Open letter to Ford
New User
Joined: Oct 1999
Posts: 18
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From: Rome US
Open letter to Ford
Open letter to Ford.
I purchased a 2000 F350 Crew Cab V10 in December. I have four kids and was surpised that when I took
delivery of my new truck that there was no passenger air bag on/off switch. I would later find out that Ford's reasoning behind this was that if you have a crew cab you are going to put everyone in back anyway. Well, needless to say, I cannot do this. So I started looking into getting the OEM switch installed. Ford installs these switches at the factory on all Super Duties, except the Crew Cab. Well, after much research I discovered that there needs to be three components added to my truck to get this to work, a switch, a dash trim plate, and a modification to the GEM module to add switch functionality.
My next step was to call Ford Customer Care. I spoke to a very nice gentlemen who said sure, Ford has had numerous requests for this and that I need to have a tech from my chosen dealer call and speak to someone at Fords tech hotline and that all this information would be placed in my file and forwarded to said dealer. Apparently, according to the service manager at the dealership, Ford told them that sure it was possible to do this modification, and even told them the parts they needed, but, that they do not offer it in a 'KIT' and hence there is no instructions or liability waiver, therefore, said dealer would not touch my truck. Now I found these statements very interesting, considering Ford stated that they would support doing this modification to my truck. So, on the phone again to Ford, this time a different person, very nice,
but after explaining my situation and verifying they understood what I wanted I was told more research needed to be done. Well, on my answering machine that nite was a message from Ford, 'Sorry, but at this time no Passenger Air Bag switch kit is offered for your truck, we regret this inconveniance and don't hesitate to call if you need anything else.'
HELLO, can you say 'an about face'. Needless to say I am very dissapointed, from a technical perspective I think this modification is very straightforward and is no more complicated or dangerous than replacing an airbag that has been discharged in an accident or for that matter, installing one new as the truck rolled down the assembly line in Kentucky. Come on Ford, support your customers! Wouldn't you rather see me use your OEM equipment rather than some aftermarket switch that may or may not be reliable, let alone installed by someone who is less than qualified. I know I would rather have a Ford tech work on my rig than someone who travels around the country working on all kinds of different cars and trucks, wouldn't you?
And yes, I do have the permission slip from the NHTSA to put a switch on the airbag, and yes, I do blame myself for not doing enough research or reading the fine print to find out that these trucks do not have this switch, if I had known, maybe I would have bought a supercab, not the crew cab.
Finally, I love this truck and have had no problems in 2500 miles, but right now I am very disappointed in Ford and would like to see them address this issue now, so others like myself can take advantage of something already designed for this truck.
Send comments and/or questions to: _cwadlow at excite.com
Thank You!
I purchased a 2000 F350 Crew Cab V10 in December. I have four kids and was surpised that when I took
delivery of my new truck that there was no passenger air bag on/off switch. I would later find out that Ford's reasoning behind this was that if you have a crew cab you are going to put everyone in back anyway. Well, needless to say, I cannot do this. So I started looking into getting the OEM switch installed. Ford installs these switches at the factory on all Super Duties, except the Crew Cab. Well, after much research I discovered that there needs to be three components added to my truck to get this to work, a switch, a dash trim plate, and a modification to the GEM module to add switch functionality.
My next step was to call Ford Customer Care. I spoke to a very nice gentlemen who said sure, Ford has had numerous requests for this and that I need to have a tech from my chosen dealer call and speak to someone at Fords tech hotline and that all this information would be placed in my file and forwarded to said dealer. Apparently, according to the service manager at the dealership, Ford told them that sure it was possible to do this modification, and even told them the parts they needed, but, that they do not offer it in a 'KIT' and hence there is no instructions or liability waiver, therefore, said dealer would not touch my truck. Now I found these statements very interesting, considering Ford stated that they would support doing this modification to my truck. So, on the phone again to Ford, this time a different person, very nice,
but after explaining my situation and verifying they understood what I wanted I was told more research needed to be done. Well, on my answering machine that nite was a message from Ford, 'Sorry, but at this time no Passenger Air Bag switch kit is offered for your truck, we regret this inconveniance and don't hesitate to call if you need anything else.'
HELLO, can you say 'an about face'. Needless to say I am very dissapointed, from a technical perspective I think this modification is very straightforward and is no more complicated or dangerous than replacing an airbag that has been discharged in an accident or for that matter, installing one new as the truck rolled down the assembly line in Kentucky. Come on Ford, support your customers! Wouldn't you rather see me use your OEM equipment rather than some aftermarket switch that may or may not be reliable, let alone installed by someone who is less than qualified. I know I would rather have a Ford tech work on my rig than someone who travels around the country working on all kinds of different cars and trucks, wouldn't you?
And yes, I do have the permission slip from the NHTSA to put a switch on the airbag, and yes, I do blame myself for not doing enough research or reading the fine print to find out that these trucks do not have this switch, if I had known, maybe I would have bought a supercab, not the crew cab.
Finally, I love this truck and have had no problems in 2500 miles, but right now I am very disappointed in Ford and would like to see them address this issue now, so others like myself can take advantage of something already designed for this truck.
Send comments and/or questions to: _cwadlow at excite.com
Thank You!
