2013 Ford E-350

The 2013 Ford E-350 has 5 recalls, all centered on the same Ricon wheelchair lift equipment installed by various mobility conversion shops, where the lift platform can separate and block the lift door opening.

All five recalls involve the same family of Ricon wheelchair lift models fitted to these vans by different upfitters. Two distinct physical problems have been identified across these lifts. In one, the side plates of the lift platform can crack, and once cracked, the platform can detach from the lift mechanism and fall against the vehicle's lift door, blocking access and potentially trapping a wheelchair user mid-transfer. In the other, the folding link arms have pivot holes that are oversized, allowing the internal bearings to shift out of position. When that happens, the platform loses its stable mounting while stowed and can move excessively, which may also cause the platform mounting to fail entirely. Both failure modes put wheelchair users at risk during boarding or exiting the vehicle. The recalls were filed by several different conversion companies, including New England Wheels, Mobility Specialists, and MobilityWorks, each of which installed these lifts on E-Series vans during the same model year range.