero rust on any brake fitting, brake line or fuel line. | |||
| 11/23/2011 | 204000 | ||
| Tl* the contact owns a 1999 ford f-150. the contact stated that when depressing the brake pedal, the pedal would feel spongy as if the vehicle was not going to stop. the contact would have to continuously pump the brake pedal for the vehicle to come to a complete stop. the contact referenced nhtsa campaign id number: 05v388000 (vehicle speed control) and stated that the vehicle was repaired under the recall but to no avail. the dealer also repaired the leak in the brake line but not the air that was being released and causing the brakes to not perform properly. the manufacturer was notified of the failure but advised the contact that the defect was not directly related to the recall. the failure and the current mileage was 204,000. | |||
| 11/23/2011 | 204000 | ||
| Tl- the contact owns a 1999 ford f-150. the contact stated that when depressing the brake pedal, the pedal would feel spongy as if the vehicle was not going to stop. the contact would have to continuously pump the brake pedal for the vehicle to come to a complete stop. the contact referenced nhtsa campaign id number: 05v388000 (vehicle speed control) and stated that the vehicle was repaired under the recall but to no avail. the dealer also repaired the leak in the brake line but not the air that was being released and causing the brakes to not perform properly. the manufacturer was notified of the failure but advised the contact that the defect was not directly related to the recall. the failure and the current mileage was 204,000. kmj | |||
| 11/23/2011 | 204000 | ||
| Tl- the contact owns a 1999 ford f-150. the contact stated that when depressing the brake, the brake pedal would feel spongy as if the vehicle was not going to stop. the contact would have to pump the brake pedal for the vehicle to come to a complete stop. the nhtsa campaign id number: 05v388000 (vehicle speed control) recall was performed on the vehicle. the dealer repaired the leak in the brake line, but did not repair the air that was being release, causing the brakes to not stop completely. the manufacturer was notified, but told the contact that the defect was not directly related to the recall. the dealer repaired the vehicle. the failure and current mileage was 204,000. nw | |||
| 09/22/2009 | 76500 | ||
| Front brakes:: gradual unknown braking degradation over time until it got to the point i had to pump the brakes like as if a brake line was sucking air or the master cylinder was going bad, in order to stop. upon investigating i found that both dust shields on the front brakes were extremely rusted and the rust pieces were falling between the front inboard brake pads and rear rotor surfaces causing extreme contamination of the backside of both rotors to the point that less than 50% contact surface was left. since the inboard brake pads do more stopping than the outside brake pads it's a very dangerous situation. to add to the danger the front braking system does about 75% of a vehicles total braking. and, if it happens on a long down hill grade with allot of braking, it can cause the front brake fluid to boil inside the calipers giving someone one hell-of-a wild ride. in fact, one day i had to hit the brakes without having time to pump them and just about hit a kid on a bike that darted out from between 2 cars. that's when i decided i had better do something about the problem. i suspect ford has been loving it because non-mechanical people will never know or find out and ford will just rip people off for a major brake overhaul in the tune of $600.00 and throw everything away so nobody will ever know. this is an extremely dangerous situation because it's such a gradual degradation of braking. the fix is to replace both dust shields (ford p/n= 2l3z - 2k004 - aa) the primary cause of the problem. i took many pictures with my digital camera of all the components and can e-mail them to nhtsa . i also have all the front brake components; 2 rotors, 4 brake pads, 2 dust shields. the rotors are very heavy but i would be happy to pack everything up and send it to nhtsa if you pay the shipping. | |||
| 08/29/2011 | 100000 | ||
| Tl-the contact owns a 1999 ford f150. the contact was attempting to park the vehicle. as the brakes were applied, the brake pedal was abnormally depressed into the floorboard. after inspecting the failure he noticed corrosion and rust on the brake line and the fuel straps. the dealer was notified of the rust and informed the contact there were no recalls and offered no further assistance. the manufacturer was also notified who offered no assistance. the failure mileage was 100,000. kmj | |||
| 03/09/2011 | 162000 | ||
| 1999 ford f150 brake failure do to brake lines rusted through | |||
| 07/04/2010 | 135356 | ||
| I have a 1999 ford f-150 while on vacation i heard something break when i took it to the shop they said that all of my straps had snapped the only thing holding it up was skid plate and on the second incident was when i was driving my brake pedal had went soft causing me to almost cause an accident then the brake light had came on when i took it to ford they had said that all my break lines from the back to the master cylinder had to be replaced so between the two incidents the truck has cost me close to one thousand dollars | |||
| 10/15/2010 | 182700 | ||
| My 1999 ford f150 truck was sitting in my driveway and had not been driven for over two days. the ecu module shorted out and started to burn large amount of smoke billowed out from under the hood of truck. truck was repaired with a used part since ford no longer manufactures the ecu module. | |||
| 04/16/2009 | 65000 | ||
