Photo: Ford
On June 1st, the Office of Defect Investigations within the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration contacted Ford in regard to a vehicle owner questionnaire alleging a driveshaft fracture on a 2017 model year Super Duty with the 176-inch wheelbase and 6.7-liter Power Stroke.
The owner stated to the federal watchdog that his F-450 should have been included in a separate recall – campaign number 17S08 – that addressed a driveshaft issue unique to Super Duties equipped with the 208-inch wheelbase, 6.8-liter gasser, and four-wheel drive. Said report was reviewed by Ford’s engineers, who initially dismissed it. Rather than being related to campaign number 17S08, the issue experienced by said owner might’ve been related to an earlier internal radial damper concern.
The Automotive Safety Office within the Ford Motor Company then proceeded to conduct a preliminary search of field data, identifying no fewer than 16 other driveshaft fracture reports on similarly configured trucks. The issue was elevated to the Critical Concern Group, which found that most driveshaft replacements from the internal radial damper concern were a result of noise-vibration-harshness complaints that didn’t allege a fractured driveshaft. Only a handful of claims alleged driveshaft fracture.
Further analysis found an elevated number of reports pertaining to specific rear-axle ratios with higher driveshaft rotational speeds. More to the point, vehicles equipped with 4.1 and 4.3 rear ends operate with a higher driveshaft rotational speed, which makes them more likely to experience internal radial damper movement and driveshaft fracture. The Ford Motor Company is aware of at least 63 global reports of IRD driveshaft fractures on the subject vehicle configurations with the aforementioned axle ratios.
On the upside, FoMoCo isn’t aware of any accidents or injuries related to this problem. A grand total of 18,808 trucks, namely 2017 to 2018 models produced between October 2015 and January 2018, are called back. The suspect population comprises 399 units of the F-250, 14,089 examples of the F-350, and 4,320 copies of the F-450. Owner notifications are due to be delivered by first-class mail between January 9th and January 13th.
The Automotive Safety Office within the Ford Motor Company then proceeded to conduct a preliminary search of field data, identifying no fewer than 16 other driveshaft fracture reports on similarly configured trucks. The issue was elevated to the Critical Concern Group, which found that most driveshaft replacements from the internal radial damper concern were a result of noise-vibration-harshness complaints that didn’t allege a fractured driveshaft. Only a handful of claims alleged driveshaft fracture.
Further analysis found an elevated number of reports pertaining to specific rear-axle ratios with higher driveshaft rotational speeds. More to the point, vehicles equipped with 4.1 and 4.3 rear ends operate with a higher driveshaft rotational speed, which makes them more likely to experience internal radial damper movement and driveshaft fracture. The Ford Motor Company is aware of at least 63 global reports of IRD driveshaft fractures on the subject vehicle configurations with the aforementioned axle ratios.
On the upside, FoMoCo isn’t aware of any accidents or injuries related to this problem. A grand total of 18,808 trucks, namely 2017 to 2018 models produced between October 2015 and January 2018, are called back. The suspect population comprises 399 units of the F-250, 14,089 examples of the F-350, and 4,320 copies of the F-450. Owner notifications are due to be delivered by first-class mail between January 9th and January 13th.
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