The Ford F series trucks are some of the best-selling vehicles in the United States. So, the Ford recall earlier this year of over 87,000 F-150 and Super Duty trucks across North America due to windshield issues is now resulting in a large volume of remediation work for auto glass service providers.
In February, the Ford Motor Company (Ford) announced a safety recall of certain truck models saying the affected vehicles do not comply with Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards because the front windshields are inadequately bonded to the vehicle body structure. The company stated that “In the event of a crash, the windshield may not adequately stay in place, which may increase the risk of occupant injury.”
The recall of 79,017 U.S. vehicles and another 8,333 in Canada and Mexico, affected:
• 2021 Ford F-150 vehicles built at Dearborn Truck Plant from October 27, 2020 to February 3, 2021; and
• 2020-21 Ford Super Duty vehicles built at Kentucky Truck Plant from October 13, 2020 to January 23, 2021.
In its February recall notice Ford said that “Owner notifications will begin the week of April 6. Dealers will remove and reinstall the windshield using standard service procedures.” As the recall notices started to arrive in mailboxes in April, Ford truck owners expressed concerns ranging from ensuring that the dealers and their glass shops have the expertise to correct the problem to outright hesitancy in even bothering to address the issue.
On a F150forum.com thread Anyone Else Get the Windshield Recall?, one commenter said that “The dealer is supposed to remove it and reinstall properly. I just wonder how they will do this without breaking the windshield or cause other damage. Unless…. they use a glass shop for the repair.” A reply to that comment wondered if, “This could be a case where the cure is worse than the disease.”
Other commenters showed more concern with the inconvenience bringing their vehicle in for the windshield replacement saying that they may not be in a hurry to have the windshield replaced due to issues such as the length of time for the work to be done or the availability of a rental car. Nonetheless, April showers turned into proverbial May flowers, and the recall notices are bringing a growing volume of work for auto glass service providers. glassBYTEs.com has heard from glass shops reporting that they worked on “dozens” to “over 50” of these vehicles in recent weeks. Given the volume of the recall, and, hopefully, a recognition of necessity of the replacement, the remediation work is expected to continue to auto glass shops for some time.
The Ford reference number for the windshield recall is 21C06.
