Ford Tells Thousands Of Bronco Sport And Maverick Owners Not To Drive Over Crash Risk

It's a bad time for Ford's Maverick and Bronco Sport, which share a platform. After a recent recall fix allegedly failed to solve a stop-start system failure, leading to a lawsuit, a new recall from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration warns thousands of Bronco Sport and Maverick owners not to drive their vehicles or risk a serious crash. The affected models are the 2021-2026 Bronco Sport and the 2022-2026 Maverick, so there's a big spread, though only 4,653 units of both are affected. Let's see what the problem is and how Ford intends to fix it.

Ford Bronco Sport and Maverick Recalled Over Control Arm Problems

According to the NHTSA recall report, Maverick trucks produced between March 5, 2021, and March 25, 2026, and Bronco Sport SUVs built between March 11, 2020, and April 28, 2026, may suffer from improperly assembled front lower control arm ball joints. Ford attempted to address the problem a year ago, but the affected vehicles may have been improperly repaired at the assembly plant. Either way, if the control arm detaches, drivers could easily lose control and have a severe crash, hence the Do Not Drive warning. It appears that an operator at the factory didn't correctly assemble the left front control arm ball joint, failing to fully insert the ball joint's stud into the suspension knuckle before securing a pinch bolt. So while the suspension system may have looked like it was secure, the strains of driving with weight on the ball joint can lead to the joint popping out of place, making it feel as if a wheel is loose and severely compromising steering and handling. The good news is that this should be relatively easy to fix.

Ford Will Repair Bronco Sports and Mavericks

Ford has already begun notifying both dealers and owners of Bronco Sports and Mavericks, and because the issue appears to be down to human error, not component failure, dealers will inspect potentially affected vehicles and simply repair the suspension components, not replace them with new items. As always with a recall, Ford will not charge customers for the fix, but they are encouraged to bring their vehicles in sooner rather than later and avoid driving until the fix is applied.

Related: Ford Bronco Reliability: Not As Bad As Jeep, Nowhere Near Toyota

For Ford's sake, we hope these issues are resolved quickly, because while these vehicles may still be popular with American buyers, rivals are cooking up alternatives. Ram is working on a Maverick rival, and Toyota is considering a RAV4-based pickup to attack the same compact pickup segment. With constant recalls plaguing Ford, it's only a matter of time before customers start looking for more reliable alternatives, and having options from Ram and Toyota may be just what disgruntled Blue Oval buyers want.

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