Bulletins
| Bulletin | Bulletin date | Replacement Bulletin | Item no. | Summary | Added |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| SUSPENSION | |||||
| 5249 | 12/01/1998 | 615366 | Information on vehicles exhibiting steering wheel shimmy, vibration or grunt on slow speed turns. *tt | 01/13/2001 | |
| 4634 | 08/01/1998 | 615172 | Steering wheel shimmy, vibration or grunt on slow speed turns. *tt | 01/03/2001 | |
| 13426 | 10/01/1999 | 609691 | Exhibiting very light steering vibration / shimmy / nibble at engine idle or low speeds. *tt | 04/06/2000 | |
| SUSPENSION - FRONT | |||||
| 98-4732 | 09/01/1998 | 607144 | Steering wheel shimmies, vibration or grunt on slow speed turns.. | 11/02/2000 | |
| 985045 | 11/01/1998 | 613097 | Revised message regarding steering wheel shimmy, vibration or grunt on slow speed turns action on sohc equipped vehicles, perform tsb 98-21-01. *tt | 06/16/2000 | |
| BC1019197230 | 01/23/1997 | 51550 | Exhibiting a pulsating, cyclical type of noise coming from the front axle tube area from 0 to 45 mph. *jd | 06/27/1997 | |
| BC0185970201 | 01/02/1997 | 51053 | Some vehicles may not be put into alignment- camber readings. *jd | 06/27/1997 | |
| BC3493972301 | 01/23/1997 | 51486 | Vehicles exhibiting a pulsating, cyclical type of noise coming from the front axle tube area from 0 to 45 mph. *jd | 06/27/1997 | |
| SUSPENSION - FRONT - SPRINGS - COIL SPRINGS | |||||
| BC3382972301 | 01/23/1997 | 51456 | Vehicles with an unusual negative camber reading, and cannot be adjusted to within the proper camber specification, can be repaired by new springs. *jd | 06/27/1997 | |
| SUSPENSION - REAR - SPRINGS - LEAF SPRING ASSEMBLY | |||||
| 17777 | 05/01/2004 | 10008552 | Rear leaf spring noise. *tt | 08/04/2004 | |
Consumer Complaints
| Fail date | miles | occurences | Purchase date |
|---|---|---|---|
| SUSPENSION | |||
| 03/24/2012 | 123000 | ||
| Frame is nearly gone / rusted , rearend / axle fell out in middle of road | |||
| 02/13/2010 | 93000 | ||
| Driving down road rear spring broke another time spar tire came of almost causing crash ,have repaired both rear spring brackets ,two front supentoin , lost spare and frame about to brake away . what should i do . have lot of money invested . | |||
| 10/13/2011 | |||
| While working on and doing an underbody inspection i noticed that the drivers side rear spring hanger is almost rotted completely through. it is a cause for alarm for me and anybody driving near me on the highway. if not fixed it could possibly cause a deadly accident. the passenger side is rotted as well. front suspension is rotting as at a fast rate. the truck seems to jump into other lanes after hitting pot holes or other road hazards. | |||
| 09/07/2011 | 172567 | ||
| While goimg down hill and around a curve heard a loud noise from rear and felt back of truck move side ways. a short time after, another loud noise from rear and rear of truck dropped low . i lost control and went onto shoulder and slowed down was able to recover and at slow speed went home. on inspection found both rear leaf spring forward shackle supports failed due to corrosion. was lucky not going faster as could have resulted in very serious crash. please investigate and warn owners of possible failure of leaf spring.and loss of control truck is parked and not able to be driven. | |||
| 12/23/2003 | 2 | 10/15/1997 | |
| A few things here, engine light comes on and goes off at random. had it checked a few times. no problems found. dome light/door chime will not go off when door is shut and/or car is turned on. left hand blinker went nuts a few time, basicly it was blinking at a very high rate of speed. a few second 'power loss' happend a few times while driving, lost power to raido, and lights. the rear end bounces way too much when i hit a bump, can cause loss of control at highway speeds. *ak | |||
| 11/04/2002 | |||
| Consumer stated that while driving at any speed and without warning the fuel pump failed causing a distraction to the consumer. dealer notified. ts | |||
| 01/01/1999 | |||
| While driving at 55 mph and going over a bump vehicle veered to the left, and almost hit another vehicle. vehicle has been at dealer's shop for repairs, and dealer can't determine the cause of the problem. *ak | |||
| 07/27/1999 | |||
| When going over a bump/railroad tracks or a right hand turn, vehicle pulled over to the left. also had a head-on collision. *ak | |||
| 02/01/1997 | 4 | 02/01/1997 | |
| All four tires have been replaced 4 times, each for uneven wear on the tires and a constant vibration while driving. cause unknown. *ak *ml | |||
| 1 | 07/07/1997 | ||
| Poor suspension system causing vibration,bouncing and uncomfortable ride resultung in loss of vehicle control. | |||
