Jeep has just issued its third safety recall campaign for rear coil springs that can detach from certain Grand Cherokee SUVs while driving — this time pulling in 328,381 vehicles under NHTSA campaign 26V562. The first recall, filed June 2023, didn’t fully solve it. A second campaign, 26V051, followed. NHTSA then opened a formal inquiry after 20 owners reported their springs detached after recall repairs were completed. Now here’s round three, and the scale of this latest campaign is four times larger than what came before it.
What’s Actually Wrong
An installation error — not a flawed spring — is what’s sending suspension components onto the roadway.
The springs themselves aren’t defective. The problem is how they were installed — either at the factory or during prior recall work. Incorrect seating allows the spring to shift out of position and fall off the vehicle while it’s moving.
That’s not a rattle or a warning light. That’s a chunk of steel becoming a road projectile.
NHTSA’s own filing puts it plainly: “Rear coil springs that detach from the vehicle while driving may result in a hazard to operators and occupants of other vehicles which can cause such vehicles to crash without prior warning and/or may result in injury to vulnerable road users.”
Stellantis estimates roughly 0.1% of the recalled population actually has the defect. At the time of filing, no crashes or injuries had been reported — a fact worth knowing, though it doesn’t make a detaching spring any less dangerous at highway speed. What does sharpen the picture: 409 warranty claims and 29 customer assistance records document real-world spring failures, and the existence of a third recall campaign speaks plainly to the reliability of the earlier fixes.
The affected vehicles:
- 2021–2023 Grand Cherokee L — ~215,433 units, built Dec 5, 2020 – May 31, 2023
- 2022–2023 Grand Cherokee (standard) — ~97,477 units, built May 17, 2021 – May 31, 2023
- 2022–2023 Grand Cherokee 4xe (PHEV) — ~15,471 units, built Aug 4, 2021 – May 31, 2023
- Air suspension models (sales code SER): not included
What Owners Need to Do
Free dealer repairs are coming — but checking your VIN now is smarter than waiting for a letter.
Dealers will inspect the rear suspension and replace both rear coil-spring lower isolators — the components designed to keep springs properly seated and prevent them from shifting out of position. The repair is free. Jeep plans to notify dealers around September 9, 2026, with owner letters following between September 29 and October 7.
Don’t wait for the letter. Check your VIN now at NHTSA’s safety recall lookup site (nhtsa.gov/recalls). If your Grand Cherokee has coil-spring rear suspension and falls within those build dates, treat it as included until confirmed otherwise. For used-car buyers, demand documented proof the repair was completed before any transaction closes — a vehicle’s recall history is searchable by VIN and should be non-negotiable due diligence at this point.
