Photo: Ford
The F-150 half-ton pickup underwent a mid-cycle revision for the 2018 model year. But as it’s often the case with facelifts, mistakes can happen.
On September 27th, the Ford Motor Company became aware of 2018 models built with a tailgate latch prone to unintended opening. After a broader investigation, the Blue Oval identified a subpopulation of vehicles that were produced with a different design for the latch. Ford says the suspect batch entered production at the Dearborn assembly plant on February 7th, 2018.
In addition to an interim containment action, the automaker had also performed a permanent corrective action on April 16th, 2018. It was all in vain, though, because the perpendicular latch of the tailgate is susceptible to unlatching (pawl walkout) under certain dynamic loading conditions.
Ford is aware of approximately 400 vehicles that had the suspect latch repaired under warranty. The Dearborn-based manufacturer isn’t aware of reports alleging injuries or accidents related to the aforementioned issue.
The recalled latches (part numbers JL3A-9943150-AC and JL3A-9943150-BC for the manual- and automatic-opening systems) were produced in Canada by Magna Closures. They’ll be replaced by a latch assembly that incorporates a different latch pawl design (part number 5L3Z-9943150-A).
Ford says the Dearborn Truck Plant reverted to the initial design on April 16th, 2018, which is another way of saying that someone didn’t expect the issue to balloon this much. But what’s in the past will remain in the past, and FoMoCo had no choice but to call back a grand total of 57,591 trucks.
The affected population was manufactured between February 7th, 2018 and April 16th, 2018 according to the company’s records. Known owners will be notified of the recall in the timeframe from January 31st to February 4th.
In related news, certain 2021 and 2022 Ford F-150 pickup trucks have been recently called back as well for a potential issue affecting a driveline component. More to the point, underbody heat and noise insulators are prone to loosen, a condition that could damage or fracture the driveshaft.
In addition to an interim containment action, the automaker had also performed a permanent corrective action on April 16th, 2018. It was all in vain, though, because the perpendicular latch of the tailgate is susceptible to unlatching (pawl walkout) under certain dynamic loading conditions.
Ford is aware of approximately 400 vehicles that had the suspect latch repaired under warranty. The Dearborn-based manufacturer isn’t aware of reports alleging injuries or accidents related to the aforementioned issue.
The recalled latches (part numbers JL3A-9943150-AC and JL3A-9943150-BC for the manual- and automatic-opening systems) were produced in Canada by Magna Closures. They’ll be replaced by a latch assembly that incorporates a different latch pawl design (part number 5L3Z-9943150-A).
Ford says the Dearborn Truck Plant reverted to the initial design on April 16th, 2018, which is another way of saying that someone didn’t expect the issue to balloon this much. But what’s in the past will remain in the past, and FoMoCo had no choice but to call back a grand total of 57,591 trucks.
The affected population was manufactured between February 7th, 2018 and April 16th, 2018 according to the company’s records. Known owners will be notified of the recall in the timeframe from January 31st to February 4th.
In related news, certain 2021 and 2022 Ford F-150 pickup trucks have been recently called back as well for a potential issue affecting a driveline component. More to the point, underbody heat and noise insulators are prone to loosen, a condition that could damage or fracture the driveshaft.
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