2015 Ford F-150 Seat Belt Problems

Mileage when the problem started

• Under 25k
  421%
• 25k–50k
  947%
• 50k–75k
  211%
• 75k–100k
  211%
• 100k–150k
  15%
• 150k+
  15%

Owner reports

Selected complaints filed with NHTSA by 2015 Ford F-150 owners, lightly cleaned up (personal details are redacted by NHTSA).

The contact owns a 2015 Ford F-150. The contact stated that while his son was driving at an undisclosed speed, white smoke was coming from the base of the driver's seat belt clip. The contact stated that the air bags warning light illuminated with a message that the driver's side door was opened; however, the door was not open. The contact's son was able to safely pull the vehicle to the side of the road and the vehicle was towed back to the residence. The vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired by an independent mechanic or the local dealer. The contact related the failure with an unknown recall; however, the manufacturer confirmed that the vehicle was not included in the recall. The contact was referred to the NHTSA Hotline for assistance. The failure mileage was approximately 191,845.

While sitting in my driveway getting ready to go to town, I pulled the seat belt to lock it into place when I hear a pop then the seat belt would not retract at all. It was as if the retractable spring broke. I left the truck sitting until I could get a replacement belt from Ford (450.00) to repair this safety issue. Had this belt failed in a collision it would have caused severe damage to the driver. This issue needs to be addressed before someone dies in an accident. There was no warning signs before this happened and I was very lucky it happened in my driveway and not on the highway.

I was driving 60 mph and a car pulled out in front of me causing me to Tbone the vehicle. Drivers Seat belt and airbag did not deploy causing me to hit the steering wheel then cracking my head on the wind shield. I bent the steering wheel gettin the force of the impacted and smashed the wind shield with my head causing my neck to bend. The accident has caused pain in my head, neck, left (hand, wrist, elbow, shoulder) right (hand, wrist) and chest that happen on 5/4/2022, in result of the safety mechanisms failing to properly work.

While removing child care seats from the back-right passenger seat, I noticed an unusually loud tingling sound from the lower anchor point of the seat belt. Upon inspecting it, I noticed that the bolt anchoring the bottom part of the seat belt was completely unscrewed and was only being held on by the tension of the seat belt. Once unbuckeled, the bottom anchor of the seat belt came out completely. There were no special circumstances to cause the seat belt bottom anchor to come unscrewed beyond normal use. Component is available for inspection upon request. The issue has not been brought to the attention of the dealer or manufacturer. The vehicle has not been inspected by anyone other than the owner. …

My 2015 Ford F-150 truck has had multiple issues related to performance issues, with only 80,000 miles on it. I have had issues with it losing power while driving, both with and without towing a trailer where it just powers down on the highway from 70-75 mph down to 40-50 mph in traffic. I usually just have to pull over, turn the engine off and then turn it back on and everything runs normal. It is currently at Phil Long Ford in Colorado Springs, CO, having the short block and driver side cylinder head replaced at 80,000 miles because it was smoking out the exhaust and they determined that it had coolant leaking into the #4 and #5 cylinders. This is after it had a completely new engine installed at 75,000 miles due to coolant leaking into the 3# cylinder and causing severe damage to the engine. …

Tl* the contact owns a 2015 Ford f-150. While accelerating from a stop sign, the contact crashed into the rear driver's side of another vehicle. The air bags failed to deploy and the driver's seat belt exploded, which included smoke and a burning odor. The contact sustained back injuries that did not require medical attention. The other driver was not injured. A police report was filed. The vehicle was towed to an independent mechanic and the body damage was repaired, but the failures were not diagnosed. The vehicle was not taken to a dealer. The vehicle was not repaired. The VIN was included in NHTSA campaign number: 18V568000 (seat belts, structure). The manufacturer was not notified of the failure. The approximate failure mileage was 78,178.

I was involved in an accident on June 13, 2016 on a local city road at an intersection; where a vehicle failed to yield to right of way, causing me to hit them head on, on their front passenger side. I was temporarily knocked unconscious, and sustained 2 broken teeth, burns on my face from the airbag deployment (which has left scars), bruising and swelling on my lower abdomen, my torso, major bruising and swelling on the right side of my face, and severe tension in my neck and back. I was traveling no more that 35 MPH. I sustained these injuries because the seat belt failed to lock on impact to restrain me from hitting the airbag so hard.

During a accident where I rear ended another vehicle that was either stopped or at a very slow roll on a off-ramp (traffic was backed up from a wreck further up), neither my airbags or my seat belt restrained me. The result being me hitting the steering wheel with my chest and abdomen. I had bruising on my lower abdomen and extensive injuries to my back, neck and hips. The chiropractor hopes to have me back to 80-90% of "normal" (how I was before the wreck) within 2-2 1/2 months. I estimate my speed upon impact to be between 50-60 MPH.

Was driving on highway, cruise set at 55mph, came over a hill to a car stalled in the road. I couldn't stop, both vehicles declared total loss. Direct hit, front of my 2105 f150 to the rear end of a Ford focus, approximately 40mph. Seatbelt tightened and locked up, left bruises across my hips, airbags did not deploy. Hit my face in the steering wheel, bruised knees on dash.

In cold weather, the rear driver side door latches are inoperable. The door latch fails to engage, allowing the door to open while the vehicle is in motion. During right hand turns, bumps in the road, or when light pressure is applied to the driver side doors, the vehicle returns a "door ajar" warning as the door open itself. This is especially dangerous in the "supercab" configuration, as the rear door also contains the seat belt for the driver. If the door were to open fully, this could disrupt the driver's ability to control the vehicle, or potentially throw them out of the vehicle. This system failure can also be easily replicated when stationary. Open the driver's door and lightly pull on the rear door. You can see the latch failing to engage as the door move freely at the bottom instead of staying locked shut. …

Related recalls

NHTSA investigations

Seat Belt complaints in other F-150 years