2015 - 2017 Ford F-150.

https://www.cnbc.com/2017/10/18/ford...latch-fix.html

You can enter your VIN # here to see if applies to your vehicle.

https://owner.ford.com/tools/account...e/recalls.html

 

Ford should have recalled the 97 to 03 supercab for rear door latches. The cable housing ends broke on both my rear doors twice but the last time I used aluminum cable housing ends bought off ebay that should be a permanent fix.

 

Yeah, my truck had this issue last winter. It happened twice. Not very reassuring since my 2 year old was in the back. Mine was built (crappily) in the Kansas City plant and is part of the recall.

 

what exactly is happening with the hinges?

 

The fix is to add a water shield and inspect the cables. It sounds like water it getting into the latch area and freezing or rusting part of the mechanism. Funny thing though, my 2011 has a water shield around the latch already. I would figure they would have kept it.