Ball Joint Problems of Ford Explorer

I received notice about a safety recall for my ball joint suspensions for my vehicle. Actually two notices from Ford. I scheduled my vehicle for recall service and apparently my vehicle VIN does not fall under the recall. You can literally hear my ball joints knocking every time I make a turn. Even the mechanic confirmed that my ball joints were horrible but his hands were tied because my VIN did not pop up in his system with the recall. How is it I get not one but two notices for the safety recall and now my vehicle is not covered under the company recall? when again you can literally hear the joints knocking every single time I make a turn. Is it really going to take for me to get into an actual accident to have this issue addressed?.

See all problems of the 2013 Ford Explorer 🔎.

There was a recall 19s17 on the vehicle. I took vehicle to dealer for this 12-16-2019. They replaced the toe links (part db5z-5a972-j) and reported that the left side toe link ball joint was loose and needed replacement. They would have to reschedule a time to do that. Because the joint was loose, they did not perform the alignment that was supposed to be done after toe link replacement. Driving the vehicle on snow covered roads afterwards revealed that the rear suspension was out of alignment because of very poor handling/wander. The vehicle did not have that problem before the servicing. The dealer should have done a simple alignment that would have put the alignment close enough instead of sending the vehicle out in an unsafe condition. Because of the cost I was quoted, I took the vehicle to an independent auto repair shop for the joint replacement, where it was done much cheaper. I received another recall notice 20v-675 dated November 2020, on the toe links and returned the vehicle to the dealer on 12-30-2020. They reported that the toe links passed the inspection and they replaced the attaching bolts. On 1-30-2021 I was driving the vehicle in a 70 mph zone in three lanes of traffic when the left side toe link fractured. The vehicle went wildly out of control, skidding and sliding back and forth until I was able to fight it to a stop. Luckily there was not a collision with nearby traffic. This was 30 days after the toe link was supposed to have been inspected. The vehicle was towed to a Ford dealer in the area. The dealer replaced both toe links. I have the broken toe link. Ford has refused to cover any of my expense which included a rental car. My concern is that driving the car now presents a very scary situation. Will a toe link break again and send the vehicle out of control causing an accident?.

See all problems of the 2014 Ford Explorer 🔎.

Vehicle was being driven straight on residential 2 lane street. Heard a loud break/ loss of driving control of vehicle which pulled forcefully to the right. Vehicle scraped off curb then back into oncoming traffic and coming to stopped. Had lost all power to steering and operability of vehicle. Put hazards on to avoid accident examined damage to right front pass side tire. Appeared that stabilizer arm, snapped, ball joint disconnected. Rim was not bent or damaged other than scrape to curb and tire was fully inflated. Prior to malfunction driver did not hit any obstruction, debris or potholes on road. No damage to body of vehicle.

See all problems of the 2019 Ford Explorer 🔎.

Body mounts deteriorate before their time and ball joint fail.

See all problems of the 2001 Ford Explorer 🔎.

Tl-the contact owns a 1998 Ford Explorer. The contact stated that while driving approximately 5 mph, a noise emitted when the steering wheel was being maneuvered. The malfunction occurred whenever making a turn. The vehicle was taken to an independent mechanic who stated that the front and rear ball joints were defective. The manufacturer was notified of the problem. The approximate failure mileage was 100,000. Pmb.

See all problems of the 1998 Ford Explorer 🔎.

I purchased a 2004 Ford Explorer in July 0f 2011, and traded in my 2001 Oldsmobile of 5 years. I also purchased the 12 month 12,000 mile warranty. Before driving it off the lot I had the dealer fix the abs system because the light was on. There is a crack going down the back of the trunk but nothing else was wrong at the time so I left the crack alone. In April of 2012 I took it to the dealership for a belt, check trans, shocks, ball joints, and a ticking in the heater when knob was turned to heat (not cool). I told him to just fix what was on the warranty and also give it a oil change. He informed me that the trans was fine. After getting the car back my heat went out and I was told by a mechanic buddy that my brakes, rotters, emergency brake pads and the back tires were shot. So I had him replaced them because this was also not covered on warranty. Just last week my rpm started jumping with miles over 65. (no lights were on at the time)so I took it to 6 different places getting estimates on what could be wrong. All shops said the same thing. "start with fuel filter, oil filters and oil change". The day after I paid for all this the service engine light came on. (egr valve code) the man at auto zone told me to take it off and clean it with spray and let it dry before replacing. I took it to a shop and had them do this. The same day I picked up the car my service engine light came on again, o/d light and the car was driving like I was hauling a bus and jumping. I took it back the next day and he replaced the egr valve new since the same code was showing up. Later that day after getting it back the car started doing the same thing after driving for 5 miles this was Friday 9/21/12.

See all problems of the 2004 Ford Explorer 🔎.

Front and rear ball joints went bad.

See all problems of the 1999 Ford Explorer 🔎.

Took Explorer in to local Ford dealer to have firestone wilderness at tires replaced plus a wheel alignment done. Dealer said that alignment could not be done until both front tie-rod ends were replaced. Said that tie-rods were good enough for yearly auto inspection but not for long. I had them replaced but thought that replacement at 30,000 miles was a little premature. After looking at your complaint database, I noticed that others had reported tie-rod and ball joint failures on the '98 Explorer's so I thought I should send mine in also even though no accident occurred and it may not actually be considered a safety defect. This truck has never been taken "off-the-road" either.