Ford GT Axle Bolt Recall, That’s Not a Recall

In January of 2008 Ford issued an official “Customer Satisfaction Program” to replace all Ford GT axle shaft bolts, free of charge. This offer applied to original and subsequent Ford GT owners.

The program came after more than a year of back-and-forth between Ford and Ford GT owners, and likely involved quite a bit of reviews and assessments on the customer experience strategy front (you can navigate here to find out more about what that means) for the people at Ford. While the program wasn’t dubbed a “recall” it ultimately amounted to Ford acknowledging the problem. A bit overdue? Yes, but better late than never.

Ford announced a “customer satisfaction program” to replace faulty axle bolts

Ford GT’s Axle Bolt Fix — Don’t call it a recall!!

January 7, 2008 at 11,640 miles

After first hearing about axle shaft bolt failures on Ford GTs in October of 2006, and then having them replaced by The Ford GT Guys in August of 2007 (at my own expense) Ford Motor Company is now offering an official “Customer Satisfaction Program” to replace these bolts free of charge. The program offers to replace the axle shaft bolts and washers, even if they’ve already been replaced with aftermarket parts, free of charge. And this offer applies not only to original Ford GT owners but all subsequent owners as well.

Upgraded axle bolts from Accufab (left) gave me piece of mind

My bolts and washers (left) came from Accufab. These items are both larger and made of stronger steel than the original pieces (right)…

I’ve heard through the grapevine that Ford studied the Accufab pieces as part of its research in creating this fix.

Now the question is — do I have Ford replace these bolts (again) or simply stick with the Accufab hardware? If I have them replaced by Ford they will also refund whatever cost I spent on previous repairs ($450).

But the most important thing to remember is this: It’s not a recall.