NHTSA Complaint #11609558 — 2017 FORD F-150

After driving at highway speed, 75-80 MPH for about 6 hours, the steering felt heavy, minor steering input resulted in major directional changes. The steering direction felt locked in that minor turn position and required significant effort over what was normal to return the direction to straight and that action caused a dramatic directional change. Upon my return home, I had the vehicle inspected by the dealer, Kelly Ford in Melbourne Florida and they could not identify or duplicate the problem. I have significant experience in vehicle operation, including being a Certified Emergency Vehicle Operations driving instructor and this condition was extremely dangerous. Controlling the vehicle, keeping it in a lane and recovering from navigating curves in the road was a significant challenge. There were no notifications of an issue displayed on the dashboard before, during or after the event. The problem was not an issue at lower speed, below 45 MPH after exiting the highway or when running at highway speed with everything cold from an overnight park until after 5-6 hours of operation at highway speed when the issue returned. After the initial onset of the issue on July 30, It reoccured on July 31. Our trips ater that were shorter until August 6 on our drive from Wilson NC to our home in Palm Bay FL when the problem recurred. On what for me is a normal drive, the steering was again very heavy feeling and the steering unpredictable when driving on the Florida turnpike on August 13 from my home in Palm Bay FL to Fort Lauderdale FL