NHTSA Complaint #10288722 — 2002 FORD EXPLORER

WE HAVE OWNED A 2002 FORD EXPLORER XLT FOR ABOUT TWO YEARS NOW. ON OCTOBER 13, 2009 MY HUSBAND WAS DRIVING ON A SIDE STREET, THANKFULLY AT A SLOW SPEED, HE TURNED A CORNER AND REALIZED THAT SOMETHING WAS SERIOUSLY WRONG WITH THE CAR, THOUGHT IT WAS A FLAT TIRE. SO HE SLOWED DOWN AND STARTED TO PULL OVER, HE THEN LOOKED OUT THE WINDOW TO SEE THE TIRE ROLLING OFF THE CAR AND DOWN THE STREET. THE REAR DRIVER-SIDE TIRE FELL OFF THE CAR. IT HAD SHEARED ALL THE LUG NUTS OFF. IF THE TIRE WERE TO FALL OFF AT HIGH SPEEDS THIS TYPE OF INCIDENT COULD CAUSE SERIOUS INJURIES OR DEATH TO THE PEOPLE IN THE VEHICLE AND POSE A THREAT TO OTHER DRIVERS AS WELL. THIS IS NOT THE FIRST TIME IT HAS HAPPENED EITHER. ABOUT A YEAR AGO THE LUG NUTS SHEARED OFF OF THE SAME WHEEL, WE THOUGHT THE FIRST TIME WAS A FREAK ACCIDENT BUT IT WAS UNDER SIMILAR CONDITIONS - SLOW SPEED, TURNED AT A STOPLIGHT, THOUGHT SOMETHING WAS SERIOUSLY WRONG, THEN PULLED OVER TO DISCOVER THE REAR DRIVER-SIDE TIRE FALLING OFF OF THE VEHICLE, ALL LUG NUTS WERE SHEARED OFF. WE HAD NO RECENT WORK ON THE TIRES OR THE VEHICLE THAT COULD HAVE POSSIBLY LOOSEN THE LUG NUTS FOR EITHER OCCURRENCE. TO FIX THIS FAILURE WE ARE HAVING THE CAR TOWED AND THE LUG NUTS REPLACED, AGAIN, ALONG WITH A PANEL THAT WAS DAMAGED BY THE TIRE COMING OFF. I DO NOT FEEL SAFE DRIVING THIS CAR ESPECIALLY WITH OUR CHILDREN AS THE TIRE CAN JUST COME OFF WITHOUT WARNING. ALSO, AS I SEARCHED THE NHTSA WEBSITE THERE ARE EIGHT OTHER COMPLAINTS FILED FOR THE SAME PROBLEM FOR 2002 MODEL EXPLORERS AND SEVEN SIMILAR COMPLAINTS FOR THE 2003 EXPLORER YEAR AND TWO FOR THE 2004 YEAR AS WELL. THIS NEEDS TO BE INVESTIGATED! I ALSO FOUND ON THE WWW.CARCOMPLAINTS.COM WEBSITE OTHER PEOPLES EXPERIENCES WITH THE SAME PROBLEM IN FORD EXPLORERS FOR THE YEARS 2002, 2003, AND 2004. PLEASE LOOK INTO THIS, IT IS A SERIOUS DEFECT! - *TR