Ford Recalls F-150 LIghtnings To Repair Rear Lightbar

One of the bright spots for Ford in the last couple of years has been its groundbreaking electric vehicle, the Lightning. When it was introduced in 2021, it was the first commercially available genuine electric pickup truck. Almost immediately, the phones at Ford headquarters lighted up as customers placed their reservations for the pickup and hit the top limit of about 100,000 reservations.

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The reservations were only placeholders for the orders that Ford expected to come. The automaker told the first customers who placed reservations that they would soon be able to change their reservations into complete orders for the F-150 Lightning. The timing couldn’t have been worse because it was in the early days of the pandemic, and automakers were slowly shutting down as the pandemic gripped the industry and the country. Even though a crippling disease gripped the country and the results were crippling the industry, the F-150 Lightning attracted even more reservations to the point that at the end of the first year, the reservation banks grew to 150,000. The automaker then turned the first reservations into orders. However, Ford announced that not every one of the first 150,000 orders would be placed for the initial 2022 models in the first round. That would come later, and it has. Ford recently opened the order books for 2023 models and beyond. Indeed, the automaker hopes to boost the assembly lines' output to 660,000 or more per year.

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As you can see, no one knew whether the Lightning would be famous. Some of the planners may have suspected it might, and it did. Now, though, the young vehicle seems to be having some growing pains. In the most recent recall announced by the automaker, nearly 17,000 BEVs (battery electric vehicles or Lightnings, in this case), have been recalled by Ford because of problems with the rear lightbar. The rear lightbar carries the brake and backup lights of the pickup.

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The problem for which the recall was announced was in the lights on that lightbar. Microfractures were found in the outer lens covers of the backup and brake lights located on the lightbar. The hairline cracks were big enough to allow moisture to collect. The accumulated moisture can short out the lightbar, causing the backup or brake lights to blank or flicker. This could cause a dangerous condition for vehicles following as they wouldn’t know whether you are braking or braking.

Recall Notification Plan Detailed

Ford will begin sending letters to the nearly 17,000 F-150 Lightnings owners involved. The first letters are scheduled to go out on June 26. Once owners of the affected vehicles have received their letters, they can contact their dealers to schedule the lightbar replacement. The repair is free.

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For more information, you can contact Ford customer service at 866-426-7332. The internal Ford identification number is 23S30. Or, you can contact the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) at 888-327-4236 or visit the NHTSA Vehicle Safety Hotline at www.nhtsa.gov. The agency identifier is 23V418.

Ford Motor Photo

Marc Stern has been an automotive writer since 1971 when an otherwise normal news editor said, “You're our new car editor," and dumped about 27 pounds of auto stuff on my desk. I was in heaven as I have been a gearhead from my early days. As a teen, I spent many misspent hours hanging out at gas stations (a big thing in my youth) and working on cars. From there on, it was a straight line to my first column for the paper "You Auto Know," an enterprise I handled faithfully for 32 years. Only a few people know that I also handled computer documentation for most of my earnings while writing YAN. My best writing, though, was always in cars. My work has appeared in Popular Mechanics, Mechanix Illustrated, AutoWeek, SuperStock, Trailer Life, Old Cars Weekly, Special Interest Autos, etc. You can follow me on: Twitter or .mstern001">