NHTSA Opens Probe into Ford F-150 Trucks for Unexpected Gear Downshifts and Rear Wheel Lockups

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration is opening a probe into nearly 1.3 million Ford F-150 pickup trucks after receiving reports of unexpected gear downshift and rear wheel lockups, reports Reuters.

NHTSA’s preliminary evaluation will cover F-150s from model years 2015–2017. A Ford spokesperson said that the investigation is related to vehicles containing six-speed transmissions.

The probe was initiated after NHTSA received 138 consumer complaints, detailing the transmission randomly downshifting to a lower gear at highway speeds with no warning, followed by abrupt deceleration.

This follows a recall Ford issued in June last year for the 2014 model year F-150, following an investigation NHTSA opened in March 2023 over reports of unexpected downshifts into the first gear in 2014 model year trucks. 

It marked the most recent recall for the issue since 2016, when 2011-2012 Ford F-150 trucks with six-speed automatic transmissions were recalled for random downshifting.