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2001 FORD FOCUS — SUSPENSION:FRONT

crash2 injured · 360864 · 2002-07-06

Vehicle

Make
FORD
Model
FOCUS
Year
2001
Manufacturer
Ford Motor Company
Component
SUSPENSION:FRONT
Speed
65 mph

Severity

Deaths
0
Injured
2
Fire
No
Crash
Yes
Police report
Yes
Medical attention
No
Vehicle towed
No

Narrative

WHILE DRIVING AT APPROX 65MPH ON A STRAIGHT AND LEVEL 2 LANE ROAD, THE CAR SUDDENLY VEERED HARD RIGHT. COUNTER STEERING HAD NO EFFECT ON RECOVERY. THE CAR WAS AT ABOUT 90 DEGREES WHEN IT IMPACTED THE CURB AND WAS LAUNCHED OVER A 10 FOOT CULVERT. THE FORD FOCUS THEN ROLLED 5 TIMES LANDING ON 3 WHEELS. THE 4TH WHEEL AND SUSPENSION (FRONT RIGHT) WAS FOUND APPROX. 30 YARDS FROM THE VEHICLE. EVIDENCE SHOWES THAT THE LOWER BALL JOINT WAS LOSE, INDICATED BY EXCESSIVE WEAR AND GROOVING TO THE SPINDLE WHERE THE LOWER BALL JOINT MOUNTED. OTHER EVIDENCE SHOWS THE RIGHT SIDE HALF-SHAFT HAS A CLEAN BREAK AT THE SPLINES (SPLINE WAS STILL INSIDE THE TRANSMISSION WHILE THE HALF SHAFT WAS OTHER WISE NOT DAMAGED AND LAYING IN THE FIELD). THE 2001 ZX3 S2 WAS TOTALED. I HAVE PICTURES WHERE NEEDED. *AK

Source

Authoritative
NHTSA ODI Flat-File Downloads
ODI Number
763886
Machine
JSON-LD · Markdown