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The eBearing News
December 6, 2004
Ford Recalls Freestar and Monterey Vans
for Hub Bearing Failures
copyright © 2004 eBearing Inc.
Ford Motor Company (USA) notified the U.S. National Highway Transportation Safety Board it
is recalling 40,031 of its new-for-2004 Ford Freestar and Mercury Monterey minivans. 35,401 Freestars
and 4,630 Montereys are involved.
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Ford Freestar
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The vans, built between February 23 and May 13, 2004, have front wheel bearing
hub assemblies with hub forgings which were not properly heat treated. Ford said, "This condition may lead
to the development of small cracks in the hub."
In the NHTSA filing, Ford states, "If the cracks were to progress, this could eventually result in wheel
separation. Wheel separation may lead to loss of vehicle control, and potentially result
in a vehicle crash."
The hub assemblies were manufactured by FAG Bearings' Automotive North America plant in
Joplin, Missouri. That contract was awarded in 2002.
• FAG wins hub contract for next-generation Ford minivan
Ford will replace all 80,000 hub assemblies, although dealers have told eBearing that availability
of enough replacement hub units will determine how quickly they can service the recall.
The NHTSA recall campaign ID number is 04V446000.
In early September, Ford issued a temporary stop-sell order for the Freestar and Monterey, to keep
the vehicles from finding their way to consumers until the problem was identified.
Ford invested over $600 million in the Freestar and Monterey, which replace the Ford
Windstar and Mercury Villager, respectively. But competitors' minivans were also renovated, most notably
products from Honda and DaimlerChrysler, reducing Freestar / Monterey to an also-ran. Sales have been
far below projections, even failing to match Windstar and Villager.
The Oakville, Ontario, Canada, plant where they are produced
has been operating half time -- one shift, down from two -- since September, and is scheduled to
be shut down for the entire first week of January 2005. Oakville's 4,000 workers now rotate two weeks on, two weeks off.
The production cuts are intended to reduce the minivan's production by at least 29,000 vehicles by the
end of December. Currently, at more than 138 days of inventory
on hand, Ford has more than twice the inventory -- 60 days -- of the vans it would prefer.
Freestar / Monterey sales have been hard to come by, as competitors matched the duo's fold-flat seats
and Ford had to stall off a planned power liftgate option until 2005.
Ford had initially expected Freestar and Monterey sales to be brisk, needing three shifts and more
workers than the company could hire by mid-2004. In 2002, Ford and the Canadian Auto Workers union agreed
that the Oakville pickup truck plant, closed as scheduled in mid-2004, would send its 900 workers to a
promised third shift at the Oakville minivan plant. With Oakville running one shift into the foreseeable future,
the truck plant workers remain on layoff.
Through 2004, the Oakville plant has had several one-week shutdowns, and the summer vacation
extended by a week, all in unsuccessful attempts to sell down excess inventory. Meanwhile, cutbacks at
Oakville have ripple-effect layoffs and shutdowns at the Windsor engine plant supplying Oakville.
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printer-friendly version
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- by Bruce A. Carr
from individual research,
tips and commercial sources.
Bruce Carr edited this content.
Copyrighted material; unauthorized reproduction prohibited.
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Copyright 1999-2011, eBearing Inc. All rights reserved.
Copyright information is on www.copyright.com
Unauthorized reproduction is prohibited.
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eBearing.com ... for everything that moves™
Entire contents Copyright © 1999-2011, eBearing Inc. All rights reserved.
eBearing.com and "... for everything that moves" are registered trademarks of eBearing Inc.
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