If you’ve ever felt a little too confident towing a boat down the highway, Ford has some humbling news for you.
Ford Motor Company has announced a recall covering more than 4.3 million pickup trucks and SUVs across the United States, all tied to a software glitch that can cause trailer brakes and exterior lights to stop working while towing.
Yes, the brakes on the thing you’re dragging behind you at 70 mph. Fun stuff.
What’s Actually Going Wrong?
The culprit is something called the Integrated Trailer Module — the piece of software responsible for keeping your vehicle and whatever you’ve hitched to it on speaking terms. Apparently, the two can lose communication mid-tow, which means your trailer’s brake lights and turn signals may go dark, or worse, the trailer brakes themselves may stop functioning entirely.
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) flagged the issue and had a heart-to-heart with Ford back in December. Ford, to its credit, reopened its investigation in January and ultimately pulled the trigger on a recall. The company has logged 407 incidents potentially linked to the defect, though it says no crashes or injuries have been reported yet. Yet being the operative word.
Drivers in affected vehicles might notice a “Trailer Brake Module Fault” warning pop up, or see their turn signal blinking at the frantic pace typically reserved for someone who just realized they missed their exit.
Which Vehicles Are Affected?
Photo Courtesy: Autorepublika.
Here’s the lineup to check against your garage:
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2022–2026 Ford F-250 Super Duty
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2022–2026 Lincoln Navigator
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2022–2026 Ford Expedition
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2022–2026 Ford Maverick
Basically, if Ford makes it and it can tow something, there’s a good chance it’s on this list. The F-150 and Super Duty alone account for a staggering chunk of American roads, which gives you a sense of just how wide the net here really is.
What Ford Is Doing About It
Here’s where things actually get somewhat painless: Ford plans to fix the issue with an over-the-air software update, meaning many owners won’t even have to drag themselves to a dealership. The update will be pushed directly to your vehicle, though dealerships can also apply the fix if you prefer a human touch and free coffee in the waiting room.
NHTSA says official recall notices will go out to affected owners starting March 17, and the repair is completely free of charge. You can also check the NHTSA website to see if your vehicle is impacted ahead of your camping trip. Just have the year, make, and model ready, and possibly the VIN.
Ranger (and Everyone Around It) in Danger
Image Credit: Ford.
For anyone using these trucks for commercial purposes — hauling equipment, towing work trailers, moving boats or RVs — this isn’t just an inconvenience. Trailer brakes that cut out without warning are a genuine liability concern, and with towing season approaching, the timing of this recall is worth taking seriously.
Fleet operators, insurers, and anyone whose livelihood involves something hitched to the back of a Ford should make sure the software fix is applied before getting back on the road with a load in tow.
The good news is Ford caught this before it turned into something worse. The slightly less good news is that a bug in your truck’s software can apparently compromise the brakes on everything behind it, which is a sentence nobody wanted to have to write in 2025. Welcome to modern trucks.
