Rear Suspension Toe Link Recall

[Jeff118]

I had it done today. Rear alignment I was told was free/included in the recall. If I wanted the front done I had to pay, so I did, didn't have much choice at that point I wanted all four wheels done. I guess there is no chance I could get that money back?

 

[Jeff118]

Rear Toe Link Replacement - Is my Dealer wrong?

Hello fellows,

today I had my 2013 Explorer at the dealer for the rear tow link replacement due to recall.

As far as I understood the new toe links should be forged instead of welded. I looked under my car and the new links look like the old links. The dealer said "this is what I got from Ford". But this doesn't sound very convincing to me.

Could someone please look under his car and took pictures of the new toe link? Attached tow pictures of the new rear right toe link and the part number sticker.
Part No. DB53-5A972-CE

Thank you

View attachment 172197

View attachment 172198

My new ones look like yours, but I had not taken notice of the originals before taking it in.

 

[peterk9]

.................. I guess there is no chance I could get that money back?

The recall only specifies rear wheel alignment. So, if you asked to have the fronts done as well, that will be your cost.

Peter

 

[Diveshard]

I had this recall done last Friday at my Ford Dupont Dupont dealership in Gatineau Quebec. An hour in the work they call me and say they are doing the rear alignment and I need to get the front wheels aligned as well. They said they would only charge me half the price so $50. I was like what kind of choice do I have but it left a bad feeling in my mouth as if it was not for the recall in the first place I wouldn't be going to a dealer for an alignment since I didn't feel any issues with the car's alignment. I told them to go ahead but I immediately called Ford Canada to get their input. They called the dealership and immediately called me back saying I did not have to align the front so thats why it was half price. Sort of being half f**cked. I decided to live with it and paid. The dealer showed me the before and after alignment results. My car was point zero 7 off. Anyways just wanted to share my recall experience.

 

[peterk9]

So after they called back and said that you didn't have to align the front you had them do it anyway? If so, then the cost is justified.

Peter

 

[Diveshard]

Its kind of illogical to not do the front if the back was done free or not. I was put in a corner. Either way it was just $50 and its all done, whether it needed or not lol probably not.

 

[Odrapnew]

Meh, $50 to have it all 4 wheels aligned (including rear for free) isn't a bad deal.

You say it was off by .07, which measurement?
And was that .07 out of spec, or from nominal (and still within spec)?

 

[KayGee]

Its kind of illogical to not do the front if the back was done free or not. I was put in a corner. Either way it was just $50 and its all done, whether it needed or not lol probably not.

If that was $50 CAD for a front end alignment, that is not bad. That is ~$38 USD currently and the going rate in my area for a front end alignment.

As to whether you needed it or not, that is probably open to debate.

For those that have a chain shop in their area that does free alignment checks, maybe it would be good to have a check done before the toe link recall to see if a front end alignment is needed. If so, then have the dealer do front and rear with the recall if price is reasonable. If not, then decline the front alignment.

 

[Ayman20]

I am from Saudi Arabia and my car (2016 ford explorer XLT AWD) was originally bought and used in Canada for 2.5 years then exported to Saudi Arabia where it has completed 3 years and 9 months till now.

I went to the dealer (Alnaghi Motor Co. the new and only dealer for ford in my region replacing the old Aljazirah Motors. Unfortunately, Alnaghi is well known for his below-average after sale and maintenance services and many complaints from the customers to the ministry of trade and commerce since he took over 1 month ago)
So I went for the recall on Sunday at 8 am where I spent 3 hours waiting for them to receive my car (The weekend is Friday and Saturday here) and I received my car the next day at 4 pm. I attached photos for the pieces they replaced.

They said that they did a rear alignment but when testing the vehicle the steering wheel was not correctly centered. So, I decided to go to my preferred Michelin dealer to check the alignment. The left rear side was out of the toe. The right was correct. The front was out of toe on both sides. Corrections made with a cost of approximately 100$ US.

The same dealer is now covering half of the country while the old one is covering the remaining parts (central and western region). The 2019 explorer sport is priced at 54.000$ (tax not included) while the old dealer is selling 47.000$ with an included maintenance plan free of charge till 100.000 km. Unfortunately, you have to make a 1000 km trip to the old dealer at the Capital Riyadh to buy from him.

 

[SuperGreg]

Cool, thanks for the pics! Always interesting to hear how things work in other countries. From what I understand, Explorers sold new in the Middle East area come with a water cooled PTU - I assume not the case with your since it came from Canada.

 

[Rainlord]

Just in case, for those in Europe looking to have this done.

