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Feds Probe Ford F-250, F-350, Five Hundred and Freestyle

Loss of control plagues trucks, cars have instrument problems

By Joe Benton
ConsumerAffairs.com

November 23, 2007
The National Highway Traffic Administration is investigating the Ford Motor Company's 2005 to 2007 model F-250 and F-350 trucks as well as Ford Five Hundreds and Freestyles to determine whether the vehicles have defects that will require recalls.

NHTSA reports at least 78 complaints about steering and suspension oscillations in the two trucks. Some of the problems were so severe as to cause loss of control of the truck. The agency has no estimate of the number of Ford trucks on the road that could be affected by the steering and suspension fault.

NHTSA also reported investigating nine complaints of instrument cluster failures in the 2005 Ford Five Hundreds and Freestyles.

Consumers reported that the instrument panel illumination fluctuated, gauges stopped registering information, and turn signals failed.

Roughly 174,000 of the Ford Five Hundreds and Freestyles are on the roads, according to the agency.

NHTSA opened the investigations November 15 and 16, almost a week before the agency released information about them to the public.

The agency routinely waits to publicly announce important recalls and safety investigations until late on a Friday afternoon are just before a holiday weekend, observers have noted.

Reports of the two new Ford investigations was released Wednesday just before the Thanksgiving Holiday.

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