Ford Recalls Freestar and Monterey Vans for Hub Bearing Failures

Ford Motor Company (USA) notified the U.S. National Highway Transportation Safety Board it is recalling 40,031 of its new-for-2004 Ford Freestar and Mercury Monterey minivans. 35,401 Freestars and 4,630 Montereys are involved. Ford Freestar The vans, built between February 23 and May 13, 2004, have front wheel bearing hub assemblies with hub forgings which were not properly heat treated. Ford said, "This condition may lead to the development of small cracks in the hub." In the NHTSA filing, Ford states, "If the cracks were to progress, this could eventually result in wheel separation. Wheel separation may lead to loss of vehicle control, and potentially result in a vehicle crash." The hub assemblies were manufactured by FAG Bearings' Automotive North America plant in Joplin, Missouri. That contract was awarded in 2002. • FAG wins hub contract for next-generation Ford minivan Ford will replace all 80,000 hub assemblies, although dealers have told eBearing that availability of enough replacement hub units will determine how quickly they can service the recall. The NHTSA recall campaign ID number is 04V446000. In early September, Ford issued a temporary stop-sell order for the Freestar and Monterey, to keep the vehicles from finding their way to consumers until the problem was identified. Ford invested over $600 million in the Freestar and Monterey, which replace the Ford Windstar and Mercury Villager, respectively. But competitors' minivans were also renovated, most notably products from Honda and DaimlerChrysler, reducing Freestar / Monterey to an also-ran. Sales have been far below projections, even failing to match Windstar and Villager. The Oakville, Ontario, Canada, plant where they are produced has been operating half time -- one shift, down from two -- since September, and is scheduled to be shut down for the entire first week of January 2005. Oakville's 4,000 workers now rotate two weeks on, two weeks off. The production cuts are intended to reduce the minivan's production by at least 29,000 vehicles by the end of December. Currently, at more than 138 days of inventory on hand, Ford has more than twice the inventory -- 60 days -- of the vans it would prefer. Freestar / Monterey sales have been hard to come by, as competitors matched the duo's fold-flat seats and Ford had to stall off a planned power liftgate option until 2005. Ford had initially expected Freestar and Monterey sales to be brisk, needing three shifts and more workers than the company could hire by mid-2004. In 2002, Ford and the Canadian Auto Workers union agreed that the Oakville pickup truck plant, closed as scheduled in mid-2004, would send its 900 workers to a promised third shift at the Oakville minivan plant. With Oakville running one shift into the foreseeable future, the truck plant workers remain on layoff. Through 2004, the Oakville plant has had several one-week shutdowns, and the summer vacation extended by a week, all in unsuccessful attempts to sell down excess inventory. Meanwhile, cutbacks at Oakville have ripple-effect layoffs and shutdowns at the Windsor engine plant supplying Oakville.