Regardless, the fact that Ford issued a TSB does NOT mean that a NHTSA sanctioned recall was imminent. It means that Ford stepped up and took responsibility, something that consumers shouldn't take too lightly. As you mentioned with the 6.0 diesel fiasco, Ford handled it poorly and the engine became notorious because of that. Perhaps Ford has learned something from that and decided to do the right thing.
A recall would force Ford to fix all 400,000 vehicles named in the recall. the TSB provides guidance for Ford mechanics and essentially gives dealers carte blanche to fix vehicles displaying those problems. Of the 400,000 vehicles potentially affected, I have to wonder how many actually experienced problems and were fixed under this TSB.
