Spare hanger broke, spare is gone!

[GShelton]

I wanted to get this story out to the public for a couple of reasons. First, so the world knows what I am currently going through with Ford. Second, to find out if anyone else has had this issue. And lastly, as a warning to all other Super Duty (and maybe other truck) owners to make sure to check this.

 

 

I recently purchased a backup camera to install on my 2008 Ford F-450 Super Duty. When I crawled under the rear to begin the installation, I found my spare tire missing. The winch for the spare is there, but there is no cable, no saddle, no tire. There is not even a little bit of cable sticking down. (I felt that had the tire been stolen, there would have been some cable sticking down.)

 

I took the truck to my local Ford dealership. (This is the one I use when needed. They are the ones that do my oil change and any other warranty work that is required if I am not traveling.) When I told the service advisor about my issue, almost immediately told me it would not be covered under warranty. They did not look at the truck at this point. I told her I was not going to let this go and I needed to know how to move on. She gave me the 800 number to Ford Customer Care. (Or the 1-800 who cares number as I like to call it.)

 

My first call into Customer Care was about 20 minutes after I left the dealership (11-19-2009) and I spoke with a very nice lady who told me that the parts may be covered under warranty, but the truck would need to be diagnosed by my local dealer. She said she logged it in the computer for the dealership.

 

I called back to the dealer and they told me I could bring it in right then and they would look at it. I returned to the dealer and they did put it up on the lift and look at it. They did not however do anything more than a visual inspection that returned the results of, "The tire is not there and we can not see the cable." This is what I told them to begin with. They did state that there was evidence of the tire being there at some point as there was rub marks underneath from where the tire was mounted. I was then told I would need to call back into the Customer Care line as they could not determine it was a faulty unit. (Nor did they determine it was not.)

 

I called into the Customer Care line as I was returning home and explained it all again. Customer Care told me I would need to return to my selling dealer. (90 miles from where I now live.) When I asked why I needed to return to that dealer, I was told it was so they could determine if the tire had been installed at the factory. When I explained that this had already been determined by the local dealer and I did not wish to drive 180 miles to have them state the same thing, she no longer had anything to help me with. I asked to speak to someone higher up as I was not going to let this die. I was told she was it. She actually said to me, "Sir, you are talking to Ford!" I then explained that I wanted to talk to someone higher up IN Ford. She told me her supervisor had no additional resources and that it would not change anything. I explained to her that I would take this all the way to the CEO of Ford if I needed to. She put me on hold, came back and explained that all the supervisors were currently busy and I could wait or have them call me back. I chose the call back.

 

A supervisor called me today (11-20-2009) about 3pm. I explained the situation again (3rd time) and told her I felt I was being treated unfairly. I felt that no one was taking the initiative to actual diagnose the issue. I explained that not only was I upset the tire was missing, but that if this is an issue, someone could be killed. A dually tire is not light and if it came out at road speed, someone could easy have been killed. She then said that I would have noticed it. I don't think that is true. As big as this truck is, as rough as it rides, I don't think I would have noticed anything. She put me on hold and called the local dealer again. They said they were willing to pull the winch down and open it up to see if they could determine what the issue was. (They will likely charge me a diagnostic fee however.) She also made a comment that if it was defective, they would replace the hanger, but not likely the tire. My comment to that is what if my leaf springs fail and my axle falls out? Will they cover the springs and not the axle?

 

So at this point I am awaiting a time to go back to the dealership again to get it diagnosed.

 

 

So that is the story to this point. Anyone else lose a tire on a Super Duty? I would also like this to be a warning for you all to drop the tire occasionally and check the condition of the cable. I only have 30K miles on the truck. Also, for the record, I seen the spare when the truck had 1200 miles on it as I was under the truck to install the 5th wheel hitch. The last time that I "know" the tire was under there was August of 2008 when I had the truck at a dealership in Augusta, GA. and had nitrogen put in the tires. I requested that the spare also be done. I would imagine (if they actually did the spare) that they would have told me it was not there. So it disappeared in the last year.

