general problems of the 1998 Ford Explorer

Spot welds on the accelerator pedal mounting bracket failed and broke completely off causing loss of accelerator function and allowing pedal to fall behind brake pedal. This is a known defect that many Ford Explorers are experiencing and should be a safety recall before someone dies!.

Gas pedal housing fell off the wall NHTSA item #616531.

On Monday November 5, 2007 at around 4:15 pm while driving home on cheverly avenue I received a call on my two way radio from the cheverly police department. The caller stated that my 1998 Ford two door, Ford Explorer sport had dropped its spare tire in the middle of cheverly avenue. At first I did not believe the officer, being that I am the director of public works, I thought that he just needed to talk to me so I made a u-turn and drove back to where the officer was parked. To my surprise there was the officer with a spare tire which I later identified as being my 1998 Ford Explorer spare tire. I looked under the truck and the cable that held the tire in placed was damaged, rusted, and it had dropped the tire in the middle of the road. Earlier that day I was driving on the capital beltway route 495 in the washington DC area and if that tire would have dropped I the middle of this busy roadway can you imagine the potential for an accident? Ford motor company needs to find a better idea for the spare tire and Ford ought to tell all vehicle owners that have a similar system for the spare tire to change them, replace them every so many days and/or use different materials that would not rust. Thank god I was in my neighborhood and going at a low speed. Otherwise only god would know what could have happened.

The spot welds broke on the metal bracket that holds the gas pedal to the floor.

Consumer feels vehicle design is to heavy and not very stable when turning corners. Yh.

Vehicle tilts to left on flat level surface which could result in rollover when making a left hand turn.