Loose Steering Wheel

David J Appel

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Well I'll add this to my growing list of issues with this 2019 Ford Ranger. Too many problems with this truck. I'm stuck with this thing. Will lose too much money if I trade now. This is my first and last Ford. I was excited about this truck. Had high hopes. Tighten it up Ford. Everything rattles and everything is loose. Anyone want to buy it?

David
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P. A. Schilke

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Well I'll add this to my growing list of issues with this 2019 Ford Ranger. Too many problems with this truck. I'm stuck with this thing. Will lose too much money if I trade now. This is my first and last Ford. I was excited about this truck. Had high hopes. Tighten it up Ford. Everything rattles and everything is loose. Anyone want to buy it?

David
Hi David,

Sorry to hear of your disappointment with your Ranger. Very curious for a loose steering wheel. There is an assembly process for critical fasteners and how a loose steering wheel would have not been flagged at the assembly plant is beyond my understanding. There has to be more to this story than you have a loose steering wheel. Please elaborate. Since everything rattles, please detail all these rattles as well. I look forward to your detailed list and explanation. If of merit I will pass on to Ford. Sad you are having a less than positive experience, so help us out by detailing your complaints.

best,
Phil Schilke
Ranger Vehicle Engineering
Ford Motor Co. Retired
 
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David J Appel

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Phil

I have 11,000 miles. Bought a 2019 XLT 4x4 last August. Drove it home in the dark. The very next morning I noticed a cluster of deep scratches just below the rear window on the black exterior. (Between the truck bed and the rear window) Ford had their body shop take the bed off, remove the rear window, and repair the deep scratches in the black paint. They were unable to replace a protective piece in the rear wheel well that was removed to take the bed off. I was told it's a one time snap so had to put back together with a new one which wasn't available. Ok no big deal I drive around with an exposed section in the rear wheel well. Had to go back to Ford when the piece came in. This was the beginning of multiple trips to the dealer for lot's of little issues. I will admit most of the issues were/are not important in the function of the truck, but still defects in a brand new truck..........

-Dash vibration-fixed after second attempt by Ford (so two dealer trips)
-Blown driver door speaker-fixed by Ford
-Constant rattle/vibration in both front seat door panels (attempted to fix once at Ford but still present)
-Different rattle from passenger door panel-Ford replaced the entire door panel, rattle resolved
-Rough shifting on cold start from 3rd to 4th-attempted to fix once and was told nothing is wrong. At times the shift is a sudden jolt which is not mild. Only occurs when taking off fast from a cold start. All other times smooth shifting.
-Torn E boot-replaced after 6 month wait for new boot to come in. New boot is starting to tear and the installer scratched up the the surrounding plastic. Also the boot clip is exposed (seen through a gap bc boot is not installed correctly)
-Back seat won't lock upright-I had to cut down the rubber stoppers and add washers to the bracket. (Ford's fix was to remove one of the rubbers leaving three) Still needed what I did to lock decently.
-Tow package did not include Trailer brake controller-why offer a tow package??
-Missing ignition trim ring-unresolved
-Hood alignment off-not bad enough for me to care but another attention to detail issue
-Trim panel left side of cowling came loose-repaired
-Pre collision warning multiple times out of nowhere-continues
-On and off creaking and vibration coming from where the rear window meets the frame-unresolved

I thought months ago I felt some movement (up and down) in the steering wheel over rough roads. Today I grabbed the wheel at 2 and 10 and was able to get up/down and back/forward movement. It's mild but needs to be addressed with yet another fricken (excuse me) visit to Ford. I'm over it. Would sell or trade in a heartbeat if I wouldn't lose a bunch of money. It's a shame bc the truck looks nice. I do love the engine and transmission. Well, not during the cold start rough shift.

I will say Ford's customer service has been very good. No complaints there. They don't have rental cars now bc of COVID madness. Who knows when I can bring the truck back for the 500th time. Trust me I have no interest dropping my truck off. I just want to live my life. Preferably without a mask. So, not a big Ford fan as you can imagine.

Thanks for listening and letting me vent
 

Frenchy

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Hello there David. It unfortunately sounds like a bad case of the buyers regret with this truck due to all these problems and it seems you happened to be lucky(or unlucky) to get a lemon. I also have a 2019 XLT 4x4 and I got mine October 30th. I haven't had near as many problems as a bunch of people here have. Now there will be a few things I will note that you complained about in your list.

1st we have the trailer brake deal, yes i find it to be annoying but Ford isnt the o ly one who did this. Nissan also didn't put a brake controller on the Frontier with a tow package. To my understanding it wasn't until a few years ago that manufacturers started to put them in vehicles. Dont get me wrong, I would still prefer that it was installed to begin with but not every manufacturer gets these thing right the first time.

