Five problems related to carrier/rack have been reported for the 1997 Ford Explorer. The most recently reported issues are listed below.
While vehicle was driven spare tire cable sheared off, causing spare tire to fall off which could have caused an accident. The cable was swinging back and forth and rubbing against metal. This is a design flaw.
The roof rack ripped off while driving, the thumb screws designed to loosen the crossbar vibrated loose completely.
Mechanism which holds spare tire had to be cut before consumer could use tire. Also ,wrong jack was with the vehicle. Please provide any further information, and identification number.
Consumer was removing spare tire from bottom of truck. The cable that holds the tire in place was almost broke in two, with tire hanging underneath.
Screws that hold the cross over portion of the luggage rack to the track broke, causing the luggage rack to disconnect.