- Vehicles
- 40,000
- Built between
- Not published
- Models
- 8
- Recall type
- Vehicle
- Initiated by
- Manufacturer
- Owners notified
- 18 January 1978
- Repaired
- Not reported
- Unrepaired
- Not reported
Does this affect my vehicle?
The manufacturer did not publish a build-date range for this recall, so the model and year list below is the only way to tell whether your vehicle is covered.
- 1977 Ford F100
- 1977 Ford F150
- 1977 Ford F250
- 1977 Ford F350
- 1977 Ford Granada
- 1977 Ford Maverick
- 1977 Mercury Comet
- 1977 Mercury Monarch
What the defect is
On the involved vehicles, the manual steering gears may contain steering gear recirculatory balls that could fracture. This fracturing is a result of improper heat-treatment during manufacture and can eventually cause increased steering effort.
What gets fixed
THE DEALER WILL INSPECT AND, IF NECESSARY, REPLACE THE BALL BEARINGS OF THE STEERING GEAR, WITHOUT CHARGE TO OWNER.
Timeline
- Recall reported to NHTSA14 December 1977
- Owners notified18 January 1978
Your rights
A safety recall repair is free. Under US federal law the manufacturer must fix a safety defect at no cost to you — no charge for parts, labor or diagnosis — whether or not you are the original owner. A dealer cannot charge you for recall work, and cannot require you to have bought the vehicle from them.
That entitlement is not unlimited. It applies where the vehicle was first sold less than 15 years before the recall was announced — 5 years for tires. Past that a manufacturer may still do the repair free of charge, and many do, but they are no longer obliged to. This recall was reported on 14 December 1977.
To arrange the repair, contact any franchised dealer for the brand. If a dealer refuses the work or tries to charge for it, you can report that to NHTSA at nhtsa.gov/recalls or on 1-888-327-4236.
Official source
- Recalling manufacturer
- FORD MOTOR COMPANY
- Recall initiated by
- MFR
Everything on this page — the models listed, the build dates and the repair figures — comes from the manufacturer's filing to NHTSA and describes the vehicle line as a whole, not any individual car. Only the manufacturer can confirm whether a specific vehicle is affected, and whether its recall work has already been carried out. Check yours by VIN and read the official notice at nhtsa.gov/recalls.
Additional notes
Vehicle description: passenger vehicles and light trucks.system: steering; steering gear recirculatory balls.consequences of defect: under continued operation, loss of steering control,loss of vehicle control, and an accident could occur.note: increased steering efforts will be accompanied by an audible popping orgrinding noise and momentary steering hang-up. If any of these conditions areexperienced, the vehicle should not be operated.
Check your own vehicle
This page describes the recall, not any one car. To see which recalls cover a specific vehicle, search by make, model and year.
A VIN lookup here identifies your vehicle and shows recalls issued for that make, model and year. It cannot tell you what is still open on your individual car - only the manufacturer knows that. Search by VIN instead, or check your VIN at nhtsa.gov for whether a recall is still open on your individual car.