I bought my Ranger 12 months ago. 6 months ago I noticed the bed of the truck was starting to lean to the left. Also the spare tire came up missing. I thought it was stlolen but upon inspection it had simply rusted the holder under the truck and fallen off. 3 months ago the truck started making a grinding noise upon braking. The right front a arm had rusted and broken off the frame. A mechanic had to weld a piece of metal to the frame because there was nothing to weld to. Then I finally decided to look under the truck and was shocked at what I found. The bed floor was nearly non excistant. Rusted almost completely gone. The spring shackle on the right which is attached to frame with a bracket were sticking up against the bed liner, the bracket completely gone. The tube that holds the right shock absorber is completely rusted off, the shock absorber just hanging there. Mechanics have told me theres no way to repair because theres no viable metal left to weld to. Its simply rusted away. So now im left with over 3 more years of car payments on a vehicle that's useless. I will upload pictures as soon as I can. Thank you. [xxx] information redacted pursuant to the Freedom Of Information Act (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6).

- Kansas City, KS, USA

The spare tire rusted off and fell of when driving and shock mounts also broke due to rust.

- Warwick , NY, USA

The spare tire mounted under the bed rusted off and fell off unto the highway.

- Worcester, MA, USA

I purchased this vehicle in may of 2001. Today I was checking the air in the spare tire when I noticed the tire is 15" on a 15" wheel. The other wheels and tires are all 16". these tires were all changed from Firestone to Goodyear when the scare appeared. The dealer changed the tires and surely had to know the problem, but no one mentioned it or corrected it. What do I have to do to get a proper sized wheel and tire? I'm sure this could be a safety hazard or cause me problems if I have to use this spare.

- Sandy, UT, USA

Consumer states that the spare tire is too small for vehicle. Dealer notified.

- Media, PA, USA

The vehicle came equipped with a "15" spare tire. If the tire was used with the 4 wheel drive engaged, it would put a bind on the axle and cause it to break. 16 inch tires won't fit under the vehicle. The manufacturer was contacted. The consumer felt that the dealer should replace the tires with 15 inch tire and wheel with 16 inch tire and wheel. Scc

- Poland, OH, USA

The consumers vehicle had 16 inch original wheels and tires, but the spare tire and wheel were only 15 inches. Consumer feels this is illogical and could pose a serious problem. Consumer thinks Ford should correct the problem by mounting a 16 inch tire as a spare instead of the 15 inch.

- Grants Pass, OR, USA

My tires on the vehicle are 16" and the spare tire is 15" the problem is the spare tire being a smaller size than the others is that it can cause an accident or make the vehicle roll over or damage the differential of the vehicle I want to stress that this is not a "donut "tire. This is suppose to be a regular tire accoding to the owners manual if it was a "donut " it would be labeled as such it has no such markings. I contacted the dealer and the manufacturer and got the same answer from both that's the way you bought it that's the way it is so I assumed that they shipped out many vehicle that were equipped that same way it is a safety issue to not notify the owner but it will also in my opinion cause an accident ie.rollover vehicle parts failure thank you for your time please keep me notified of your findings. Thank you signed estel keefer.

- Rock Falls, IL, USA

Spare tire is not the same size as regular tires, regular tires are size 24575R16, and spare tire size is 23575R15. Owners manual states that all tires should be the same size.

- Nimitz, WV, USA

Sparetire is 15 inch, other 4 are 16 inch, and spare is not clearly marked as "temporary" creating potential unsafe and mechanically problematic situation if spare is installed for more than a short period/distance.

- Jefferson City, MO, USA

The vehicle came equipped with a spare tire that was not the same size of the tires that were already on the vehicle, also the spare tire does not fit properly under the vehicle, the tire binds up on boths sides and is within an inch of the exhaust pipe.

- Eagle, ID, USA