Ford Recalling Over 4.3 Million Vehicles Over Risk of Trailer Brakes and Lights Failure
Stop us if you’ve heard this one before. Ford is recalling a whole bunch of their vehicles. This time, Ford says there could be a problem with 4,380,609 of their trucks, SUVs and vans.
The recall is for a software defect that may cause trailer brakes and exterior lights to fail. The Ford vehicles that may be affected include: 2021–2026 F-150s, 2022–2026 Super Duty F-250s, 2022–2026 Expeditions, 2022–2026 Mavericks, 2024–2026 Rangers, 2026 E-Transit vans, and 2022–2026 Lincoln Navigators.
This is the third significant recall issued by Ford this week
This recall follows another that the company issued this week for a brake pedal assembly issue. Another recall that the company issued this week for thousands of 2025 Transit vans due to a brake pedal assembly issue precedes this recall. That recall led the National Highway Transportation Safety Administration (NHTSA) to issue a “do not drive” advisory.
It also follows a recall issued this week for more than 412,000 Ford Explorers from model years 2017 through 2019. That one was over the potential of steering control loss, which could result from the toe links in the rear suspensions of Explorers breaking.
According to National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) documents, affected vehicles may lose communication between the vehicle and the Integrated Trailer Module (ITRM). If a communication failure occurs when a driver attaches a trailer to the vehicle, both High and Low series ITRMs will lose stop lamps and turn signal indicators. For the High series only, drivers will also lose the trailer brake function.
Should any of that happen, the NHTSA reports it could “reduce a driver’s ability to control an
attached trailer and make the attached trailer less visible to other drivers, increasing the risk of a crash.”
What Ford owners should look for, and how to fix it
A “Trailer brake module fault” pop-up warning will appear on the instrument panel cluster, and the turn signal telltale will flash quickly. The instrument panel cluster may also display a “Blind Spot Assist System fault” notice.
As of February 4, 2026, they have identified a total of 405 warranty claims and two Vehicle Owner Questionnaires (VOQs) as being potentially related to this issue. Ford is not aware of any accidents, injuries, or fires attributed to this condition.
Ford expects to begin deploying the Ford Software Update and the Lincoln Software Update over-the-air (OTA) in May 2026 to update the ITRM software for impacted vehicles. As an alternative, owners can choose to have the software upgrade done by taking their car to a Ford or Lincoln dealer. This service will be provided without charge.
Ford recalled over 13 million cars in 2025 and established a record by issuing 153 recall warnings to consumers. Despite those massive numbers, Kumar Galhotra, the automaker’s Chief Operations Officer, said it was a good thing. Also, the company reportedly gave its workers significant bonuses based on improved initial quality in 2025.
