- The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration has opened an investigation into an estimated 205,661 2004-'05 Ford Freestar and Mercury Monterey minivans after a death and three injuries related to the service jack.
- NHTSA says the complaints allege "the jack failed and allowed the vehicle to fall on a person who was working under the otherwise unsupported vehicle."
- Ford told Inside Line it will "fully cooperate" with the investigation.
WASHINGTON — The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration has opened an investigation into an estimated 205,661 2004-'05 Ford Freestar and Mercury Monterey minivans after a death and three injuries related to the service jack.
NHTSA says the complaints allege "the jack failed and allowed the vehicle to fall on a person who was working under the otherwise unsupported vehicle."
Such an investigation is sometimes the precursor to a recall.
"The complaints allege the jack can suddenly fail while in use and cause the vehicle to suddenly fall," said NHTSA in its summary of the investigation. "In the failures reported, the jacks appeared to have failed at the slotted hinge joints which separated under load."
NHTSA said it "does not recommend that any OEM jack be used for anything other than changing a tire."
"We will fully cooperate with the government as they review this matter," wrote Wes Sherwood, a Ford spokesman on Monday in response to an e-mailed query from Inside Line.
Inside Line says: If you own the aforementioned Ford Freestar or Mercury Monterey, be aware that a federal investigation is underway.
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kkear3 says:
05:21 AM, 09/20/2011
And if none of the below listed are available, place the spare under the jacked-up vehicle near the jacking point, replacing it with the taken-off spare immmediately upon changing the tire. This will maintain a jacking point and minimize injury if and when the jack fails, because they all do.
se_riously says:
11:41 PM, 09/19/2011
The flimsy jack on any car is for changing a tire, period! Nothing else! If you have to work underneath your car, the minimum is a real jack and jackstands, or ramps.