Ford F-150 2019 — technical service bulletin
Bulletin SSM 48493 · NHTSA communication 10170931 · issued Jan 29, 2020
Technical service bulletin
communication type
Wheels
component
2019
model years
1
vehicle entries
Official summary
Some 2019 F-150 vehicles built on 1-Mar-2019 and through 31-Oct-2019 with rear axle tag code S-971-M may exhibit a clicking/ticking noise from the left rear of the vehicle while driving at low speeds. The click/ticking noise from the left rear axle wheel end may be caused by a wheel bearing bore surface that is not machined. If no metal contamination is present in the fluid, inspect the left side rear axle bearing bore for an unmachined surface in the 12:00 o clock to 3:00 o clock position. If an unmachined surface is found, replace the rear axle housing.
Vehicles covered
What a TSB means. Technical service bulletins are repair guidance manufacturers send to dealers — they are not recalls, and repairs are not automatically free (warranty extensions are an exception worth checking). The full document is available via NHTSA’s vehicle lookup.