Ford is recalling 876,413 Explorers and Mercury Mountaineers to replace faulty
parts on the suspension system, Associated Press reports. Thousands of the sport
utility vehicles already are under recall in connection with the Firestone tyre
problem.
The recall affects 1995 to 1997 models of the Explorer and the 1997 Mountaineer,
which have sway bar links that can break off, especially in cold climates. The
sway bar connects the left and right front wheel control arms and helps control
the pitch of the vehicle in turns.
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Ford will notify owners by mail and its dealers will provide free replacement
links that are wider. The recall ends an investigation by the government’s auto
safety agency.
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration opened a preliminary investigation
into the problem on September 20 after an agency employee having handling problems
discovered a broken link on his vehicle. The employee’s dealer told him that
he had sold many replacement links to other drivers with similar problems.
NHTSA investigators went to their parking garage at the Transportation Department
and examined 28 Explorers. Seven of the SUVs, all either 1995 or 1996 models,
had repaired or broken links, so the agency opened an investigation to assess
the scope of the problem.
At the time, a Ford spokesman said the company did not believe it was a safety
problem, but further testing showed it could affect handling and safety, Ford
spokesman Mike Vaughn said Thursday.
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"We went back and we decided that, yes, there is a small risk at the extreme
limits,” Vaughn said. "We felt the right thing to do is administer it
as a safety recall.”
NHTSA has collected 13 complaints from owners who said that stability was reduced
during a lane change or turn, especially at speeds above 40 mph. Ford received
262 owner and field reports of the problem, including two reports of minor accidents
that may be related, Vaughn said.
He said most of the reports came from New England and Canada.
NHTSA officials say the sway bar problem did not cause tread separations on
Firestone tyres that were used on the Explorer. Bridgestone/Firestone Inc. has
recalled 6.5 million of its ATX, ATX II and Wilderness AT tyres, which reportedly
have been involved in accidents that have killed at least 119 people and injured
more than 500. Most of the accidents involved the Explorer.
Some observers point out that the broken links had the potential to increase
the severity of an accident during a tyre tread loss.
"Any situation where a driver is going to have to make an emergency manoeuvre
after a tyre failure, a broken sway bar is only going to make handling more
difficult,” said Sean Kane, president of Strategic Safety, an Arlington, Virginia-based
firm involved in litigation against Ford and Bridgestone/Firestone.
