Ford recalled thousands of its electric-powered F-150 Lightning pickup truck series, according to a release from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.

"Ford's team reviewed assembly plant records to determine the population of affected parts," the release stated. "The front upper control arm ball joint on affected vehicles may not have been properly secured during assembly."

The release further explained the defect at hand: "Certain vehicles may have an improperly torqued nut on the ball joint which secures the front upper control arm to the knuckle assembly.

"An improperly torqued nut on the ball joint can result in separation of the front upper control arm from the knuckle assembly."

As to the dangers of that improperly torqued nut, the release called out that "[i]f the upper control arm ball joint nut is loose or missing, the front upper control arm can separate from the knuckle assembly, which can cause the driver to experience a partial loss of directional control, increasing a risk of a crash.

"The nut on the upper control arm ball joint may not have achieved the correct torque due to variation in the alignment or orientation between the fastening tool and the fastener that may have induced lateral forces on the tool, preventing it from properly seating on the fastener."

The recall notice did call out one telltale sign of the defect.

"If the ball joint nut is loose or missing, the driver may experience vehicle vibration and hear a clunk or rattle noise during suspension jounce and rebound," the release stated.

Ford claimed that it "is aware of one accident attributed to this condition."

According to the timeline provided, Ford was first notified of this issue in a September 2024 incident report.

Just a month later, in October, Ford launched its investigation into the issue.

By November, it had identified the ball joint issue.