Ford Recalling Over 17,000 Trucks Because the Wheels Might Fall Off

Ford is recalling a batch of trucks because of an incredibly hazardous safety issue. The recall impacts the 2021 F-Series Super Duty trucks and is related to wheels that may unexpectedly detach.

A National Highway Traffic Safety Administration campaign announcement tells us “Select dual-rear-wheel models of its F-350, F-450, F-550, and F-600 Super Duty trucks could have front-wheel hub extenders that were improperly installed. The supplier-related attachment issue could lead to the wheels and wheel extenders separating from the vehicle, increasing the likelihood of a crash. The problem was detected after two incidents of left-front wheel detachments while driving was reported to the automaker.”

The recall impacts a wide number of examples with 17,616 included. For those looking to see if their truck is impacted, they can use the NHSTA Vin Checker.

Owners are urged not to drive their vehicles until the torque of the wheel-extender nuts can be verified. In turn, Ford has directed dealers to stop selling and delivering the vehicles until the torque spec can be confirmed.

Officially, Ford reached out to dealers with a memo stating “Owners will be provided with a set of instructions to verify the hub extension torque. Some owners may choose to have a dealer verify the hub extension torque. This can be completed by the dealer utilizing a mobile repair process or towing the vehicle to the dealer for torque verification.”

Dealers will perform all related work with no charge to vehicle owners. Vehicle owners have already begun to be notified as of June 14th. Until then, owners should be incredibly careful. It’s no surprise that an issue like this could be one that might have dire consequences.

We have found no reports of injury or death as it relates to this issue.

Below, with the help of PowerStroke Tech Talk w/ARod we dive deeper into the recall and what may happen.