Earlier this year, Ford issued a recall for select 2020 Ford Super Duty vehicles equipped with the automaker’s 6.7L Power Stroke diesel due to overstated payload capacity values on the tire and loading information label, overstated accessory reserve capacity values on the safety certification label, and overstated weight values on the truck camper loading documentation. Now, a 2020 Ford F-350 class action lawsuit has been filed over the incorrect labeling, according to Car Complaints.
The 2020 Ford F-350 lawsuit – David M. Rathmann, vs. Ford Motor Company – was filed in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Texas, Waco, and alleges that the affected trucks are less valuable as a direct result of the incorrect labels, which display capacities greater than what the trucks are actually capable of.
The plaintiff’s truck showed that its maximum payload capacity was 4,576 pounds, along with a front axle accessory reserve capacity of 926 pounds and a total accessory reserve capacity of 1,141 pounds when he purchased the F-350. After receiving a replacement label, the plaintiff learned that the truck’s actual max payload was 4,237 pounds, with an 834-pound axle accessory reserve capacity and 803-pound total accessory reserve capacity.
The plaintiff argues that “none” of the 11,729 affected F-350 owners would have purchased their trucks if they had known these capabilities were lower than advertised at the time. Additionally, Ford instructed dealers to replace the incorrect labels but did not offer to provide repairs or refunds for any potential damage caused by owners that may have exceeded their truck’s stated capacities. In the recall, the automaker noted that doing so could “result in tire loading beyond rated capacity, suspension overload, and increased stopping distance, which could increase the risk of a crash.”
We’ll have more on this and all of Ford’s current lawsuits soon, so be sure and subscribe to Ford Authority for the latest Ford F-Series news, Ford Super Duty news, Ford lawsuit news, and continuous Ford news coverage.
Interest-free financing and more on compact luxury crossover.
Interest-free financing and more on the compact crossover.
Its wide bodywork and massive tires suggest so.
Another nice example of the last-gen T-Bird.
The legal back and forth continues.
It will help the automaker avoid tariffs.
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Amazing!! American's love to sue.
Must be a nightmare trying to do business over there.
Another class action lawsuit to enrich the sue happy attorneys. I hope the case gets thrown out.
I certainly agree.
This law suit is pure BS
Reply to Stevrn, Its nice to see somebody posting here actually has a brain!
You’re talking about 339 lbs. so to say that “no one would have bought it” is a little advantageous to say the least. Sounds like someone’s just trying to get free money, or he’s just mad that he doesn’t have the back up capacity to haul his gf 🤷🏼♂️🤷🏼♂️
I actually have this vehicle.... Most people... Again most people that buy this vehicle use it for hauling something.... This is the first I've heard of this and I will be looking into this same year zero miles.... SMH at Ford....I haul commercial loads .... Theses numbers mean everything
I know for a fact thatthe 2020 f 350 with a 6.7 can do way more than that we put 26,000 # on a 8,000# gooseneck trailer , it didnt even squat and walked the dog . They aren't nothing but a bunch of ambulance chasers.
If you bought an F350 with over 10,001 lbs of GVWR and are required to slap a DOT number on it for business and are subject to stopping in weight stations, this is a very important issue.
Even though 300lbs may not make much of a difference to how a single truck operates on the road, spread across an entire fleet, the difference in maintenance costs between riding under weight for 150,000 miles and slightly overweight for that distance is certainly going to show up in the bottom line of your maintenance bills.. And the DOT police aren't going to care that the equipment you use to conduct business is only a few hundred lbs overweight.
F350 is Fords gateway to DOT compliant trucks. The weight ratings are what people rely on to choose between the F350, 450, and 550 to remain compliant with the DOT and the FMCSA. The weight ratings are as much a marketing tool as they are a safety indicator. Fleet managers and upfitting teams often carefully inventory the items likely to be on known-purpose trucks and they buy accordingly. They try to build in a margin of error. At the end of the day, whatever is on that sticker is what is going to show up on your ticket when you fail at the scale. So yes, 300 lbs is very important to anyone owning a fleet with DOT numbers slapped onto it. A violation against one of your trucks is a violation against your entire fleet's DOT number. Enough of these violations and your business goes away.
So Ford should be held to task for selling trucks with incorrect weight ratings. This will have fleet managers and purchasing decision makers wary of Ford's labels moving forward.
Should Ford owners assume it to be a one off? That they were caught the one and only time they made a mistake? Or should these people and companies wonder about all of their ford super duty weight ratings now?
Just because some of Ford's customers are not concerned with the few hundred lbs of rated difference doesnt mean that the customers who will be held to task over it don't have legitimate reasons to feel that they now are invested in and operating the wrong chassis because of Ford's actions.
Most of the people here defending Ford probably don't need to ever pull their trucks through weigh stations.
You nailed it here. These things matter. I'm a full-time Rver and I haul my home. That isn't easy and you constantly have to shed weight and keep necessities only. I went with a f450 because I pouncd on a rair deal to get a slightly used with only 16K miles and got lucky. But financing can be hard for the F450 so most get the 350. A trade off but the 350 actually has a higher payload than the 450 because the 450 weighs more. The difference isn't a lot and this news pretty much removes that justification for the 350 over the 450 when hauling a 5th wheel.
Many many buyers justify their choice of truck model with the numbers Ford gives them. And wrong numbers lead to oopsies on the highway.
I love my 2020 F350! I own 2 F450 and they are awesome. I'll stand on a witness stand and testify that after 60,000 miles and several loads that were not "legal", the truck is indestructible! What a moron for suing Ford. He should feel ashamed. I'll buy his Ford, and it's worth more now than when he bought it. What an idiot!
So, just don't put the new sticker on.
Simple.
You already have a sticker.
There is safety factor in the numbers as stated in the article.
look at the reserved safety factor for the axles stated in the article.
I also just looked at my LTX tires on my F350 and see that the tires are rated for 2,910 each in dual configuration and 3,196 in single configuration so no problem there.
These stickers are designed for the dumbest operator and the dumbest owner that exists in the world.
Ford mislabeled the capacity's and was wrong Not sure that the difference in capacity's is law suit worthy but still wrong. Ford is just waiting to see what it is going to cost them. Even if Ford rebated or somehow compensated owner some knucklehead would have sued them. Now in an extreme case if someone was in an accident, and can show they were overloaded Ford has responsibility. Pretty sure very few cases would exist. Ford will wind up with a payout of some sort and some scumbag lawyer will make out better than any owner !
300# give or take. I mean really. If 300# is going grossly effect it then it’s wrong anyway.
Maybe they were doing him a favor and making where he could leave his 300lb gf home..... something has to be making this guy a miserable cromudgin