NHTSA Complaint #11100533 — 2008 FORD F-250 SD

AT APPROXIMATELY 3 PM ON SATURDAY, JUNE 2, 2018, MY 2008 F-250 SD 4WD TRUCK EXPERIENCED AN ABRUPT CATASTROPHIC FAILURE OF THE TRANSFER CASE. THE INCIDENT OCCURRED ON A BUSY INTERSTATE CORRIDOR WHILE I WAS TRAVELING AT APPROXIMATELY 70 MPH WHILE IN 2WD MODE. IMMEDIATELY PRIOR TO THE INCIDENT, A DULL RUMBLE COULD BE HEARD, WHICH RAPIDLY AMPLIFIED TO A LOUD ROAR. I REMOVED MY FOOT FROM THE ACCELERATOR PEDAL AND WAS ALMOST IMMEDIATELY JOLTED BY A THUNDEROUS EXPLOSION THAT EMANATED FROM UNDERNEATH THE VEHICLE. THE ENTIRE TRUCK SHOOK VIOLENTLY AS I PULLED OVER ONTO THE HIGHWAY SHOULDER. AS THE TRUCK LURCHED FORWARD HESITANTLY, A CLOUD OF THICK SMOKE BILLOWED OUT FROM BELOW THE TRUCK NEAR THE FRONT DOORS. UPON EXITING THE VEHICLE, I NOTICED THAT TRANSMISSION FLUID WAS POURING OUT THE TRANSFER CASE, WHOSE EXTERIOR WALL HAD LITERALLY BEEN RIPPED APART. LARGE GEAR COMPONENTS FROM THE TRANSFER CASE WERE STREWN ALONG THE HIGHWAY SHOULDER. THE EXPLOSION WITHIN THE TRANSFER CASE CAUSED SEVERAL INTERNAL PARTS TO BE EJECTED WITH SIGNIFICANT FORCE AND VELOCITY. THE SIZABLE INDENTATIONS AND LARGE SCRAPES INFLICTED UPON THE EXHAUST SYSTEM AND THE PASSENGER FLOOR PAN, RESPECTIVELY, ARE A CONSPICUOUS TESTAMENT TO THE FORCEFUL DISCHARGE OF THESE VARIOUS COMPONENTS PARTS FROM INSIDE THE TRANSFER CASE. THE SUBSTANTIAL ENERGY CONTAINED IN THIS EXPLOSION NECESSARILY IMPLIES THAT TREMENDOUS PRESSURE WAS BUILDING UP INSIDE THE TRANSFER CASE. FURTHERMORE, THE THICK, ACRID SMOKE RELEASED FOLLOWING THE EXPLOSION IS ALSO INDICATIVE THAT THE TRANSFER CASE WAS SUBJECT TO APPRECIABLE HEAT GENERATION. FORTUNATELY, AND RATHER INCREDIBLY, NO INJURIES NOR CRASHES WERE SUSTAINED WHEN THE TRANSFER CASE PRECIPITOUSLY BURST. DESPITE THE ABSENCE OF COLLATERAL DAMAGE OR CASUALTIES, THE SEVERITY AND MAGNITUDE OF THIS INEXPLICABLE EQUIPMENT FAILURE WARRANT DOCUMENTATION AS THIS IS A CRITICAL PART MALFUNCTION.