2021 Ford Transit

Issue is with Hankook tires. Mileage on original OEM tires on my campervan from Ford. 44,600 miles. Good tread, air pressure checked daily on trips. Date code of manufacture of tires: 41st week, 2020. Took ownership of campervan on Dec 6th, 2021. Travel west on I-696 at 70 mph. Driver’s left front tire exploded. I did not hit anything in the road way. In the second lane from right side of freeway. Was able to safely move to the shoulder of the freeway. Tread completely came off the tire. Broke bumper, damages sensors, bent floor pan, and cracked driver side step. Insurance claim filed with Progressive Insurance, and will be inspected on Aug 22nd. Tires will be replaced on Aug 12th at Discount Tire with Toyo Celsius tires. Tire is not available for inspection but multiple photos are available.

Noise in the rear of the vehicle during low speed tight turns (parking lot speed). Vehicle has had axle bearing/hub replaced along with 7585W oil. The problem never went away even after this repair and has become worse. The dealership has had my vehicle for over 2 weeks and cannot find the problem. My concerns are: The dealership cannot diagnose the problem and if the problem is related to the drive line it could lead to a failure at highway speeds which could be catastrophic.

Per Mr. [XXX]: My daughter and members of our church’s high school youth group were on their way to a summer missions project in western Virginia/eastern Tennessee in an Enterprise rental van when the [DRIVERS' SIDE] rear tire started to separate from the vehicle as they were driving south on [XXX] near Staunton! Fortunately, the dad who was driving was able to safely steer the van to the side of the road, where the kids and their suitcases were re-distributed among the other vehicles in the caravan. They called Enterprise, but they had no vehicles to spare, so they told the driver to leave the van by the side of the road and they would dispatch a wrecker to pick it up. Have you seen this happen before with Ford Transit axles? But for the driver’s alertness, this could have been a headline-making event! INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6)

Broken Valve Stem - While on vacation the warning light came on telling me I only had 15 pounds of pressure in my right inside rear tire (has dual tires.) I pumped it and took it to a tire store in Twin Falls Idaho. They could not find a leak and sent me on my way. When home in California I took it to La Mesa RV who found the broken valve stem. They said they had seen quite a few on this vehicle and recommended replacing all. They gave me the name of several close by tire shops. The one I picked recommended changing all the stems out because they had seen a number of failures with the 2021 Transits. I did this but now don't have a TPMS since I didn't want to get another one that was likely to fail. Ford should do a recall and put in long stem valve stems that don't brake and also making adding air easier than the OEM ones. I am picking safety over having a TPMS. I wish I could have both. Picture will show removed stems with the one that broke off.