Back in January we announced that Ford had recalled over 800,000 2000 model year Ford F-150s, Ford Expeditions and Lincoln Navigators for a speed control switch problem that allowed the world's best selling pickup to catch fire, while parked.

Last time it was a voluntary recall. This time Ford is being investigated by the NHTSA and could affect even more vehicles -- millions more. While Ford recalled the 2000 model year vehicles on their own, they neglected to fix the exact same problem that also affects 1995-1999 and 2001-2002 model year F-150, Expedition and Navigators.

Admittedly, this is not a good year for Ford. Yesterday we learned about the Ford's SVT (Special Vehicle Team) burning Ford's research & design budget on of all things, a Sport Trac, which as you know has had a horrible history of its own. Why does Ford SVT insist on spending R&D on this vehicle? There are two other projects we can think of that deserve plenty more attention, including the updated 2005 Mustang and the SVT Lightning, which was announced last October that Ford is, sadly, shelving until 2008. With the 2005 Dodge Ram SRT-10 snatching the title of "world's fastest truck" away from Ford, we think their R&D money is better off spent there, not on some half-assed pickup.

Don't get us wrong, we love Ford pickups. It's what we both drive. But "if we're being honest here", the direction of the company's truck division needs to quit screwing around with "the road ahead" and get back to Job #1: Quality.

NBC has more coverage of the Ford F-ires, including a nifty pop-up video report that you've got to see. Read more...