Broken trunk shelf brackets - a nightmare

[spgordon57]

The flat platform in the rear MME trunk can be set to two levels. When in the upper position - which creates a flat surface when the rear seats are down - the shelf is supported by two side brackets. Recently I helped my son move and put some heavy boxes in the trunk. The shelf was on the lower level, i.e. below the two side brackets, not resting on them. The boxes in the back shifted around during the move and incredibly, the two side brackets snapped off! The boxes were heavy but there is no way that should have happened.

I have been trying to get these fixed since August!! Problem #1 is the fix involves replacing the entire side assembly, not just the brackets; and both sides must be replaced. Problem #2 is it takes two months to get new parts. Problem #3 is when the parts arrived they were defective and that has happened twice! Three months in and there is no final fix in sight. The guy at the service counter said he has been seeing more of these problems and that Ford will probably have to redesign the shelf support system. Has anyone experienced this problem? How long did it take to get it fixed and what was your overall experience w/ Ford? I am at the end of my rope over this....

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[AKgrampy]

The flat platform in the rear MME trunk can be set to two levels. When in the upper position - which creates a flat surface when the rear seats are down - the shelf is supported by two side brackets. Recently I helped my son move and put some heavy boxes in the trunk. The shelf was on the lower level, i.e. below the two side brackets, not resting on them. The boxes in the back shifted around during the move and incredibly, the two side brackets snapped off! The boxes were heavy but there is no way that should have happened.

I have been trying to get these fixed since August!! Problem #1 is the fix involves replacing the entire side assembly, not just the brackets; and both sides must be replaced. Problem #2 is it takes two months to get new parts. Problem #3 is when the parts arrived they were defective and that has happened twice! Three months in and there is no final fix in sight. The guy at the service counter said he has been seeing more of these problems and that Ford will probably have to redesign the shelf support system. Has anyone experienced this problem? How long did it take to get it fixed and what was your overall experience w/ Ford? I am at the end of my rope over this....

Enjoy!

https://www.macheforum.com/site/thr...ts-watch-weight-in-the-rear.14388/post-450375

 

[Socalsp3]

Just put some wood blocks underneath or lower it

 

[Kamuelaflyer]

Just put some wood blocks underneath or lower it

Read the post again. Never mind, I’ll make it easy on you.:

The shelf was on the lower level, i.e. below the two side brackets, not resting on them.

 

[Socalsp3]

Read the post again. Never mind, I’ll make it easy on you.:

My bad never heard of it breaking on the lower level

 

[Kamuelaflyer]

My bad never heard of it breaking on the lower level

Yeah, the weight shifted and sheared the shelf bracket. Odd indeed. What’s more odd m, is two bad replacement oarts.

 

[dtbaker61]

, the two side brackets snapped off! The boxes were heavy but there is no way that should have happened.

I have been trying to get these fixed since August!! Problem #1 is the fix involves replacing the entire side assembly, not just the brackets; and both sides must be replaced. Problem #2 is it takes two months to get new parts. Problem #3 is when the parts arrived they were defective and that has happened twice! Three months in and there is no final fix in sight. The guy at the service counter said he has been seeing more of these problems and that Ford will probably have to redesign the shelf support system.

it is a terrible design....
@Ford Motor Company , are you listening ?
This MUST be re-designed in future model years.... and it would be great if there were a 'repair kit' available for DIY or Service that included rivnuts, expansion, or anchor bolts and did NOT require remove/replacement of entire side panels.

The 'best' fix would be to pull the side covers, and add a 'backer plate' with T-nuts, drill thru the brackets, and run bolts thru to something solid. This result in 2 metal bolts taking the load rather than 2 plastic stubs in shear.

pulling the side covers is a lot of labor time....

The 10-minute DIY fix is:
- use 1/8" drill thru bracket and the existing (broken) stub.
- run 2x 1" long #10 roofing screws thru each bracket into the existing side wall.... without removing it, using the drilled out plastic stubs basically as expansion bolts. You COULD use actual anchors, or drill out the broken stubs and insert riv-nuts.... but the 1" long roofing screws I used seem to be doing the job pretty well so far and were a 10 minute fix.

