Week in Off-Road: a quiet recall docket, a busy garage and the road to Glamis

No new campaigns touching the machines on our list landed with NHTSA this week, which made it a week for follow-up rather than headlines. The safety desk spent it tracking remedy dates on campaigns already filed. That is less dramatic than a fresh stop-drive notice, but for an owner the date a letter arrives and the date a dealer can actually do the work matter more than the day a recall was announced.

The most immediate of those is 26V-531, the Stellantis rearview camera software campaign that covers 2026 Wrangler JL and Gladiator JT builds among a long list of other models. The remedy is a radio software update, at a dealer or over the air, and the filing says owner letters are expected to begin going out at the start of September. If you took delivery of a 2026 Jeep this summer, expect mail. Close behind it is 26V-456, the steel wheel campaign on the same two 2026 platforms, with letters expected in the first week of September.

Tacoma owners on the N300 platform with 2024 or 2025 trucks should note 26V-514, filed earlier this month, which concerns corrosion of the metal flange on the front and rear shock absorbers and the possibility of the external reservoir detaching. Letters are expected around the third week of September and the fix is inspection and replacement as necessary. Bronco owners on U725 from 2022 onward are waiting on 26V-403, the fender flare campaign, where the filing anticipated a remedy becoming available in late August. Call your dealer rather than assuming.

On the maintenance side the week's explainers were about closing out summer. For UTV owners that meant the 25-hour cluster: air filter, coolant level and radiator screen, grease and a fastener re-torque all fall on the same interval, and a sand or desert season shortens the filter check to every 10 hours. The value for every fastener is in your service manual. We also revisited the 50-hour belt inspection because a belt that has spent August in dune heat is a belt worth looking at before it lets go.

The upgrade desk covered particle-separator intakes for the RZR Pro platform and the reasoning behind them, which is the same reasoning as the filter interval: dust is the main killer of an engine in this class. It also ran a piece on skid plates for the Defender HD10, timed for Appalachian mud season, and one on rock sliders for the Gladiator JT ahead of the autumn desert calendar.

Regionally the trails desk leaned west. The Desert Southwest is still in the part of the year where midday riding is genuinely dangerous, so the weekend guides pointed readers at the Sierra, where the high passes are open until the first snow, and at the Rockies, where the alpine shelf roads at the Alpine Loop are in their short window. Both are managed by federal agencies, so confirm road status and any permit requirement with the managing agency before you go.

The Midwest and Northeast got their share too, with the sand at Silver Lake and the forest trail at Jericho Mountain both in season; confirm hours and any closures with the state park before you go. The South and the low desert wait for autumn. Wherever you are, the Tread Lightly principles piece from the learn section is the one we keep pointing to when a reader asks about staying on the right side of a land manager.

Looking ahead, the Sand Sports Super Show in Costa Mesa is listed for mid-September, and it is the traditional start of the dune season for Southern California. Camp RZR at Glamis is listed for the end of October, Off-Road Expo in Pomona and the Rebelle Rally in the Nevada and California deserts for mid-October, and Overland Expo East in Arrington, Virginia around the same time. Dates in our events file are as listed by the organizers; check the organizer before you travel.

Next week the safety desk expects the first batch of 26V-531 and 26V-456 letters to be in owners' hands, and we will report what dealers are saying about parts availability for the wheel campaign. The maintenance desk turns to winter storage prep for readers in the north, which starts earlier than most people think.