Week in Off-Road: Stellantis camera recall, Tacoma shock letters and belt season

The week's biggest safety story was 26V-531, filed with NHTSA in mid-August. It is a Stellantis campaign covering a long list of 2026 models, and for our readers the relevant ones are the 2026 Wrangler JL and the 2026 Gladiator JT. The defect is a rearview camera image that may fail to display when the vehicle is put in reverse, which puts the vehicles out of compliance with the federal rear visibility standard. The remedy is a radio software update, either at a dealer or over the air.

That is a modest fix for a modest defect, but the desk flagged it because the same two 2026 platforms are also covered by 26V-456, the steel wheel campaign filed in July, where the wheel walls may be too thin and could crack or detach. A 2026 Jeep on steel wheels has two open campaigns, one trivial and one not. The wheel campaign is the one to chase; owner letters were expected in early September.

Toyota followed with 26V-514 on the Tacoma N300 platform, 2024 and 2025 model years including the hybrid. The metal flange on the front and rear shock absorbers may corrode and fail, allowing the external oil reservoir to detach. Dealers will inspect and replace the shock assemblies as necessary. Owners in salted-road states and readers who ride water crossings should take this one seriously, because corrosion is exactly the failure mode wading accelerates.

On the Ford side the desk kept an eye on 26V-489, the F-150 SYNC campaign filed at the end of July that covers 2021 to 2023 trucks on the Raptor platform. The rearview camera image can be obstructed by the infotainment home screen. Interim letters went out in the first week of August and the software remedy was still pending at the time of writing. Bronco owners on U725 have 26V-468, the engine compartment wiring harness campaign, rolling out in phases through August.

The maintenance desk ran a belt week. The UTV interval file says inspect the drive belt every 50 hours, and the explainer walked through why a belt fails, which is usually heat from slipping under sustained load rather than age. The problems database has two entries on belt glazing and failure under low-range work, and the piece tied them together with a simple rule: if the belt cover is hot enough to be uncomfortable to touch, the belt has been slipping. Carry a spare and the tools to fit it.

That fed the upgrade desk's piece on the Gates G-Force belt for the Can-Am X3 platform and the SuperATV clutch kit for the Honda Pioneer, both of which are about keeping engagement consistent as the factory clutch weights and rollers wear. The problems file lists that wear as a known pattern, and the fix is inspection at the same 50-hour mark as the belt.

ATV owners got the final drive piece. The ATV file puts a check of the chain or shaft at 50 hours, with the note that chains stretch and shaft drives need their oil level checked. On a Sportsman 570 or Outlander 850 that is the same visit as the 50-hour brake inspection, so the explainer bundled the two and added a look at the CV boots while the wheels are off. The torque for the wheel nuts going back on is in your manual.

Trucks got the 5,000-mile cluster: engine oil and filter, tire rotation and sidewall inspection, and a check of skid plates and underbody fasteners. The explainer emphasized the sidewall point because rock damage often shows there before it shows anywhere else. Torque values for the underbody fasteners are in your service manual and we do not print them.

Regionally the week covered the Pacific Northwest, where the Oregon Dunes and Tillamook State Forest trails run year-round at low elevation, and Appalachia, where Hatfield-McCoy and Windrock are in the dry part of the year. Both regions have permit or pass systems; confirm current requirements with the managing agency before you go.

Coming up: the Sand Sports Super Show in Costa Mesa is listed for mid-September and the Off-Road Expo in Pomona for mid-October. Check the organizer for confirmed dates. Next week the desk expects more detail on the Tacoma shock campaign as owner letters go out.