 

[spgordon57]

Great input, thanks!

 

[Kamuelaflyer]

it is a terrible design....
@Ford Motor Company , are you listening ?
This MUST be re-designed in future model years.... and it would be great if there were a 'repair kit' available for DIY or Service that included rivnuts, expansion, or anchor bolts and did NOT require remove/replacement of entire side panels.

The 'best' fix would be to pull the side covers, and add a 'backer plate' with T-nuts, drill thru the brackets, and run bolts thru to something solid. This result in 2 metal bolts taking the load rather than 2 plastic stubs in shear.

pulling the side covers is a lot of labor time....

The 10-minute DIY fix is:
- use 1/8" drill thru bracket and the existing (broken) stub.
- run 2x 1" long #10 roofing screws thru each bracket into the existing side wall.... without removing it, using the drilled out plastic stubs basically as expansion bolts. You COULD use actual anchors, or drill out the broken stubs and insert riv-nuts.... but the 1" long roofing screws I used seem to be doing the job pretty well so far and were a 10 minute fix.

It’ll be “interesting” to see what improvements are made to these brackets over time. 2023? 24? Model Refresh?

 

[dtbaker61]

It’ll be “interesting” to see what improvements are made to these brackets over time. 2023? 24? Model Refresh?

not holding my breath for Ford re-design or repair kit.... and HAD to fix it...

 

[Kamuelaflyer]

not holding my breath for Ford re-design or repair kit.... and HAD to fix it...

I think Ford will likely incorporate a lot of the ideas and requests we’ve seen on the forum related to the Mach-es user interface in models down the road. As for this? Yeah probably down the list quite a ways.

 

[MyLittlePony2022]

it is a terrible design....
@Ford Motor Company , are you listening ?
This MUST be re-designed in future model years.... and it would be great if there were a 'repair kit' available for DIY or Service that included rivnuts, expansion, or anchor bolts and did NOT require remove/replacement of entire side panels.

The 'best' fix would be to pull the side covers, and add a 'backer plate' with T-nuts, drill thru the brackets, and run bolts thru to something solid. This result in 2 metal bolts taking the load rather than 2 plastic stubs in shear.

pulling the side covers is a lot of labor time....

The 10-minute DIY fix is:
- use 1/8" drill thru bracket and the existing (broken) stub.
- run 2x 1" long #10 roofing screws thru each bracket into the existing side wall.... without removing it, using the drilled out plastic stubs basically as expansion bolts. You COULD use actual anchors, or drill out the broken stubs and insert riv-nuts.... but the 1" long roofing screws I used seem to be doing the job pretty well so far and were a 10 minute fix.

@dtbaker61 This is a great solution for either a fix or preventing it from breaking. Do you know if you can get easily get on the backside to through bolt this and put washers on on the back?

I think I am going to put some form of blocking under the cover, just a little above the bracket so they carry the load and the bracket is secondary. However, reinforcing the bracket with through bolts is now an option I might explore.

 

[dtbaker61]

@dtbaker61 This is a great solution for either a fix or preventing it from breaking. Do you know if you can get easily get on the backside to through bolt this and put washers on on the back?

I think I am going to put some form of blocking under the cover, just a little above the bracket so they carry the load and the bracket is secondary. However, reinforcing the bracket with through bolts is now an option I might explore.

it is a bitch to pull the side covers... probably take a couple hours since you would have to remove rear seat(s) first. That's why I went for the 10 minute fix and just drilled and screwed in place. Still holding up, and I put LOTS of crap in my cargo area for work.....

 

[spgordon57]

Yeah I wish I knew about the DYI fix before I depended on Ford to do it. It’s been a multi-month nightmare and have brought it in 4 times for this already. Next visit is next week, fingers crossed. At least they provide a free charge and wash, LOL

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