2nd is the ignition trim ring. Yeah sooooooo...... It doesnt have one no matter what you do. Mine doesnt have one either. And if that is a deal breaker for you then you need to consider a higher end vehicle like BMW or Rolls Royce. Not trying to be an asshole here, just having to put a point there.

And lastly with the rear window creak. You mentioned how a repair was done there. Chances are that is what is causing that. Being a Mechanic myself I always recheck what I did when the problem is in that area. That is the best thing to check for that.

Hope that helps.
 
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David J Appel

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Ranger Pride: Thanks for novel thought but already been there. Maybe if all these problems are on the forum they are real problems? Ford can't do anything wrong in your eyes I'm sure.
 


ch47dmechanic

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Ford can't do anything wrong in your eyes I'm sure.
And they can't do anything right in yours, I'm sure. :rolleyes:

You seem to have already made your mind up so I'm not sure why you're complaining about it here. Just sell the truck, take the loss and move on. There's many of us that have never had a single issue with our trucks. I've had a couple small issues that were handled and I'm happy with the purchase. None of the seven F-150's I've owned in the past have ever gave me trouble or left me stranded either...but obviously your mileage may vary. It usually is part and parcel with deciding to buy a vehicle the first year it's offered.
 

Frenchy

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Thanks for novel thought but already been there. Maybe if all these problems are on the forum they are real problems? Ford can't do anything wrong in your eyes I'm sure.
This is also the first Ford I have owned and I have had problems with my Ranger too. Did I get a lemon? Thankfully no but that doesn't it is impossible to get that on the first year or two of a new model vehicle of any manufacturer. Do defects happen? Absolutely. Do people get unhappy when they get a lemon like you managed too? Absolutely. A few years back I was working at a Nissan dealership and I had a 2017(possibly 2018) Pathfinder come in with just over 500 miles and i had to tear the engine apart because of some piece of metal stopping a cam from changing timing. The funny thong is my boss came up to.me saying that the customers wanted an instant refund and didnt want the car anymore. My response to him was "I would say the same damn thing if i were them!". So understand not every manufacturer is perfect. Also we are talking about the manufacturer that went to circle the answer to the problem and messed up the circle.
 
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David J Appel

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well, you see, i offer suggestions based on the information, or lack of it in the post....so, we go to the basics since we have no clue if you've even gone there yet.

and stop exaggerating, you turn yourself into a fool. 500th time??? get real.
yes sir. Says the proud one.
 

pull string get cookies

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-Rough shifting on cold start from 3rd to 4th-attempted to fix once and was told nothing is wrong. At times the shift is a sudden jolt which is not mild. Only occurs when taking off fast from a cold start. All other times smooth shifting.

As taking off fast on a cold start is generally hard on any vehicle, is there a reason for doing this? I am in no way discounting the validity of your experience, just trying to understand as I am sure there’s a very good reason. LE or paramedic.

-Back seat won't lock upright-I had to cut down the rubber stoppers and add washers to the bracket.

I have a similar issue with the backseat in my SuperCrew. In my case, ample force negates the problem.

Wishing you all the best, and that your Rangers issues are resolved to your satisfaction.
 

IrishCrusader

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Ditto on latching the back seat. Two plastic washers from Ace for less than a buck did the trick. Hoping you can get the other issues ironed out.
 

Andy

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Haven’t had any issues with my truck. Going on 20k now.

Honesty, all things manufactured can and will have issues. Have you tried to pursue the lemon law? I sounds like they have fixed most of your complaints so it wouldn’t be a valid use of the law unless they cannot fix a certain issue after multiple attempts.

Unfortunately you don’t like the vehicle and sounds like you never will. Why be miserable in life if you can help it.. just trade it off and move on. Otherwise coming here to vent isn’t really the best use of anyone’s time. It sucks the truck isn’t what you expected and I hope you find a vehicle that lives up to your expectations.
 

P. A. Schilke

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Phil

I have 11,000 miles. Bought a 2019 XLT 4x4 last August. Drove it home in the dark. The very next morning I noticed a cluster of deep scratches just below the rear window on the black exterior. (Between the truck bed and the rear window) Ford had their body shop take the bed off, remove the rear window, and repair the deep scratches in the black paint. They were unable to replace a protective piece in the rear wheel well that was removed to take the bed off. I was told it's a one time snap so had to put back together with a new one which wasn't available. Ok no big deal I drive around with an exposed section in the rear wheel well. Had to go back to Ford when the piece came in. This was the beginning of multiple trips to the dealer for lot's of little issues. I will admit most of the issues were/are not important in the function of the truck, but still defects in a brand new truck..........

