Problems · by component
2018 Ford F-150 wheels problems
42 owner complaints to NHTSA about the 2018 Ford F-150 cite wheels, 2% of all 1,929 complaints for this model year.
Complaints
42
2% of all complaints
Crashes
0
Reported by owners
Fires
0
Reported by owners
Injuries
0
Reported by owners
What owners say about the wheels
Verbatim from NHTSA complaints, newest first
“I own a 2018 Ford F-150 4WD with approximately 24,600 miles. While traveling approximately 70 MPH on the highway in 2H with cruise control operating, I suddenly heard an extremely loud metal-on-metal grinding/ratcheting noise from the driver's-side front wheel area. The noise caused immediate concern about a possible front wheel or drivetrain failure. I disengaged cruise control and the grinding stopped. Within approximately 50 miles on the same trip, the grinding occurred a second time while again traveling approximately 70 MPH in 2H without cruise engaged. Because of the severity of the noise, I pulled over on the side of the highway and inspected the vehicle. I found nothing visibly wrong and resumed driving. The condition has since occurred two additional times while accelerating from a stop in 2H. These incidents were less severe but involved the same metal-on-metal grinding/ratcheting from the driver's-side front wheel area. I have also noticed a brief air/vacuum-type "whoosh" immediately before the grinding occurs. My Ford service manager directed me to Ford TSB 24-2188, which addresses grinding/clicking/ratcheting from the front wheel area associated…”
“The contact owns a 2018 Ford F-150. The contact stated that upon attempting to change a tire, the contact became aware that the provided tools were unable to be used to complete the wheel replacement. The vehicle was taken to the dealer, who determined that the lug nuts were swollen. The contact was informed that the lug nuts needed to be forcefully removed. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was not notified of the failure. The failure mileage was 85,000. The VIN was not available.”
“Hubs keep engaging themselves when parked. Hubs have been replaced as well as the 4wd IWE valve and the problem continues. Multiple shops have worked on this and failed to find a solution. It is becoming a safety problem if it starts to engage while driving.”
“I went for oil change and tire rotation and told lug nuts needed replaced due to probably over tightening. I have only had vehicle serviced at dealership. I was angry because I thought they should replace free of charge they wanted 132 for new ones. I told them no why would u want to replace with the same [XXX] product. Ford should recall the lug nuts for free!!! Ridiculous”
“Went to have truck service and said lug nuts were swelled probably not torqued properly. I only had it serviced at the dealer so I said they should replace due to it was their fault. They refused to replace wanted 132 for new ones. I told them to keep their [XXX] lug nuts why would I buy a defective product. Bunch of [XXX]. The. I read online there have been issues with the lug nuts swelling.”
“Took truck for service maintenance and tire rotation. Tire rotation wasn’t done because tech said lug nuts were swollen and they couldn’t get lug nuts off. I took truck across street to Big-O tires and they rotated tires and we had lug nuts replaced with steel lug nuts.”
Showing 6 of 42 reports. Read every report on NHTSA.gov.
Data from NHTSA Complaints API (owner reports, unverified) · synced Nov 3, 2026NHTSA vehicle page
Complaints are unverified owner reports to NHTSA and are not normalized for sales volume. One complaint can cite several components.