NHTSA campaign number
21V537000
Suspension issue — affecting 3 model years across Ford.
- Issued
- Manufacturer
- Ford Motor Company
- Model years
- 2015–2017
- System
- Suspension
Elevated severity
This campaign addresses a defect NHTSA classifies as carrying elevated crash or injury risk.
What the defect is
Ford Motor Company (Ford) is recalling certain 2013-2017 Explorer vehicles originally sold, or ever registered, in Connecticut, Delaware, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kentucky, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Vermont, Virginia, West Virginia, Wisconsin, and the District of Columbia. Exposure to road salt can cause the cross-axis ball joint to corrode and seize, resulting in a fracture of the outboard section of the rear suspension toe link.
Why it matters
A rear toe-link fracture can result in a loss of steering control, increasing the risk of a crash.
The remedy
Dealers will inspect and replace as necessary, the cross-axis ball joint (CABJ) knuckle, and replace the rear suspension toe links, free of charge. This recall is an expansion of previous NHTSA recall numbers 16V-245, 19V-435, and 20V-675. Certain vehicles previously repaired will need to return for the new remedy. An interim notification letter notifying owners of the safety risk were mailed on September 10, 2021. Owner notification letters were mailed on March 16, 2022. Owners may contact Ford's customer service at 1-866-436-7332. Ford's number for this recall is 21S32.
What this page does not include
NHTSA's public recall feed does not supply an affected-population count, the manufacturer's own campaign number, owner-notification dates or a defect chronology for this campaign. Rather than estimate them, we omit them. Confirm whether a specific vehicle is affected — and whether the repair has already been done — using its VIN.
Check a VINVehicles affected by this campaign
3 model years in our index. Coverage reflects the vehicles VerifyTheVehicle tracks, which may be narrower than the full campaign population.