1998 FORD F-150 — Complaint #424545
Open-data reference.
NHTSA Complaint about SUSPENSION:FRONT:SPRINGS:TORSION BAR filed August 12, 2003
NHTSA complaint #424545 (ODI reference 10032668) concerns a 1998 FORD F-150 and was filed on August 12, 2003. The owner reports the failure occurred on August 11, 2003. The vehicle had 85,475 miles on the odometer at the time of the incident. The report was geocoded to New Jersey based on the filer's self-reported location. The affected component is categorized as suspension:front:springs:torsion bar, one of NHTSA's standardized taxonomy codes used to group defect patterns across make, model, and year.
The filer flagged the following severity indicators: crash: no, fire: no, injuries: 0, fatalities: 0. No crash, fire, or fatality was associated with this report, which places it in the early-warning stream rather than the priority-review stream. Because a VIN was supplied, this complaint is tied to a specific vehicle and not just a model-year cohort.
Individual complaints are consumer-submitted and unverified by NHTSA engineers — the agency's role at this stage is to collect, index, and make them searchable. What matters for federal action is the pattern: when many owners of the same FORD F-150 cohort independently describe similar suspension:front:springs:torsion bar failures, defect investigators have grounds to open a PE and request manufacturer data. Related filings for the same vehicle and component appear below, and the detail page for the full 1998 FORD F-150 shows the complete component-level complaint distribution alongside any active investigations or recalls.
Complaint Description
DRIVER SIDE TORSION BAR SNAPPED ,CAUSING FRONT LEFT CORNER OF VEHICLE TO DROP UNEXPECTEDLY POSSIBLY DAMAGING SWAY BAR, SHOCK ABSORBER AND RELATED BUSHINGS. FORD CUSTOMER SERVICE STATED THERE IS NO COVERAGE, RECALLS OR SERVICE BULLETINS THAT COVER DAMAGE/DEFECT. THERE HAVE BEEN REPORTS OF SIMILAR ISSUES WITH EXPEDITION AND FORD MODELS. *AK
Complaint Details
| NHTSA Complaint ID | 424545 |
| ODI Number | 10032668 |
| Date Filed | August 12, 2003 |
| Failure Date | August 11, 2003 |
| VIN | 2FTZX08W7WC |
Similar SUSPENSION:FRONT:SPRINGS:TORSION BAR Complaints for 1998 FORD F-150
I STEPPED INTO MY VEHICLE TO GO TO WORK, AND THE TORSION BAR BROKE. SNAPPED INTO TWO PIECES. WAS THANKFUL I WAS NOT DRIVING. I HAVE BEEN TOLD BY THE TOW TRUCK DRIVER AND THE MECHANICS, THAT THEY HA
THE R/H TORSION BAR BROKE AT LOW SPEED TURNING INTO A PARKING LOT. THE BAR IS BEING REPLACED AT THE DEALERSHIP. THEY SAY THEY HAVE NEVER SEEN THIS BEFORE. AFTER SEEING ALL THE REPORTS ON LINE, I FIND
FRONT RIGHT TORSION BAR SNAPPED WHILE VEHICLE WAS PARKED IN MY DRIVEWAY. *AK
ON DECEMBER 30, 2003, I SENT THE FOLLOWING LETTER TO FORD MOTOR COMPANY AND AS OF YET HAVE NOT RECEIVED A REPLY. HOPEFULLY YOU CAN GIVE ME SOME POINTERS ON HOW I SHOULD PROCEED. THANK YOU, [XXX]. [X
THE VEHICLE WAS PARKED, WHEN THE LEFT TORSION BAR FAILED. *JB
Source: NHTSA Vehicle Complaints Database. Component taxonomy and severity codes are standardized by NHTSA Office of Defects Investigation.
Read our methodology — how this data is sourced, computed, and verified.