Ford Super Duty Pickups Weaker Roof Structures Class Action

For a number of years, this class action alleges, Ford Motor Company built its Super Duty pickup trucks with “a roof designed to withstand less than the weight of the vehicle—meaning that in the event of a rollover accident, the roof structure can collapse and seriously injure or kill vehicle occupants.” This was despite Ford’s marketing of the trucks, the complaint claims, “as safe, tough, and best-in-class.”

The Nationwide Class for this action is all persons or entities in the US, including its territories and the District of Columbia, who bought or leased a 1999-2016 Super Duty vehicle. The complaint has also defined California, Kentucky, North Carolina, Oklahoma, Oregon, and Washington State Classes for those who bought or leased the vehicles in those states.

The vehicles at issue include the F-250, F-350, F-450, and F-550 pickup trucks. Ford has marketed as tough, capable, and reliable. The complaint quotes ads for the vehicles as saying they are the “toughest, boldest, most-capable truck in America” and their “muscular sheet metal wraps around an incredible strong structure.”

Another thing Ford has highlighted, the complaint alleges, is the gross vehicle weight rating (CVWR) and towing capacity of the trucks. The complaint defines GVWR as “the maximum amount of weight that a vehicle can safely handle, including the payload capacity. A lower vehicle curb weight results in the vehicle being able to withstand a higher payload capacity…” That is, if the vehicle by itself is lighter, it can be loaded with more weight.

The complaint alleges, “This incentivized Ford to make the vehicle curb weight as low as possible, which they achieved through a dangerously weak roof frame.”

Also, the complaint claims that Ford also advertised certain safety features, like the Safety Canopy System “that would protect drivers in the event of a rollover accident—including features that are rendered worthless by the Affected Vehicles’ Roof Defect.”

The complaint quotes a 2004 Detroit News article as saying, “In 1999, Ford twice reduced the thickness of the steel A-pillars of its heavy-duty F-series of pickups.” In a previous lawsuit, it says, the “plaintiff found evidence that these reductions were in order to lower production costs and increase profitability of the Super Duty line.”

According to the complaint, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) has several times considered establishing a standard for roof crush testing for vehicles over 10,000 pounds, but the complaint alleges that the car companies have successfully prevented this through lobbying.

The complaint claims that Ford knew it was selling vehicles that had roofs that could collapse during rollovers but sold the vehicles anyway. It also claims that Ford developed a stronger roof as early as 2004 but did not incorporate it into its Super Duty trucks until the 2017 model year.

Ford does not have a fix it can apply to the trucks that were made with weaker roof structures, the complaint alleges, and all of the vehicles at issue in this case are now out of warranty.

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