Ford recall of towbars causing travellers and tradies some anguish.

Except for the fact that he has gone into a very public forum with his problem and already 382 people have read it and know that he knows all about it. Those people could include people from Ford.
Kevin

Hi Allan and Dale
if I WOULD BE in your position.....this what I would do: Find an Engineering Shop... have the towbar reinforced where it is supposed to break....leave my phone number with the ford dealer to contact me when the new towbar is available....and get back on the road and enjoy my holiday.
As I said in the beginning, thats what I would do and is NOT a recommendation to go down that path for anyone.

Happy travels
Adrian

In any document, legal or otherwise, you must analyse the wording.

"Consumers 'should not' use the tow bar. Owners are advised to contact their nearest Ford dealership for inspection and rectification."

It does not say 'MUST NOT'

It also only says "Owners are advised .... "

Shaker,
you forgot the mandatory "Shall Not"

You are correct but I was just handing on the notice and the PHONE Number.

One must cover all bases and live by my rules which are.

It is better to ask for forgiveness that ask for permission.

Ford do not say "Must not" or "Shall not" because they do not have any authority to direct your actions. They say "Should not" because in their opinion..... "Fracturing of the tow bar tongue welding can affect safe operation...presenting a potential traffic hazard to the driver and/or other road users."
There is no legal restraint to you continuing to use the product other than a possible charge of Undue Care or similar when you had been advised of the hazard. So you cannot be prosecuted for continuing to use the product but may have a legal problem if that use causes an injury.

As to the wording of a document, in the event of legal action a court may make judgement based on their interpretation of the "intent" bearing in mind "how a person may reasonably interpret the wording". It is never Black & White in a legal judgment.

Which leaves you Alandale, in a poor situation. It's lousy I know but Ford cannot be expected to solve everyone's problem instantaneously. Your situation may be no more exigent than many others so you are relegated to a queue to await resolution.
1. You may appeal to Ford but I would not expect a satisfactory outcome.
2. You can cease using the tow bar and await Ford's action.
3. You could continue to use the tow bar with the attendant risk of incurring a problem.
4. You could purchase a replacement and continue touring. If you do this it may be prudent to write to Ford advising them of your action, deemed necessary in the circumstance, and endeavour to obtain some compensation at a later time.

Whatever you do, I wish you good luck.

That's my understanding. If you are using WDH then you already have replaced the welded tongue piece. Use the contact number in the recall to check if it is just the tongue piece or whether it is the hitch receiver that is not welded properly to the tow bar and their wording is incorrect.

CJ,
that is exactly what I would do.

RA.

An X-Ray of the welds is the only safe way to inspect the welds.

This is done regularly in mining and heavy industry where weld integrity is of paramount importance.

A casual 'look' at the external appearance is not suffiient.

Weld crack testing kits are readily available now from various places.

Get one of these, and check the bar out for any suspect welds.

This is just my opinion, not to be taken as advice what to do...