This campaign marks Ford’s 63rd recall in 2024.
We’re just about to close out the new year, but we’re going to kick off 2025 with a new recall notice for 2023 and 2024 Ford F-150 Lightning owners. This issue specifically concerns the front suspension, where affected trucks may have shipped with incorrectly torqued front control arm ball joint nuts. If they are too loose, the front upper control arm could separate from the knuckle assembly, resulting in a loss-of-steering situation that could increase the risk of a serious crash.
The recall, designated 24V-949 by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) and 24S76 by Ford Motor Company, impacts 8,017 2023 model year F-150 Lightnings, as well as 3,905 built in model year 2024. All vehicles subject to this campaign were built between November 5, 2023 and February 13, 2024.
According to what Ford told the NHTSA, “The nut on the upper control arm ball joint may not have achieved the correct torque due to variation in the alignment or orientation between the fastening tool and the fastener that may have induced lateral forces on the tool, preventing it from properly seating on the fastener.”
Ford says it first became aware of the problem on September 12, 2024, when it received an incident report about a missing left front upper control arm ball joint nut on a 2024 F-150 Lightning. The driver described intermittent vibration while driving at highway speeds, before it suddenly veered left into a side rail. Upon inspection, the dealer technician discovered the upper control arm ball joint nut was missing, and the joint had separated from the knuckle. Ford investigated the issue further beginning in October, and decided to launch a formal recall on December 13, 2024.
What is Ford doing to address the problem?
Per the NHTSA recall report, Ford says that incident is the only one it knows of attributable to a loose ball joint nut. Nevertheless, it will notify 11,922 F-150 Lightning owners to the problem by letter, instructing them to bring their trucks to their local dealer. Technicians will inspect both the left and right front control arm ball joint nuts.
If the affected fasteners pass torque inspection, dealer technicians will replace the nuts with new ones anyway. More importantly, if they fail torque inspection, then technicians will replace the nuts and the knuckles. Most of the affected F-150 Lightnings should still be under warranty, but Ford will make this repair free of charge, regardless of whether the truck is under warranty. If an owner paid to have the repair completed out of their own pocket, they can petition Ford for reimbursement.
This recall repair does not involve any new part SKUs, since the parts themselves were not defective. Instead, dealers will ensure the fastener is appropriately torqued to the knuckle, and replace one or both OEM parts if necessary.
Ford says it will notify owners by mail on February 7, 2025. Dealers, for their part, should get a bulletin on the issue no later than January 6, 2025. Owners can find out more specifics about this recall through the NHTSA website. So far, Ford has issued more than 60 recalls for its vehicles throughout the year, with this campaign marking the sixth for the 2023 model, but only the first for the 2024 trucks.
