Late last week, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration reacted to 138 consumer complaints about the 2015 to 2017 Ford F-150 unexpectedly downshifting, causing rear wheel lock. This NHTSA Ford F-150 investigation affects an estimated 1,270,970 trucks.
What is the NHTSA Ford F-150 investigation?
According to Office of Defects Investigation report, the problem is an “unexpected transmission downshift without warning or driver input, often accompanied by a temporary rear wheel lock-up.”
As this investigation just opened on March 21, 2025, there are few additional details, but the summary states the unintended downshift is happening at highway speeds without any prior warning or driver input. The report cites consumer complaints who say the downshift and resulting rapid deceleration cause skids and loss of vehicle control.
These complaints center around trucks equipped with the six-speed automatic transmission, and this has been a known issue in previous model years, which have had recalls for this specific issue.
One consumer states:
“I was driving at 65 mph when my 2015 F150 shifted into 1st gear. I started skidding sideways and almost flipped but was able to run through the gears quickly and got it into Neutral. This has happened a few other times since the initial incident.”
Another 2015 F-150 owner said:
“My truck downshifted from 5th gear to 1st as I was going on a highway ramp. I was inches from being hit from behind by an 18 wheeler. Tbis (stet) started a few months ago it would downshifted when accelerating went from a few time a month to it happening weekly . I have counted ford and they hav (stet) said there’s no recall for my year.”
If you skim through the consumer complaints and focus in on powertrain issues, you’ll see a lot of similar stories.
Our take on the NHTSA Ford F-150 investigation
Where there’s smoke, there’s fire. But hopefully not literal fire in this case. We have previously reported on F-150 recalls for harsh downshifts, and just today, the NHTSA issued a small 567-truck recall for 2021 F-150s shifting into neutral. We hope this investigation proceeds quickly and any affected trucks are repaired ASAP.
8 replies
Loading new replies...
Administrator
Well-known member
Moderator
Well-known member
Well-known member
Moderator
Well-known member
Moderator
Well-known member
Join the full discussion at the Forum Pickuptrucktalk →