Carrier/rack problems of the 2003 Ford Explorer

The brackets connected to the liftgate released while the car was parked and locked and blew the back liftgate panel out along with shattering the glass.

On February 18th I noticed a crack in the rear glass lift gate molding otherwise known as the rear applique. After a google search I realized this is known defect that Ford motor CO. Does not recognize officially. There is a class action lawsuit regarding this defect. On April 25th 2014 I opened the rear glass lift gate to get something out of the rear cargo area. Upon closing the glass lift gate the entire window shattered into many pieces and actually put three cuts on my arm. I have looked into this online and found many owners of the 2002-2005 Ford Explorer's, Mercury mountaineer's and Lincoln aviator's all had this cracking of the rear applique. Also found out whether or not a crack was visible many people had the rear glass shatter upon them while closing the glass lift gate. Right now I must pay for the entire repair out of pocket, insurance doesn't cover it since they say I have a $1000. 00 deductible. The cost for the glass was quoted at $495. 25 plus tax. I also will have to replace the rear applique which covers a portion of the glass window at an additional cost. Not sure why this is not covered by Ford since the window shattering can cause injury and therefore should be classified as a huge safety issue. I will get this fixed and keep my receipts for all repairs and hope all owners of the vehicles listed above get some sort of reimbursement.

The back panel on the hatch is cracked.

Back glass on lift gate exploded. Glass went every where. No one was in the thank goodness. Vehicle was just sitting in driveway. It just exploded and shattered. There was nothing wrong with the glass. The only thing there was was a crack on lower panel that had been there for about 3 years.

Cracked panel below the rear window.

There is a crack in the rear lift gate door. Have seen this on many other Ford, Mercury, etc. Also the door ajar indicator stays on.

Chat conversation start 5:57pm greetings, I saw you commentary about the Ford Explorer exhaust fumes inside the cabin, well I have a 2004 Ford Explorer with the same problem, I am a mechanic I figured may be the filter was clogged well it was no filter, what I found the vent door fell off from the place where it suppose to open and close laying down on the fan, so I reinstalled back and the problem was fixed, it is a poor design from the Ford company. I was loosing heat during winter and not be cool at the summer loosing the thru vent out place. Ford needs to fix all this problems along with seat belts, rear window quarter panel cracked no one is getting Ford to do recalls on this items very poor construction.