Recall · 26V581000
Ford Motor recalled the FORD Explorer over air bags
7
Vehicles covered
1
Model
1
Model years
September 9, 2026
Filed with NHTSA
AIR BAGS:FRONTAL
- The defect
- Ford Motor Company (Ford) is recalling certain 2026 Explorer vehicles. The active vent on the passenger side may not open as intended, preventing the air bag from deploying properly.
- What it can cause
- An air bag that does not deploy as intended increases the risk of injury in a crash.
- What the dealer does
- Dealers will replace the passenger air bag module, free of charge. Owner notification letters are expected to be mailed September 25, 2026. Owners may contact Ford customer service at 1-866-436-7332. Ford's number for this recall is 26S65. Vehicle Identification Numbers (VINs) involved in this recall became searchable on NHTSA.gov on September 14, 2026.
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 .
| Vehicle | Model years | Safety record |
|---|---|---|
| FordExplorer | 2026 | 2026 |
How this campaign compares
At 7 vehicles this is a small campaign: 94% of the 19,818 vehicle recalls filed since 1995 whose size NHTSA published are as large or larger. The middle campaign on file covers 472. It covers one model year, 2026, and the defect was reported to NHTSA in 2026, at or before the oldest model year it covers — as current as a recall gets.
Ford vehicles have been recalled over the air bags 62 times before this, most recently in March 2026 as 26V201000. That is not evidence the earlier repair failed.
This site holds the complaint record for all 1 model year the campaign names. Their owners have filed 29 complaints with NHTSA, 15 of them before this campaign was filed.
The vehicles on this campaign carry 13 other recalls published here, the newest being: 26V548000 (engine and engine cooling), 26V532000 (engine and engine cooling), 26V470000 (seats), 26V451000 (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 September 9, 2026 as campaign 26V581000. 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 2026-09-09.
Independent developer and analyst