Other suspension problem on the 1997 Ford F-150
4 injuries 4 of the 152 reports for this failure mention a crash, a fire, an injury or a death. Those are the owner's words on the complaint form, not a verified finding, and one report can mention more than one.
When other suspension problem gets reported
Owners of the 1997 Ford F-150 report other suspension problem at a median of 95,000 miles. A quarter of the reports come in before 45,000 miles and a quarter after 110,000 miles, from 9 reports that carried an odometer reading.
A part like this is normally expected to survive 100,000 miles. It is the 5th most-reported problem on this model year.
The mileage distribution
The reported range runs from 25,000 miles at the tenth percentile to 130,000 miles at the ninetieth, a spread of 103,707 miles across the middle 80% of reports.
A spread this wide points at use rather than design. Towing, climate, service history and city mileage all move a failure like this, so the median is a weak guide to any individual car.
22% of the dated reports were filed under 36,000 miles.
The whole distribution
| 10th | 25th | Median | 75th | 90th |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 24,200 miles | 46,000 miles | 97,112 miles | 112,136 miles | 127,907 miles |
Read the 10th percentile as “one report in ten arrived this early”. Exact figures are shown in this table because it is the table of record; everywhere else on the site they are rounded to the precision the sample can carry.
What a percentile can and cannot tell you here
These five numbers describe the readings owners gave, in order. The median is the middle one: half the reports arrived below it. The 10th and 90th are the edges of the bulk of the distribution, and the distance between them is the part worth reading. A tight spread — say 70,000 to 95,000 miles — points at something that wears out on a schedule, and the schedule is knowable. A wide one, 20,000 to 190,000, points at a fault that hits some cars and never troubles others, which means the mileage on the listing in front of you tells you very little about your odds.
What these figures are not is a survival curve. Every reading here comes from a car whose owner filed a complaint, so the sample contains only failures: it cannot say what share of the fleet made it past 150,000 miles untouched, because those owners had nothing to report. Nor is the mileage the moment of failure — it is the odometer reading as recalled at the time of filing, which may be weeks later and is sometimes rounded to the nearest ten thousand by the person typing it.
Percentiles are shown at all only once 8 readings exist for the vehicle and mode. Below that the middle of a handful of numbers is noise wearing a decimal point, so the figures are withheld rather than dressed up.
What happens, and what it costs
Of these reports, 4 an injury is mentioned. Owners write their own complaints and the agency does not verify them, so read this as what the reports say happened rather than as a confirmed count.
Putting it right typically runs $350–$2,000 at an independent US shop. That range is an editorial estimate held in this site's failure-mode catalogue, not a figure from NHTSA, and it is a repair cost rather than a diagnosis cost.
The same failure on other years
The same failure is reported on 29 model years of this car. It shows up earliest on the 2023, at a median of 200 miles, and latest on the 1998 at 125,000 miles.
By volume the 1997 is the worst of them, which makes this a problem of this specific year rather than of the model as a whole.
If one year stands out to the left, that is the year to avoid; if the whole line sits at a similar mileage, this is wear rather than a defect in one production run.
Tick median reported mileage Solid middle half of reports Faint 10th to 90th percentile Colour how bad the failure is when it happens
What owners wrote
Verbatim from NHTSA complaint narratives, trimmed for length. The mileage is the one the owner gave.
On april 12, 2003 while driving my 1997 ford f 150 super cab pickup VIN [xxx] I noticed a noise coming from the rear of the vehicle. After stopping to investigate I discovered the middle leaf of the rear leaf spring had broken in half and the forward half was dangling in the air held there by the clamp that was installed at the dealer (bonnell motors) where I purchased the truck as part of NHTSA recall 98v16000. Upon further examination I noticed the middle leaf on the left rear leaf spring appears to have shifted as it is no longer even with the other two leafs. I also took a closer look at the broken middle leaf from the right side and it appears that a major fracture existed for some time before this finally decided to fail. My first action was to call ford customer relations to inform them and to file a complaint of what happened and to see if this type problem had been reported and if so what is going to be done. I advised them of the recall issued by NHTSA (98v16000). However I was told that recall was issued by a third party not ford and there haven't been complaints received or recalls issued for this type of problem by…
While backing up hears a noise. Dealer has been contacted. There is a technical service bulletin # 15692 that describes the exact problem, a constant snapping noise in the rear of the vehicle. *ak consumer believes this was a manufacturer defect. *ph
While driving consumer heard a loud knocking noise from the front. While vehicle was parked, during a self inspection, the driver side rear leaf spring had cracked. Consumer was able to drive the vehicle to the dealer for inspection, and mechanic determined that both rear driver's side 'sand passenger side rear leaf spring needed to be replaced due to a crack. *ak *ts
Also reported on the 1997 Ford F-150
Other wheel or tire problem
Other engine problem
Other body or interior problem
Fuel tank, filler or EVAP failure
Other electrical problem
Cruise control failure
How far this goes
Complaints are voluntary, so 152 is a floor and not a count of affected cars. Mileages are typed in by owners and cluster on round numbers. And the mode itself is assigned by software reading the complaint text, which is reliable in bulk and fallible one report at a time.
Questions this page answers
At what mileage does other suspension problem happen on the 1997 Ford F-150?
Across 9 owner reports that included an odometer reading, half were filed by 95,000 miles. A quarter were filed before 45,000 miles and a quarter after 110,000 miles. These are the mileages owners reported when they complained, not a prediction for any individual car.
How common is other suspension problem on the 1997 Ford F-150?
152 reports have been filed with NHTSA, about 0.3 per 1,000 vehicles. Complaints are voluntary, so this is a floor rather than a count of affected cars.
What this is and is not. These are the mileages at which owners chose to complain to a federal agency, which is not the same as the mileage at which the part fails on every car. It skews toward failures that happened outside warranty, cost real money, or frightened someone. It is still the only public dataset that carries failure mileage at all, and the shape of a few hundred readings is informative even when a single one is not. Methodology · JSON · this failure on other cars
Source Owner complaints and recall records published by the US National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, model years 1996–2027 Figures rebuilt Published by AtWhatMileage How every figure is computed