F-350 Super Duty Valve Stems Issue Brings Lawsuit to Ford
What should be an easy fix to the perpetually low tire pressure in the 2017 and 2018 models just hasn’t happened yet.
Ford’s pickup trucks have been an iconic part of the brand’s lineup for decades. While it’s spent the last 42 years as the country’s best-selling truck, a class-action lawsuit recently brought against Ford Motor Company might put a pin in the model’s success. Let’s take a closer look at the current class-action lawsuit recently reported on by Torque News and see what F-350 Super Duty owners are facing.
Perpetually low tire pressure
Owners of the F-350 Super Duty pickup truck have been reporting perpetually low tire pressure because of faulty valve stems in the 2017 and 2018 models. James Collins, the first plaintiff in the lawsuit, stated that he had to keep filling up his tires multiple times every day to keep them properly inflated. He’s also reportedly replaced the valve stems repeatedly, to no avail.
The problem lies in the process of galvanic corrosion. The F-350 Super Duty’s rims are made of aluminum alloy, and their valve stems are made from steel. The contact between the two causes accelerated corrosion and leads to air leaks.
These air leaks are more than an inconvenience to drivers. They can also be dangerous. Low tire pressure reduces the tire’s ability to grip the road and can increase the risk of a blowout, especially when the bed is full of cargo or the truck is towing a trailer. It can also lower the vehicle’s fuel economy, which can be a major deal-breaker when you consider these big super-duty trucks don’t get the best fuel economy to begin with.
No response from Ford
This isn’t the first time Ford has dealt with galvanic corrosion in its Super Duty trucks. The F-350 has been previously under fire for a wire splice problem caused by that particular type of corrosion. It could cause smoke from under the hood — and, in some cases, made the engine shut down during use. It even caused a fire in three instances.
The problem was never fixed. While Ford did recall the F-350 for other issues, the wire splice issue wasn’t one of them. The same thing is happening with the leaky valve stem. In spite of a class-action lawsuit alerting the brand to the corrosion problem that is putting drivers in danger, Ford hasn’t issued a recall to remedy the problem.
The fix would be simple: Replace the steel valve stems and sensors with an aluminum model to prevent galvanic corrosion. That currently isn’t an option for truck owners, who are left replacing valve stem after valve stem out of their own pocket. It could, however, be an easy fix for Ford, and the cheap fix as well for a truck that retails around $56,000.
Trouble for the most popular truck
Problems like this arose in the past for Ford’s Super Duty trucks, but it hasn’t stopped the Blue Oval from spending more than four decades as America’s most popular truck.
Photos: Ford-Trucks
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