-Dash vibration-fixed after second attempt by Ford (so two dealer trips)
-Blown driver door speaker-fixed by Ford
-Constant rattle/vibration in both front seat door panels (attempted to fix once at Ford but still present)
-Different rattle from passenger door panel-Ford replaced the entire door panel, rattle resolved
-Rough shifting on cold start from 3rd to 4th-attempted to fix once and was told nothing is wrong. At times the shift is a sudden jolt which is not mild. Only occurs when taking off fast from a cold start. All other times smooth shifting.
-Torn E boot-replaced after 6 month wait for new boot to come in. New boot is starting to tear and the installer scratched up the the surrounding plastic. Also the boot clip is exposed (seen through a gap bc boot is not installed correctly)
-Back seat won't lock upright-I had to cut down the rubber stoppers and add washers to the bracket. (Ford's fix was to remove one of the rubbers leaving three) Still needed what I did to lock decently.
-Tow package did not include Trailer brake controller-why offer a tow package??
-Missing ignition trim ring-unresolved
-Hood alignment off-not bad enough for me to care but another attention to detail issue
-Trim panel left side of cowling came loose-repaired
-Pre collision warning multiple times out of nowhere-continues
-On and off creaking and vibration coming from where the rear window meets the frame-unresolved

I thought months ago I felt some movement (up and down) in the steering wheel over rough roads. Today I grabbed the wheel at 2 and 10 and was able to get up/down and back/forward movement. It's mild but needs to be addressed with yet another fricken (excuse me) visit to Ford. I'm over it. Would sell or trade in a heartbeat if I wouldn't lose a bunch of money. It's a shame bc the truck looks nice. I do love the engine and transmission. Well, not during the cold start rough shift.

I will say Ford's customer service has been very good. No complaints there. They don't have rental cars now bc of COVID madness. Who knows when I can bring the truck back for the 500th time. Trust me I have no interest dropping my truck off. I just want to live my life. Preferably without a mask. So, not a big Ford fan as you can imagine.

Thanks for listening and letting me vent
Hi David,

This is a mixed bag of plant issues and dealer issues. I have forwarded this to the Plant Vehicle Team at Michigan Truck. I am concerned with production quality from this plant... I doubt the PVT will take any personal action wrt your truck, but maybe they will investigate the rattles. Door panels should not rattle.

Blown speaker....possible a quality problem or some idiot cranked up the volume for some reason

Is the steering wheel loose or as RP wondered..is the steering column loose?

Unresolved rattle at the frame is likely due to box removal and needs revisit by the dealer

There is no ignition trim ring, so it is not missing. Some folks here are making a trim ring that seems to work to improve the look of the column in that area.

There have been reports of performing a TSB fix for the transmisson on vehicles beyond the scope of the initial TSB have helped to resolve the rough shifting. Others ended up with a replacement of the entire transmission.

Since you are stuck with a dealership with what appears to be poor service and unskilled labor...Sad you cannot take it to another dealer.

Keep on top of Ford Customer Service and ask for your concerns to be elevated to the point a Field Service Engineer will visit your truck at the dealer..

Best,
Phil Schilke
Ranger Vehicle Engineering
Ford Motor Co. Retired

What is going on with your truck should make it candidate for the lemon law. You will likely have to document the number of visits, which are certainly not 500. I take it that is your frustration to overstate.
 

u wish u could ride

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You got a Friday afternoon build .!! Sell it take the loss as you have lost trust and confidence in ford . justified or not . The money beating will end . But owning it will be worse !! I know happened to me on a Tacoma.
 

J Krutsch

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Wow, I'm feeling lucky. I took delivery of my 2019 FX4 in May of 2019. The ONLY issue I have had with it is that the code to unlock the driver's door was not in the glove box. They couldn't figure out how to pull the code so the key pad had to be replaced. Everything is tight, no rattles at all.
 

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-Rough shifting on cold start from 3rd to 4th-attempted to fix once and was told nothing is wrong. At times the shift is a sudden jolt which is not mild. Only occurs when taking off fast from a cold start. All other times smooth shifting.
Sorry to hear about all the issues you're having, like Phil has said, as others, it sucks to get a new vehicle with all these issues.

However this is one I can speak to as well. It *only* happens when it's cold, after it does it once it doesn't do it again, and it only happens sometimes. You don't even really need to be taking off hard/fast either, it's just more noticeable then, almost as if the transmission forgets it needs a gear, slips out of third and then finally slams into 4th.

Best I could say is make sure you keep all your records from this, and if the dealer is treating you right (which it sounds like they've been mostly good to you), keep on them to make it right, and if they're not, find a new dealer. It seems that they're more hit/miss these days than they used to be.

Best of luck.
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