| 3 separate incidents of brake failure due to rotted/rusted brake lines. luckily the incidents happened at low speeds and i was able to stop with the emergency brake. if i was going faster this could have had deadly consequences! since then, all brake lines have been replaced with stainless steel line at my own expense. every problem that i have had with this truck (and there were many) can be traced back to catastrophic metal fatigue! there is no excuse for this manufacturers continued usage of substandard and/or poorly designed materials!!!! | |||
| 02/15/2010 | 62000 | 1 | |
| 1999 ford f-159 abs light on and red brake light on intermittently with change in brake feel. *tr | |||
| 06/29/2009 | 102000 | 1 | |
| My brakes failed on my 1999 ford f150 that only has 102,000 miles on it. i was amazed to discover that the problem was due to a heavily corroded steel brake line. i am having a hard time understanding why the nhtsa doesn't require automobile manufacturers to use stainless steel for brake lines. after talking with a few mechanics, it seems that this type of failure is not uncommon in vehicles with 100,000+ miles on the odometer. i'm afraid to think what kind of accidents can occur with this type of premature brake failure. *tr | |||
| 09/01/2008 | 91000 | 1 | |
| I was on a trip in alabama traveling south on i-85 on september 2, 2008. i stopped for a break just north of montgomery. when i got on the on ramp to i-85, my left front tire suddenly went flat. i replaced the wheel with the spare and discovered that the wheel had been ripped open. i drove to the nearest ford dealer in montgomery where they discovered that a brake caliper bolt had come out and caused the brake caliper to rip the wheel apart. i was extremely lucky to have been on the on ramp rather than traveling on the interstate at 70 miles an hour. this is the third time that the same caliper bolt has come out. the last time was in oneonta ala and was replaced by the local ford dealer in oneonta. this is a dangerous safety problem that could have caused the death of two people. *tr | |||
| 05/07/2008 | 109000 | 1 | |
| I went to drive my 1999 ford f-150 last night, and the brake pedal went completely to the floor. no previous symptoms were evident. upon inspection, it is evident the brake line along the frame to the rear wheels burst due to excessive corrosion. further inspection showed that all of the other brake and fuel lines on the truck are electroplated, and maintain a silvery non corroded finish. however this line along the frame is obviously unplated, flaking chips of rusted steel, resulting in failure. whether it was a design flaw, or manufacturing oversight, the unplated brake line could have had severe consequences. *tr | |||
| 08/14/2006 | 86000 | 1 | 08/02/1999 |
| Dt*: the contact stated the vehicle's brakes failed while attempting to stop at a residence. the brake pedal went to the floor. a local mechanic came to the contact's house and repaired the brake lines going to the left rear brakes. the mechanic informed the contact the fuel lines were rusted. | |||
| SERVICE BRAKES, HYDRAULIC - ANTILOCK | |||
| 09/08/2007 | 44560 | 2 | 04/26/2000 |
| Front antilock sensor defective and causes an additional 15 foot roll before stopping. it nearly caused me my life. and if i was hit by that dumptruck it would have looked like i just made a mistake. i got the new sensor installed and was told there was an upgrade and needed both sensors installed to avoid this. i'm very happy i didn't go to a local garage. they would have replaced the bad one and i would have another shot of hitting that dumptruck. *tr | |||
| 09/16/2006 | 103000 | 1 | 07/02/1999 |
| 1999 ford f150 pickup. steel brake tubing rusted. while stopped brake petal went to floor. lost most of the brake fluid on the ground from a rust break near the junction of two tubes on the frame rail. both brake tubes and the connector are badly rusted. *nm | |||
| SERVICE BRAKES, HYDRAULIC - FOUNDATION COMPONENTS - DISC - ROTOR | |||
| 10/21/2005 | 56000 | 1 | |
| Dt*: the contact stated upon yearly state inspection, it was determined the rotors had too much porosity during the casting process. as a result, the rotors must be replaced in order for the vehicle to pass this year's inspection; however no repairs were made. | |||
| SERVICE BRAKES, HYDRAULIC - FOUNDATION COMPONENTS - DRUM - SHOES/LININGS | |||
| 06/26/2006 | 93000 | 1 | 01/01/1999 |
| Dt*: the contact stated while applying pressure to the brakes there was a metal to metal noise. the vehicle was taken to dealer for inspection where they determined the rear brake adjuster, cable guide and adjuster lever were the problem. the brake drum cable was too short would not allow the brakes to adjust. the manufacturer has not been alerted. | |||
| SERVICE BRAKES, HYDRAULIC - FOUNDATION COMPONENTS - HOSES, LINES/PIPING, AND FITTINGS | |||
| 02/25/2007 | 147766 | 1 | 06/10/1999 |
| 1999 ford f-150 while on a short trip out of town i experience almost complete, sudden brake failure. upon side of the road inspection, i found left rear brake line failed with brake fluid dripping on the pavement. truck was taken to a local mechanic who said brake lines were rusted through. he replaced the broken left rear and the badly rusted right rear. *jb | |||
| 10/12/2006 | 110000 | 1 | |
| Pulling a 10 foot box trailer well within gvw limit...main brake line failure, line along the frame rail appears to be rusted way beyond what would be expected for the vehicle year, brake line burst when brakes applied...through inspection revealed all metal parts not aluminum are rusted, appears metal is inferior quality but factory...lines to be replaced. *jb | |||