Ford F-450 Recalls

The Ford F-450 has 9 recalls spanning 2003 through 2020, with the most serious being a block heater cable defect on 2017-2019 models where moisture corrodes the splice connector and can cause the wiring to overheat or melt, starting a fire when the heater is plugged in.

On 2019-2020 models, the front seat back recliner mechanism can be improperly assembled, leaving the seat back without enough strength to hold an occupant in a crash. The 2017 model year has a separate door latch concern affecting vehicles that were originally built with black or body-colored exterior door handles and later fitted with chrome handle cover kits from a Ford dealer; those doors can unlatch and open in a side impact, exposing occupants to greater injury risk.

Several recalls affect vehicles that have been converted or upfitted for specialized use. On 2017-2018 ambulance conversions, brake lights wired by Taylor Made Ambulances can illuminate without the brake pedal being pressed, which can confuse following drivers. Backup camera issues appear across a range of upfitted vehicles: 2018-2019 conversions by LGE Coachworks have a camera display that can revert to factory defaults and show a mirror-reversed image, and 2015-2017 VCI ambulance conversions have a monitor that can display an incorrect image, both of which can cause a driver to steer the wrong way while reversing. The 2015 model year has a factory rearview camera circuit board connector that can be loose or damaged, producing a blank or distorted image. A 2019 Life Line conversion has rear combination LED lights that exceed maximum brightness limits and can impair the vision of drivers behind the vehicle.

Going back to 2003, certain F-450 chassis-based vans equipped with Sure-Lok wheelchair securement systems have a retractor assembly with misaligned sprocket teeth that may fail to hold a wheelchair in place during a crash.