NHTSA Recall - Loss of Steering from Front Control Arm Separation (Impacting certain 2023 to 2024 builds)

[HOTAS]

2024 Ranger had the exact same issue. Easy DIY if you have a torque wrench.

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[Joe.....Montana]

My build date is 12/23....my nuts might be affected

 

[Andrewbens]

2024 Ranger had the exact same issue. Easy DIY if you have a torque wrench.

now does anyone have specs on what the torque should be on this nut?

 

[TaxmanHog]

now does anyone have specs on what the torque should be on this nut?

Post 12

 

[Cvh8601]

Mine is a 12/23 build, and yikes! Passenger side had maybe 10 ft-lbf on it, driver more like 30.
Definitely don’t recommend relying on visual inspection!

 

[PrimeRisk]

Mine is a 12/23 build, and yikes! Passenger side had maybe 10 ft-lbf on it, driver more like 30.
Definitely don’t recommend relying on visual inspection!

Erm... I've got a quality torque wrench, but don't you have to hold the bolt (red arrow) so you can get the correct torque on the nut (black arrow)? Otherwise, isn't the thing is just going to spin?

To do this correctly do I put the torque wrench on the bolt and hold the nut with a box wrench?

 

[mrau]

When torquing the bolt does the wheel have to be off the ground (jacked up) or on the ground?
Not sure if that matters or not.

 

[rparry]

Erm... I've got a quality torque wrench, but don't you have to hold the bolt (red arrow) so you can get the correct torque on the nut (black arrow)? Otherwise, isn't the thing is just going to spin?

To do this correctly do I put the torque wrench on the bolt and hold the nut with a box wrench?

Ball Joints use a shallow angle taper that is self locking and should not require holding the indicated hex in this condition. A torque wrench that will allow you to hold that hex and torque is
going to be a special wrench. None of the torque wrenches I ever used in my days as a mechanic
were open at the top to allow this.

 

[Brons2]

Looking at the photos one can see how this is assembled at the factory.
There is a hex on the ball joint shaft that is held by the installation tool as
the nut is run down.

During my days as a Ford Mechanic, shortly after the earth cooled, Ball Joints
and Tierod ends used Castelated Nuts and cotter pins. There was a torque spec
but it did not matter as there was no guarantee that the cotter pin could be installed
at that torque. If the holes did not match, you Always tighten the nut never loosened
to install the cotter pin. This system was easily visually checked. Something the
current system can not be. I guess this is progress, but the older system was far more
fail resistant than this new system. The new system does not require as many humans
so possibly cheaper. If this system makes many of these errors it might not be cheaper!

I agree with this. A castelated nut and cotter pin would keep this from being an issue. Of course, you'd still want to tighten it down to spec, but, the cotter pin would keep it from completely coming apart in the short term.

They have made the torque on these nuts a single point of failure.

 

[watts/up]

It looks like both the NHTSA site and Ford account dashboard have now been updated to show if your vehicle has been recalled. My truck, with a 12/23 build date, has been. A fix is anticipated Q1 2025.

 

[Mike G]

 

[Mike G]

Hex socket and breaker bar on the ball joint stud to counterhold, while your torque wrench with the box-end tight clearance adapter is set at 90 degree offset to the wrench handle. (I would rather use a box-end adapter in this situation than a crows foot to keep from rounding the nut).

With the box-end tight clearance adapter set at 90 degrees to the torque wrench you're using you don't have to compensate for the difference in arm length, it's the same 46 Ft Lbs.

 

[Mike G]

My SA and I were talking about this the other day, and he said this problem was first brought up or found on Broncos. He told me that they had to replace the ball joint if the nut was loose because there was no way of knowing whether there had been any damage to the stud due to the loose nut. You can't simply just replace the nut and torque it down without knowing if damage was done to the shaft, so you have to replace the ones that were loose. So obviously I haven't seen the repair instructions and don't know what will be called out, but it's my assumption that what happened on the Bronco recall will happen with the Lightnings.

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