Hundreds of Ford owners from a number of states have joined in filing a lawsuit against the automaker that alleges it has equipped millions of Ford vehicles with wheel lug nuts of a defective design, Automotive News reports. The lug nuts, which can be found on some recent Fusion, Escape, Flex, Focus, F-150, and F-350 models, reportedly have a tendency to swell and delaminate, making wheel removal difficult. Plaintiffs in the suit include Ford owners in Arizona, California, Illinois, North Carolina, Ohio, Tennessee, and Virginia.
Affected lug nuts have a steel core with a chrome, aluminum, or stainless steel cap for aesthetic reasons. Law firm Hagens Berman, which is the same firm that sued Toyota USA earlier in the decade over the sudden depreciation of their vehicles due to a reported “unintended acceleration” issue, is representing plaintiffs in this case. The firm alleges that Ford Motor Company put “cosmetics ahead of safety” with its lug nut design.
“We’re not talking about breakthrough technology or computerized aspects of the auto world,” said Hagens Berman managing partner Steve Berman in a statement. “We’re talking about possibly the simplest part of the car – the lug nuts… At best this defect leads to consumers paying more than $30 per wheel at a repair shop just to get their tire off, and then have to buy new lug nuts. At worst, Ford owners could quickly end up in an emergency situation on a busy roadway, stranded with a flat tire and no way to change it.”
Ford says it cannot comment on pending litigation.
Comments
My 76 Buick Century had that problem with its lug nuts. As a mechanic for 40 plus years, get over yourselves. Tires should be rotated every 5000 or so miles. Buy new lug nuts if there is a problem.
lug nut damage is fault of mechanic and not engageing socket deep over lug nut . the lug nut only has the back up at last 1/3 of nut, not the first and tries to twist thin sheet metal sleeve to remove.
mechanic is trying to be fast , so far have had to purchase 3 sets and the service writer at two different FORD dealers say they swell ,DON’T BELIEVE.
So now what. Are they going to sue every car manufacturer over this. Every called lug nut from anywhere has this problem. The steel underneath rusts and purses against the cap, distorting it. Big deal! As Lynn Ramsey said, but new ones if this is becoming a problem, or else get ready to chisel the cap off.
Tell that to your wife or daughter when they have a flat on some dark and stormy night when out of cell range.
Found On Road Dead, never buy another piece of poorly designed by Bean Counters.
Never again buy a ford without having the lug nuts replaced.
My wife has a 2013 Escape titanium and she had a flat on freeway, AAA couldn’t get lugs off. So we had to buy a complete new set.to avoid the problem again.