| SUSPENSION - FRONT | |||
| 03/02/2001 | |||
| Front end was misaligned. dealer could not align vehicle correctly.*ak | |||
| SUSPENSION - FRONT - CONTROL ARM | |||
| 01/22/2000 | 1 | 04/01/1998 | |
| Dry spindles and ball joint bearings, mechanic put pickup on jack said we wre lucky we didnt wreck tire leaned outward , eventulay would have fallen off. *ak-- | |||
| SUSPENSION - FRONT - SHOCK ABSORBER | |||
| 10/01/1996 | 1 | 10/01/1996 | |
| Shock absorber failure.mgm | |||
| SUSPENSION - REAR | |||
| 08/06/2011 | |||
| 1997 ford ranger driver side rear spring hanger rusted away & broke causing weight of vehicle to be carried by truck bed floor | |||
| 05/23/2011 | 123248 | ||
| Ford ranger 1997 rear leaf spring mounts completely rusted away. heard loud banging noise when driving. inspected truck and found both driver and passenger rear spring mounts completely rusted away. front spring mounts almost rusted away -near loss of rear axel and suspension !!! very dangerous failure without any warning. if had occured at hiway speed could have been total loss of rear suspension. also dropping axel with leaf springs not good for any traffic following vehicle. major safety problem as no other rust apparent on truck outside or elsewhere under truck. inferrrior metal used for spring mounts which is apparently very prone to rust compared to rest of truck. highly recommend all ford ranger owners be notified and advised to have spring mounts inspected before fatal accident occurs. can not stress enough that there were no symptoms noted before failure, and no apparent rust on truck to indicate any problems. | |||
| 07/03/2010 | 160000 | ||
| Rear leaf spring brackets rusting and breaking | |||
| 02/09/2010 | 119000 | ||
| Tl- the contact owns a 1997 ford ranger. the contact stated that while driving approximately 50mph both of the rear springs fell off of the vehicle. the vehicle was driven home and has not been repaired. the automotive shop where the vehicle was purchased has been notified. but they have stated the repairs are the owners responsibility. the vehicle has had numerous failures since it's purchase four months ago, including the muffler and a hole in the gas tank. the current and failure mileage is approximately 119,000. vin unknown. rd | |||
| 07/22/2009 | 73000 | 1 | |
| Found drivers side rear spring support (front) that attaches to the frame rail was broken from rusting apart. while replacing it, also found the rear spring supports (rear) on both sides broken from rusting apart. this appears to be a poor design or under engineered part. the truck is 1997 ford ranger pickup with only 73k miles on it and has never been used to carry anything heavy. this seems to be highly unusual that three brackets are broken on one truck from rusting apart. *tr | |||
| 04/01/1997 | |||
| When driving my ranger if i hit a small bump or pothole the truck becomes very dangerous to operate. the vehicle wants to jump uncontrollably from lane to lane posing danger to myself or other drivers on the road. recently i noticed a small hairline crack in the roof of the cab above the drivers side and the front passenger panel protrudes away from the vehicle. this tells me somethingis seriously wrong and the vehicle is unsafe to be on the road.not only is the truck a hazard because of the unstableness of operation now it has a stress problem as well and if in an accident i wonder if the the structure would hold up as it was designed to do. i have since purchased another vehicle and because of the safety hazard am refraining from operating this vehicle until a later date. i hope something is done before someone is seriously injured. *ak | |||
| 09/30/1999 | 50 | 09/01/1997 | |
| Lost control of vehicle (most recent incident) when i hit a washboarded section on a dirt road (koehn rd. between capac rd. at knoll rd., mussey twp., st. clair county). ranger repeatedly loses control when it hits bumps or washboards, often causing lane changes or severe skids. dealer dismissed complaints, said it was normal for truck suspension. our other trucks ('74 chevy c-10, '85 astro, '85 s-10 blazer, '88 s-10 blazer, '94 caravan, '95 sonoma) have never done this. we were able to alleviate a little of the problem by reducing the air pressure in the tires to 30 psi, but we still lose control frequently, on bumpy paved roads as well as dirt roads. | |||
| 09/13/1997 | |||
| Whenever driving over a bump, such as repaired pothole or before a bridge, rear suspension jumps jumps to the side and gets out of control. *ak | |||
| SUSPENSION - REAR - SPRINGS - LEAF SPRING ASSEMBLY - LEAF | |||
| 04/01/2000 | 1 | 10/01/1998 | |
| Both rear center leaf springs broke in half! *ak | |||