Ford has told NHTSA it is recalling 223,472 F-150 pickups from the 2023 to 2027 model years because the front fuel tank strap may not be locked into the frame. A tank that is not properly secured can leak fuel, which can stall the engine or start a fire, or drop out from under the truck while driving. Ford's recall number is 26S69; NHTSA's is 26V578.
The number sounds like every F-150 built in the last three and a half years. It is not.
Who is actually included
The production window runs from January 4, 2023 to August 27, 2026, the stretch when the camera systems that check the strap at Ford's F-150 plants were not in continuous use. But Ford only included trucks that were unsold, or had been in service for less than three months, on August 27, 2026. Its reasoning, from the safety report: in the field, a badly fitted strap shows up very early in a truck's life. If yours has been on the road since 2024 without a problem, it is very unlikely to be one of them.
Ford estimates that about 1% of the recalled trucks actually have the fault. It knows of 16 warranty claims worldwide and no crashes or injuries. The cause is mechanical and simple: the T-slots on the front strap were not fully inserted into the frame rail when the truck was built.
The recall covers 223,472 trucks. Ford expects about 1% of them to have the problem.
What happens next
Dealers will inspect the front fuel tank straps and refit or replace them for free. The replacement strap is the same part, just installed correctly. Owner letters went out between September 21 and 28, and VINs have been searchable on NHTSA.gov since September 14. Ford reports no dashboard warning for this condition, so the letter or a VIN check is how you find out.
Sources
- NHTSA, Part 573 Safety Recall Report 26V578, Ford Motor Company, received 9 Sep 2026
- NHTSA recall summary 26V578 (remedy and owner notification dates)
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