Ford recalls 422K vehicles

Ford is recalling 422,613 vehicles in the United States because a part most drivers never think about can fail at exactly the wrong moment. The problem is in the windshield-wiper arm assembly. On affected trucks and SUVs, the arms can break, which can make the wipers stop working or even detach from the vehicle. Federal regulators logged the action as NHTSA campaign 26V204, and Ford assigned it recall number 26S24. The recall covers 2021-2023 Lincoln Navigators, 2021-2023 Ford Expeditions, and 2022-2023 Ford Super Duty pickups including the F-250 through F-600. (nhtsa.gov, reuters.com) That sounds minor until you remember what windshield wipers are for. This is a visibility recall. NHTSA says wiper failure can reduce a driver’s ability to see the road and increase the risk of a crash. The defect is not spread evenly through a neat run of VINs, which is why Ford says owners should check by VIN instead of assuming their model year is enough to tell the story. Affected VINs became searchable on NHTSA’s recall site on April 1, 2026, and Ford is directing owners to its hotline at 1-866-436-7332 or to dealers that can check the company’s OASIS service database. (nhtsa.gov, nhtsa.gov) The scale of the recall becomes clearer when you break it apart. Super Duty trucks account for 326,239 of the affected vehicles. The Expedition adds 79,164 more. The Navigator contributes 17,210. Those are not fringe products. They are some of Ford’s biggest, heaviest, most expensive vehicles, the kind often used for towing, hauling, and long highway miles. A wiper problem on a compact commuter car is bad enough. On a three-quarter-ton truck in heavy rain, it is a different class of hazard. (nhtsa.gov, cbsnews.com) The underlying issue appears to be manufacturing, not wear and tear. Ford’s recall filing says the company traced the affected population by reviewing supplier process and maintenance records. Trade coverage digging into the filing reports that the wiper arm latch retention plates may have been incorrectly staked by the supplier, which would explain why the arms can loosen or break instead of staying locked in place. Ford’s own filing estimates that about 3 percent of the recalled vehicles actually contain the defect. That is a small share of a very large population, which is how a recall can top 422,000 vehicles even when the company does not believe every one of them is bad. (nhtsa.gov, autoevolution.com) The catch is that Ford does not yet have a final fix ready for every owner. NHTSA says dealers will inspect and replace the wiper arms as necessary, free of charge, but the agency’s acknowledgement letter also says interim notices warning owners about the safety risk are expected to be mailed on April 13, 2026, with another round of letters to follow once the remedy is fully available. That leaves owners in the awkward middle stage of a modern recall, where the defect is public, the VIN checker is live, and the official answer is still partly “wait for the next letter.” (nhtsa.gov, abcnews.go.com) For now, the practical details are plain. If you own one of these vehicles, check the VIN on NHTSA’s site or call Ford’s recall line. If the truck or SUV is covered, the reference number is 26S24. The first owner letters are scheduled to go out on April 13. (nhtsa.gov, reuters.com)