Ford Recalls 114,996 Bronco Sports, Escapes For Rear Brake Problem

The Ford Motor Co. has recalled 114,996 2021-2022 Bronco Sports and Escapes to repair problems with incorrectly manufactured rear brakes. If the vehicle has the issue the driver will find brake pedal effort increasing while stopping distance decreases.

In the world of vehicles, short of cutting holes in the floor of the car or truck and using your feet to stop the vehicle – if that were possible in the real world (in the world of the Flintstones, it's quite another matter) – you need a good set of brakes to stop.

Federal Safety Standard Requires Brakes

This may seem like an oxymoron, which it is. Brakes stop a vehicle, whether drum brakes, disc/drum, or disc brakes. According to Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard (FMVSS) 135, "Light Vehicle Brake Systems," every vehicle manufactured must have a set of brakes that halts the vehicle.

Ford, though, is recalling 114,996 2021-2022 Bronco Sport and Escape SUVs for failing to meet the standard. In another recall, Ford has recalled while U.S. Ford has recalled an Escape Hybrid and Canada recalls a pair.

According to a filing with the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), a driver may have to hit the brake pedal hard during certain situations. Instead of slowing or stopping, the vehicle's stopping distance may increase, increasing the risk of a crash.

Improperly Manufactured Rear Brake Linings?

The filing notes that the rear brake linings may have been manufactured incorrectly, thus affecting the stopping distance of the vehicles. Since the error affects the vehicle's stopping distance, it violates FMVSS 135 and must be corrected.

Most of the time, the vehicle manufacturer has a solution to answer the recall. However, in a departure from the standard operating procedure, Ford develops the fix. However, they are well into the development process for the fix as they expect to send customer notification letters in mid-January 2022.

Owners of Bronco Sports and Escapes with questions can contact Ford customer service at 866-436-7332. Ford's identification number for this recall is 21C31.

NHTSA Contact Information

Or, owners may also contact the safety agency at its National Highway Traffic Safety Administration Vehicle Safety Hotline at 888-327-4236. Or, they can visit the agency's website at www.nhtsa.gov. The agency's identifier is 21V922.

Marc Stern has been an automotive writer since 1971 when an otherwise normal news editor said, "You're our new car editor," and dumped about 27 pounds of auto stuff on my desk. I was in heaven as I have been a gearhead from my early days. As a teen, I spent the usual number of misspent hours hanging out at gas stations Shell and Texaco (a big thing in my youth) and working on cars. From there on, it was a straight line to my first column for the paper, "You Auto Know," an enterprise that I handled faithfully for 32 years. Not many people know that I also handled computer documentation for a good part of my living while writing YAN. My best writing, though, was always in cars. My work has appeared in Popular Mechanics, Mechanix Illustrated, AutoWeek, SuperStock, Trailer Life, Old Cars Weekly, Special Interest Autos, and others. You can follow me on: Twitter or Facebook.