Odd truck waranty issue

[Joe Pelonio]

See if you've heard of something like this before. My '07 Ranger has for some time had a couple of noise problems from the seats. The driver's seat will squeak (very minor) when you put pressure on the back. The passenger seat makes a much more annoying noise when there's someone in it and you turn right. I thought that one might be related to the airbag sensor so when I took it for an oil change had Ford look at both.

They ended up taking it to an upholstery shop. They reported back that the driver seat needed a new frame, which has been ordered. The passenger seat they said was a problem in the connection to the floor, so after the driver seat is fixed it goes back to my Ford dealer who will take it out (the bolts were already checked and are torqued correctly). The service guy says it may be some foreign object between the seat and floor, or even a cracked floor. I'll be without it until at least Mon-Tue, but they are paying for a rental.

If it turns out to be a crack, is that something that can be welded, and will be as safe as it should be after? :confused:

[Randy Cohen]

i think a properly made weld is stronger than the steel. emphasis on properly.

[Heather Thompson]

Joe,

Did you buy the truck new or used, if it was used I would crawl under it and look at the underside for general damage. May be the case of someone with too much money and not enough brains, went offroading and got the undercarriage hung up. If it is new I would have a serious chat with the service manager/owner of the dealership. If there is indeed a crack, if the person that does the welding job is good, should be safe and sound. You may notice notice a high usage of the word "IF". Years ago I had a motorcycle accident and cracked the frame, the shop that did the repairs did a crummy job on the frame, duct tape would have been better, I bought a new frame a did a complete restoration.

Heather

[Joe Pelonio]

No, this was bought new, and had 3 miles on it. In fact it had just come off the truck when I bought it and I had to go back to get it after they pulled off the plastic and prepped it. I have not been off road, I weigh 180 and my wife less so it's not like we wore it out in 10,000 miles.

If it does get welded I won't be able to see the work so I guess I'll have to trust them. If they call to tell me it's going to be welded, should I mention words like "safety and lawsuits"?

[Heather Thompson]

If it were me, I would let the dealer know that if it is indeed cracked, hold off on the welding until you can come in and see it yourself. When you go to see it, bring your digital camera and take lots of pictures. After that have the service manager explain thoroughly how this could have occured, question Ford's commitment to quality and quality control, ask if there is a TSB (technical service bulletin) concerning this issue. If you do not get that warm fuzzy feeling, tell them to hold off on the repair as you are going to contact Ford corporate and then do some checking about the Lemon Law. Do not let a dealership push you around, I do all of my own work due to a bad experience at a young age with a Chevy stealership.

Heather :)

[Joe Pelonio]

Heather,

Great suggestion. I too have done most of my own car work for many years, just not when on warranty because of the potential hassles proving it was done right if something comes up. I'll look into the TSBs now.

Thanks.

Edit: No recalls, no TSP's on the seats. There were 2 TSPs for other things but nothing I have experienced.

[mark page]

After 22 years in the dealership service dept. as both an advisor & service manager positions, I think they are correct on the seat frame part. The cracked floor panel, no I don't think so. It is possible for body panel flex type issues, or sometimes referred to as "oil canning". I still would not count out a seat frame type issue with this one too. Sometimes they have to illiminate the obvious items to troubleshoot down to the real nitty gritty culprit. Since they put you in a rental, then the troubleshooting is taking a while to narrow down. I would question the repairs if they send the vehicle to a body shop for repairs, as welding a body panel is NOT a service dept issue, it's a body shop issue. Hope this helps.

[Chris Padilla]

Any update, Joe?

[Cary Falk]

Our horse shoer said something a couple weeks back about his Ford truck having seat problems similar to yours. I thought it was weird. I don't recall the model year( but probably much older) or how long ago it happend though. I think his had over 100k on it at the time

[Joe Pelonio]

Here's the update. I picked it up and both issues have been fixed. The driver's seat got the upholstery pulled off, and put onto a new frame. On the passenger side, they pulled the seat and found that it was not perfectly flush with the floor. According to them they "tweaked" it and got it to lie flat and stopped the noise. I specifically asked whether any cutting or welding had been done and they said no, just a little bending. It feels good and strong and we can't get it to make any sound at all so I'm satisfied.

[Heather Thompson]

Joe,

Glad to hear all is well. Years ago I had a new Chevy pick up and it was missing a spacer on a pulley, took the dealer something like five tries to resolve the problem, was a PITA.

Heather

[Chris Padilla]

Heather, a buddy and I had a similar issue only we were bolting on an aftermarket supercharger on a friend's BMW. We went through HECK trying to figure out why the supercharger belt kept working itself off after only a few bumps of the starter. We missed putting a CRITICAL spacing washer on one of the many pulleys the belt wound around. Once on, we were off running! :)