I contacted Ford Europe and this is one of the US recalls that they have already approved for Europe (for example, the exhaust in cabin recall is currently not "released" for Europe and thus cannot be fixed for free).

If your VIN is this system: www.etis.ford.com and you see 19S17 listed for your VIN, then contact your local dealer (in Switzerland, I had to contact the one Ford Europe recommend, as not many dealers can deal with US cars). The dealer will then order the parts (they don't seem to have much in stock over here) and set up an appointment to get it fixed.

So far I'm waiting on the parts to come in, if I see anything different in the # on the parts than already in the thread, I'll post some pics. Will probably take a few weeks...

Edit: car at the dealer now, should hopefully get it back tomorrow. Will look at parts then.

 

[Cusefan78]

My rear toe link broke as I was driving yesterday. Pretty special when driving at 50mph. Had the car towed to the dealer. Now I’m told the nut is stripped In the subframe and is just spinning. Waiting to see if ford is going to cover a new sub frame or if I’m sol. I can’t believe the bad luck I have had with this explorer so I’m already bracing for ford to not cover it. Ptu changed twice. Ac compressor, crack in the front manifold..... I have been a life long ford owner but this might be it for me.

 

[Fettfan105]

Just had my toe link recall done, drives better. Thinking the alignment was off a bit, much smoother on the highway

 

[Cusefan78]

Update. Three days in the local dealership and my explorer is back. They had to get a special tool from ford to remove some nuts that were spinning.

 

[JAPeterson]

Had the toe link and the exhaust smell taken care of is couple of weeks ago, it took a total of a couple of hours. They aslo reprogrammed the hivav system and I noticed today that with the remote start that the controls are now set on rear defrost heat, and the drivers side seat heater is on high. But no defrost, this is with the controls on Automatic

 

[Striker429]

So I had this recall completed. Prior to the recall I just put 4 new tires on and had a 4 wheel alignment done. The vehicle felt great, straight, and planted. After the recall the rear end was wandering and when hitting a bump the rear end would seem to skip/hop. I don’t have much confidence in the shop so I got under and checked. They didn’t even torque the tow link nuts, they were less than finger tight. I also believe the car is riding a little higher in the rear making me think they didn’t measure the ride height prior to the work or didn’t bother putting it back to specs. I measured a buddy’s Explorer and his rides 1/2-3/4 inch lower in the rear. Does anyone know the stock ride height specifications for a 5th gen 2014 Ford Explorer awd limited? And find them anywhere. The suspension didn’t feel nearly as plus making me think the higher ride height might be contribution plus a lack of alignment, etc.

 

[Adrian Gitch]

Sounds like they just threw on the new links and didn't even do adjustments/alignment. I can't help with the stock height but I hope you can find a place that you trust and have them get it back to specs. I definitely would never use that dealer again.

 

[stillmarried]

Based on post #87, I emailed my Ford Dealer about the TSB19S17 toe link replacements. The dealer quoted me $300 to do the replacement, and I thought that it was done at no cost to the owner. I checked the actual TSB from the ford oemdtc.com, page 19, and found that this TSB 19S17 only applies to SOME Ford Explorers.
"Summary
Ford Motor Company (Ford) is recalling certain 2011-2017 Explorer vehicles. The rear suspension toe links may fracture due to stress on the rear suspension."

 

[Querys]

Based on post #87, I emailed my Ford Dealer about the TSB19S17 toe link replacements. The dealer quoted me $300 to do the replacement, and I thought that it was done at no cost to the owner. I checked the actual TSB from the ford oemdtc.com, page 19, and found that this TSB 19S17 only applies to SOME Ford Explorers.
"Summary
Ford Motor Company (Ford) is recalling certain 2011-2017 Explorer vehicles. The rear suspension toe links may fracture due to stress on the rear suspension."

you should do a VIN check on Check For Ford® Recalls And Field Service Actions | Official Ford Owner Site

 

[peterk9]

Based on post #87, I emailed my Ford Dealer about the TSB19S17 toe link replacements. The dealer quoted me $300 to do the replacement, and I thought that it was done at no cost to the owner. I checked the actual TSB from the ford oemdtc.com, page 19, and found that this TSB 19S17 only applies to SOME Ford Explorers.
"Summary
Ford Motor Company (Ford) is recalling certain 2011-2017 Explorer vehicles. The rear suspension toe links may fracture due to stress on the rear suspension."

See the following. It also shows how to check if your vehicle is on the list.
Ford Explorer Recalled for Suspension Problem
Vehicles recalled: 2011-17 Ford Explorer built at the Chicago assembly plant from May 17, 2010, to Jan. 25, 2017.

Peter