NHTSA – Wheels Falling Off 2023 Ford Bronco, Ranger Trucks

Ford Motor Company is recalling 2023 Bronco and Ranger vehicles because lug nuts on the driver’s side wheels may have been improperly tightened and can fall off. At least one wild wheel struck another vehicle. Driving and dealer delivery holds are in place for the safety defect.

In a public filing with the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, Ford said the nut tightening machine was broken and that a manual – translation human – backup was in place.

Owner notification letters are expected to be mailed today 1 May 2023. Owners may contact Ford customer service at 1-866-436-7332. Ford’s number for this recall is 23S17. Dealers will inspect, and if necessary, retighten the lug nuts, free of charge as required by law. Owners may also contact the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration Vehicle Safety Hotline at 1-888-327-4236 (TTY 1-800-424-9153) or at www.nhtsa.gov.

Recall Timeline

• On 13 April 2023, Ford’s Critical Concern Review Group (CCRG) initiated an investigation into reports of loose wheel lug nuts and wheel detachment for 2023 model year Ford Bronco vehicles. Vehicle assembly plant personnel reviewed plant process records and found that the automated tool used to torque road wheel lug nuts on the left side (driver’s side) of the vehicle was down for repair from 9 February 2023 to 11 February 2023. During this time, a manual backup process was in place to torque the lug nuts on the left side of 2023 Bronco and 2023 Ranger vehicles.
• Ford found that the lug nuts may not have been torqued to specification on the left-front and left-rear road wheels during the so-called manual backup process. This potential safety defect does not affect the wheels on the right side of the vehicle because the production tool used to torque lug nuts on the right side of the vehicle was not down for repair.
• As of 12 April 2023, Ford claimed it is aware of one occurrence of an owner contacting Ford’s customer hotline with a warranty report of wheel detachment. There is also one field report of wheel detachment as well as one warranty report of loose lug nuts on 2023 Ford Bronco vehicles. Ford received these reports on 21 March 2023, 8 April  2023, 12 April 2023, and 1April 2023, respectively. The CCRG investigation determined that all vehicles with reports of detached wheels or loose lug nuts were produced on February 9, 2023.
• On 14 April 2023, Ford’s Field Review Committee approved a recall.