Tie rod end broke in half. Tie rod fell to the ground

- Powhatan , VA, USA

The contact owns a 2001 Ford Excursion. While making a turn at various speeds, the contact heard a grinding noise coming from the steering wheel. The vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. The manufacturer was not notified of the failure. The failure mileage was unknown. Updated 6/8/15

- Birmingham, AL, USA

Right side tie rod end came out of coupler due to worn threads. Happened immediately upon leaving house, so very low speed. Vehicle had to be towed and repaired. Could have caused a serious accident if speed had been higher. Right front wheel was completely disconnected from the steering linkage.

- Houston, TX, USA

The contact owns a 2001 Ford Excursion. The contact stated that the vehicle was difficult to steer when parking or driving at very low speeds and he was unable to park the vehicle. The vehicle was taken to the dealer where they diagnosed the vehicle and determined that the power steering pump would need to be replaced. The vehicle was repaired however, the contact continued having difficulties with steering. The manufacturer advised the contact that there were no technical service bulletins or recalls open for the failure and that they would be sending the information to their technical department for review. The vehicle was not further repaired. The current mileage was 102,000 and the failure mileage was 80,000.

- Novato, CA, USA

My husband was driving our 2001 Ford Excursion with myself and our 19 month old baby down the highway, when it began to smoke and ignited a fire directly under the steering column. We were in traffic, made it a point that we could pull over, get out, removing the baby from the child's seat, and the front seat was engulfed in flames. 911 was called, and the police and fire department arrived, but there was nothing left of the truck, except the iron shell and iron structures where the seats used to be. We had the recall parts replaced previously, and we had just driven to va, having some smoke under the stirring column and a fuse to blow. We took it to a local Ford dealer in va, placing it on the diagnostics machine, replacing the fuse, and telling us that it should be fine. After making it back to brandon, ms, we experienced the above events.

- Brandon, MS, USA

I have a 2001 Ford Excursion. My complaint is that the steering stabilizer is located too low in the front of the vehicle. Most all of Ford's four-wheel drive vehicles, during those model years, have the same setup. If the vehicle comes into contact with a small( or medium) sized animal or anything lying in the road, the stabilizer can become bent and the vehicle cannot be steered.

- Auburn, GA, USA