 

 

I hope this is an OK place to post this. This forum has helped me a ton since I purchased my truck

 

Please let me know if anyone has had this issue. This could turn into a safety recall!

[mettech]

That sucks.

 

Customer Care was no help for me with my F-350 issues.

[GShelton]

Well to this point, Ford has fixed every problem with the truck. (Not always 100% happy, but it got done.) This issue I am not going to let rest. I plan to fight this to every extent that I can.

 

I spoke with some people in my area (other Ford owners and a former mechanic of the dealership) and was told the local dealership does not like to cover anything under warranty. Seems they were doing a little too much warranty work at some point and got a hand slap for it. So I am planning to take the truck to the selling dealership.

[GShelton]

I wanted to make something clear here. I will say that some of this is about getting the parts replaced, but the most important thing here is that I want Ford to admit this might be a problem and a safety concern. This is what has really ticked me off about this is that the first thing out of their mouth was not "Oh my! I hope no one was hurt!" Instead, it was an instant, "Oh, that is not going to be covered under warranty!"

 

I think I am going to file a complaint with The Office of Defects Investigation at the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. Someone needs to look into this BEFORE someone is hurt or killed.

[fordtion]

If there's evidence of a tire being on there and rub marks show that, your wasting your time trying to get that replaced by FMC. Did you ever think someone stole the whole thing and cut the cable? Just how long have you owned this truck?

[akirby]

I wanted to make something clear here. I will say that some of this is about getting the parts replaced, but the most important thing here is that I want Ford to admit this might be a problem and a safety concern. This is what has really ticked me off about this is that the first thing out of their mouth was not "Oh my! I hope no one was hurt!" Instead, it was an instant, "Oh, that is not going to be covered under warranty!"

 

I think I am going to file a complaint with The Office of Defects Investigation at the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. Someone needs to look into this BEFORE someone is hurt or killed.

 

Do you honestly think this could have fallen off while you were driving and you didn't notice it? Somebody stole it and cut the cable.

[GShelton]

If there's evidence of a tire being on there and rub marks show that, your wasting your time trying to get that replaced by FMC. Did you ever think someone stole the whole thing and cut the cable? Just how long have you owned this truck?

 

Yes, I considered that it might have been stolen. But I feel there would be cable still showing. Have you ever seen the tire carrier under a truck? It is darn near impossible to get anything in there to cut the cable at the very top, never the less anywhere else under there.

 

Do you honestly think this could have fallen off while you were driving and you didn't notice it? Somebody stole it and cut the cable.

 

I have no doubt that it could fall off and me not notice. With the size of the truck and as rough as it rides, it is not likely anyone would notice. Plus I have very dark tinted windows, so if it let go at night I would NEVER see it.

 

And again, if it was stolen, why is there no cable hanging? Who would waste the time to clip the cable twice?

[mach14604]

I want to know how this ends. I think it was stolen it was used at some point and never put back on.

[mach14604]

How old is this truck?

[OAC_Sparky]

How old is this truck?

Read the first post.

 

Personally, I would wager one of two things happened. Either it was stolen or if the garage putting the nitrogen used an impact gun to lower the spare overtightened it putting it back on (not sure if the spare is mounted face down or face up). In either case, a cut or broken cable would be drawn up inside the winch.

 

That said, Ford should be a little more concerned and want to examine the truck.

[pickup-artist]

Sir, first of all allow me to appologize, for any mistreatment you have recieved from the company I work for. I am an hourly employee at Kentucky truck plant,the team I work on installs the tires. The tires are installed face up on the duallies. However I feel the tire must have been stolen, if the cable had failed it would of most likely broke at the yolk. as for them overtightening it with a impact tool they would of had too been completely incompetent, as we use them in the plant when there is a issue on the line.My guess is they cut the cable and raised it a biit while they were getting the shaft of the wrench out of the bumper.