Older Ford Explorer owners will want to pay attention to this important safety recall.
Ford’s Explorer SUV is one of the most popular family haulers on the market, but that means a new recall campaign could hamper owners with a serious safety issue. According to what the automaker reported to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), some 412,774 Explorers between the 2017 and 2019 model years could have a problem with their rear suspension that needs to be addressed.
Specifically, the automaker says the rear toe links could fracture under certain conditions, compromising the rear suspension and increasing the risk of an accident. Ford says it’s still working to find the root cause, but some reports indicate a seized cross-axis ball joint (CABJ), another adjacent part of the rear suspension, could be placing added stress on the toe link and potentially cause it to break. Drivers may notice a clunking noise, unusual handling characteristics or a misaligned rear wheel as a symptom of the issue.
This is an expansion of an earlier recall (NHTSA number 21V-537).
Back in 2021, Ford approved a “Field Service Action (FSA)” (21S32) for potential rear toe link fractures. At the time, the automaker’s analysis showed evidence that corrosion within the ball joints were causing ball joints to seize — particularly in rust-prone areas like the northern U.S. and Canada — and that matter ultimately escalated to a recall of 644,055 fifth-generation Explorers between model years 2013 and 2017. Rear toe links have been a recurring issue for fifth-gen Explorers even beyond that, as another recall in 2019 and one in 2016 also concerned possible rear toe link fractures.
This latest recall is different to those earlier campaigns as it broadens the scope past the 2017 model year, and Ford isn’t dragging its feet to notify owners, either. Dealers were made aware of the issue today, February 25, according to the NHTSA recall report. Owners will get notices in the mail between March 9 and March 13, after which they can take their vehicles to the dealer for repair.
Ford will replace Explorer owners’ old toe links with a revised design, free of charge. The new toe links, according to the automaker, “are stronger and more resistant to a seized CABJ than the recalled component toe links”.
To-date, Ford says it’s aware of two accidents related to the problem, but no injuries. You can check whether your Explorer is part of the recall (and to be clear, this does not include current-generation Explorers from 2020 onward) using the NHTSA recall website (NHTSA recall number 26V-101), or Ford’s own recall page (Ford recall number 26S08).
