Crystal:

My drivers side Grab Assist Handle broke today behind the plastic cover with only placing a small amount of pull on the handle. Clearly the design is chaep and faulty for the truck.

I will contact you with my VIN and dealer information is a separate private message.

Please have my servicing dealer fix this at Ford's cost.

Is there a TSB that supports the faulty design?

Thank you

William Harrell

 

Ref: Broken Faulty Design A Pillar Driver Side Interior Grab Assist Handle - 2011 Ford F350

I have experienced the issue that many have with the poor flimsy design of the Interior A Pillar Grab Assist Handle on the Ford 2011 Super Duty.

Mine broke completely off on the bracket behind the plastic over today while only lightly using the handle for assisted entry into the truck.

I am am long standing Ford Red Carpet Lease Customer, and have leased 2 previous Super Duty Trucks in 2005 and 2008 where this was not a problem as those models had a solid assist handle design.

With the 2011 Super Duty, I quickly noticed the flimsy non solid design of the 2011 grab assist handle and being aware of other individuals to have them break off, I have always handled mine with extreme care and always (sigh) asked passengers not to pull on the passenger side handle with weight when getting into the truck.

 

Hi William,

I received your PM and responded; I'll get this into the hands of your regional customer service manager.

Crystal

 

My passenger side handle deflects a good 2-3" everytime my "vertically challenged" wife uses it to pull herself up for a ride-along, I'm just now catching this "issue", and will be addressing it with the local service department. My drivers side is rock-solid, but way too much movement on that passenger pillar for my long-term peace of mind. I seriously don't need her taking a fall when it comes off in her hand

 

When you get it fixed find out as much as you can about why it is so flimsy. Is there a reason it is attached that way? Some one posted they thougt it had something to do with side air bags. Having it fixed to new condition does me no good. I need strong and dependable. Got to figure what to do to greatly strengthen it.

 

I sure hope this is a 2011 issue ... !

For me, using the handle is not an issue of being height challenged, but rather saving the leather on the seats. Virtually every car and truck I have owned had leather seats and care taken not to slide across them when exiting and entering the vehicle keeps them from prematurely wearing.

 

With me its height challenged and a bad hip. I am too short for my weight. I developed a way of getting my left leg up then pushing up with my right arm off the rear door just using the handle just for stability with my finger tips but it is hard. Beating myself up instead of the truck. Got to make it strong so I can pull on it.

 

I just had the handle on my 2012 come off in my hand. The entire interior trim piece came off with the handle.
It was attached with 2 bolts, the pal tic around the bolts snapped off leaving the bolts securely in the metal bracket.

 

Hello FORD, are we maybe seeing a trend here? Love my truck (even though my handle has already broken once) but think Ford would be way better off replacing these before a lawsuit that will end up with them paying damages AND replacing them.

 

Which one?

 

Which one what?
The interior A pillar grab handle.
The entire trim is the entire A pillar trim the handle is integral to.

 

Drivers or passengers side I believe was the query.

 

Yes, I was curious if it was driver or passenger side. I should have been specific.
One or a few people, I can't remember, mentioned awhile back it seemed the passenger handle was installed in a less secure way than the other.

 

Sorry, drivers side

 

Haven't had that happen but the driver's upper handle leaks and drips a bit after a hand car wash. Drips down onto my knee so have a leak somewhere.