Most lug nuts are one piece of hardened steel, but Ford chose a design that puts an aluminum cap over a steel core. The cap is notorious for swelling and delaminating when it gets hot. It’s also a great place to trap moisture and encourage corrosion. The end result? A lug nut that’s either too big for a standard wrench or fused so tight you need a drill, welding torch, and 7 Hail Marys to remove it.
Ford has issued a small but important electrical recall for 87 vehicles with improperly secured power supply cables. The cables are at the starters and alternators and the unsecured connections could cause electrical arcs. Those arcs could easily start fires.
Ford wants the lug nut lawsuit tossed because "the plaintiffs never allege the swollen lug nuts have ever caused physical injuries to any person or damage to any property."
Ford also says the plaintiffs talk about swollen lug nuts as if the lug nuts should be indestructible and the warranties should last forever, then wrongly "attempt to cast their product-defect allegations as warranty, fraud and unjust-enrichment claims."
Ford has been sued for switching to a 2-piece lug nut design that features an aluminum cap. When exposed to the elements, the cap swells in the heat, cracks and delaminates, and corrodes from moisture.
This leaves owners and lessees who get flat tires often stranded on the roads without the ability for even tow truck drivers to remove the swollen lug nuts. This means a tow to the shop just to have the lug nuts removed and the tire replaced.
Busted modules are telling the fuel pumps in 88,000 Ford vehicles to take the day off. It should come as no surprise that those modules need to be replaced before those vehicles stall out.
1st Generation Flex News and Notes
Bite-sized content about all the recalls, lawsuits, and investigations surrounding the 2009-2020 Flex.