Recall · 25V687000
Ford Motor recalled 2 models over trailer hitches
1,412
Vehicles covered
2
Models
6
Model years
October 10, 2025
Filed with NHTSA
TRAILER HITCHES
- The defect
- Ford Motor Company (Ford) is recalling certain 2024-2026 Explorer and 2024-2026 Lincoln Aviator vehicles. The trailer hitch assembly bolts may be loose.
- What it can cause
- While towing a trailer, loose trailer hitch bolts can cause a loss of vehicle handling and control, or cause the trailer to detach. Either of these conditions can increase the risk of a crash.
- What the dealer does
- Dealers will inspect and tighten the trailer hitch bolts, or replace them as necessary, free of charge. Owner notification letters were mailed October 29, 2025. Owners may contact Ford customer service at 1-866-436-7332. Ford's number for this recall is 25SA3. Vehicle Identification Numbers (VINs) involved in this recall became searchable on NHTSA.gov on October 15, 2025.
The repair is free, whatever the age or mileage of the vehicle, and whether or not you are the original owner.
Which vehicles
A recall reaches a range of VINs inside these model years, not every car built in them. Yours may not be covered even if it is listed here, and the only way to find out is NHTSA's own VIN lookup .
How this campaign compares
At 1,412 vehicles this is a bigger campaign than 62% of the 19,818 vehicle recalls filed since 1995 whose size NHTSA published. The middle campaign on file covers 472. It covers model years 2024 to 2026, so the oldest vehicles on it were one model year old when the defect was reported to NHTSA.
Ford vehicles have been recalled over the trailer hitches 4 times before this, most recently in May 2021 as 21V379000. That is not evidence the earlier repair failed.
This site holds the complaint record for 5 of the 6 model years the campaign names. Their owners have filed 163 complaints with NHTSA, 55 of them before this campaign was filed. The earliest of them reached NHTSA in April 2024, 1 year before this filing.
The vehicles on this campaign carry 34 other recalls published here, the newest being: 26V581000 (air bags), 26V548000 (engine and engine cooling), 26V532000 (engine and engine cooling), 26V470000 (seats).
Check your own car
A VIN check is the only answer for a specific vehicle, and it also shows every other open recall on it, which is usually the reason it is worth doing rather than reading one campaign.
Filed by Ford Motor Company with NHTSA on October 10, 2025 as campaign 25V687000. Every word of the defect, consequence and remedy above is NHTSA's published record of that filing, not a summary of it.
Compiled and maintained by guarledes . Data last checked 2025-10-10.
Independent developer and analyst