Ford Super Duty F-Series Trucks Roof Defect Class Action

Ford Motor Company makes Super Duty vehicles, including the F-250, F-350, F-450, and F-550. But the complaint for this class action alleges it has sold more than 5 million of them with a significant safety defect—their “patently insufficient, weak roof structures … that are highly susceptible to collapse upon a rollover accident…” The complaint claims that the weak roofs are a result of Ford’s desire to cut costs at the price of safety.

The Nationwide Class for this action is all persons or entities in the US who bought or leased a 1999-2016 Ford Super Duty vehicle, including the F-250, F-350, F-450, and F-550 trucks. In addition or in the alternative, an Illinois Class has been defined for those in the above class who bought their vehicles in Illinois.

A familiar Ford slogan for its trucks is, “Built Ford Tough.” The complaint alleges, “Ford’s F-Series of trucks has been the best-selling truck in the United State for more than 44 years. The success of the F-Series is founded upon Ford’s uniform and consistent marketing messaging that its vehicles are safe, durable, and of the highest quality.” The complaint claims that Ford touted the safety and durability of the trucks, with statements like, “Strength you can count on.”

The complaint alleges that the problem originated when Ford “downgaged” the strength of its roof structures for per-vehicle savings of $28.

The PHN-131 platform includes the vehicles at issue in this case. The complaint reviews the three types of cabs offered with the trucks, including the Regular Cab with A and B pillar supports, the Super Cab, with a wider opening and A and C supports, and the Super Crew Cab, with A, B, and C pillar supports.

Ford is not required to test its heavier pickup trucks against the FMVSS 216, a Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard concerning roof crush loads for passenger vehicles. However, it used to do so, the complaint says, until around the same time as it downgraded the roof structural components, including important supports like the roof bows, the windshield header, the A pillar (at the side windshield edges), and the B pillar (between the front and back doors).

These changes, the complaint alleges, included “downgaging” these parts, for example, by replacing high strength steel in the Super Cab floating B pillar with mild steel. “On information and belief,” the complaint alleges, “Ford made no design changes to offset the above downgages to the Class Vehicles’ roof structure.”

The roof defect became known in 2022, when a verdict was handed down in a Georgia case about a 2014 F-250 rollover. Two people had been killed in the rollover, and the jury awarded the plaintiffs (the couple’s children) $1.7 billion, mostly in punitive damages. The complaint alleges, “The jury based the sizeable punitive damage award on its determination that Ford sold 5.2 million Class Vehicles that it knew contained the deadly Roof Defect.”

Article Type: Lawsuit
Topic: Automobile
Tags: Defective Automobile, Roof