The defect
Ford Motor Company (Ford) is recalling certain 2013-2017 Explorer vehicles originally sold, or currently registered in Connecticut, Delaware, the District of Columbia, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kentucky, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Vermont, Virginia, West Virginia, and Wisconsin that were previously repaired under a prior recall numbers 16V-245 or 19V-435. The outboard section of a rear suspension toe link may fracture.
The risk
A rear toe link fracture can result in a loss of steering control, increasing the risk of a crash.
The remedy
Ford will notify owners, and dealers will inspect the cross-axis ball joint (CABJ) knuckle attached to the rear suspension toe link and replace it as necessary, free of charge. The recall began November 27, 2020. Owners may contact Ford customer service at 1-866-436-7332. Ford's number for this recall is 20S62.
NHTSA's own wording · initiated by MFR
Vehicles covered
| Model | Model years |
|---|---|
| Ford Explorer | 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017 |
Components: SUSPENSION:REAR
Model years in this recall
NHTSA complaints and the number of recall campaigns for each model year this recall covers.
| Model | Year | Complaints | Recalls |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ford Explorer | 2013 | 2,237 | 11 |
| Ford Explorer | 2014 | 1,684 | 6 |
| Ford Explorer | 2015 | 1,810 | 8 |
| Ford Explorer | 2016 | 2,462 | 14 |
| Ford Explorer | 2017 | 1,703 | 13 |
Other suspension recalls in 2021
48 of the 988 recall campaigns reported to NHTSA in 2021 concerned the suspension; Ford Motor Company filed 737 campaigns in all.
| 21V00F000 22 Dec 2021 | General Motors, LLC |
| 21V990000 17 Dec 2021 | Mercedes-Benz USA, LLC |
| 21V935000 1 Dec 2021 | Volkswagen Group of America, Inc. |
| 21V912000 21 Nov 2021 | Tesla, Inc. |
| 21V911000 19 Nov 2021 | Porsche Cars North America, Inc. |
| 21V886000 16 Nov 2021 | Jayco, Inc. |
| 21V870000 10 Nov 2021 | Ford Motor Company |
| 21V835000 25 Oct 2021 | Tesla, Inc. |
NHTSA recalls (public domain) · all recalls of 2021