The contact owns a 2001 Ford F-150. The contact stated that after pulling into the driveway at the residence, the spare tire detached from the vehicle. The contact became aware that the spare tire cable was fractured. The vehicle was not taken to a dealer to be inspected. The manufacturer was contacted and informed of the failure. The vehicle was not repaired. The approximate failure mileage was 173,000.

- Sharpsburg, GA, USA

Vehicle in question is a 2001 Ford F150. As the truck was traveling at 20 mph, the braided steel cable that retains the spare tire in the rear underside of the truck broke. This caused the spare tire to bounce down the street and strike a following vehicle. Investigation on web forums has information that this is a common problem with these trucks that are exposed to winter salt, the salt has caused cables to corrode in numerous trucks. If this happened on the highway, it easily could have caused serious injuries or deaths.

- Newton, MA, USA

: the contact stated while driving 25 mph the cable that secures the spare tire in place fractured without warning. The incident occurred on March 13, 2006. Updated 4/6/2006 -

- Crooksville, OH, USA

Driver heard a banging noise coming from the rear. Pulled over, and, noticed that the spare tire and the cable sheared off onto the ground of the highway. Driver was able to retrieve the tire, and placed the cable inside of the vehicle and drove to the dealer.

- Redlands, CA, USA

While sitting at a stop sign the spare tire cable beneath the vehicle snapped. This caused the spare tire to fall to the ground.

- Trumbull, CT, USA

I own a Ford F150 2001 supercrew with 64,000 miles on it. I bought the truck new. In Feb 2004, I had to replace the right front tire. Not wanting to have a tire on the left front that was worn while a new tire was on the right front, I asked the tire Agency to put the spare, which had never been used, on the left front wheel mount and to use the old left front tire as the spare. When the spare was brought out from the undercarriage of the truck, several grooves about the size of a manS finger and about 3/8 of an inch deep had been rubbed into the sidewall of the spare. The tire Agency did not recommend using the spare so I kept the old tire in place. I went to the Ford Agency where I had bought the truck, seguin motors and told them my story. Seguin motors told me that this damage was cosmetic and that the tire was safe to use and that Ford was not liable for this cosmetic wear. One of the seguin motors repair people told me he had seem these groves on the spares of F150S that were less than four months old. The only conclusion I can come to is that it is a design flaw in the undercarriage that holds the spare. My spare is not safe to put on the ground and it certainly isnT safe to use this tire with my family in the truck and drive it at highway speeds. Any damage to a tireS sidewall is always suspect. One would think with all the problems that Ford has had with their tires in the past that they would certainly want to preclude any problem with their tires in the future. I hope you can help me in the resolution of this problem.

- New Braunfels, TX, USA

Luckily I was driving in a parking lot and had just crossed a speed bump. My spare tire fell off the underside of the truck. The spare tire cable had broken. As of this date I have not yet notified the dealer. As this is a safety issue I fully expect Ford to pay for the replacement. I could have been traveling on the freeway and caused a huge accident when the cable broke and dropped the tire.

- Queen Creek, AZ, USA