A camper parked in a driveway for the winter looks harmless, yet the cord that feeds its 12-volt system can hide a flaw nobody sees until a cable gets pinched. Forest River has told federal safety officials that 6,275 of its RVs and trailers carry exactly that kind of weakness, with a protective fuse that may fail to do its job and a short circuit that could then start a fire.
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The recall landed in the week of Nov. 9, 2026, and it sweeps across a long run of towables and travel trailers built between mid-2022 and the autumn of 2026. Owners of a Cedar Creek, Palomino, Puma or FR3 are the ones most likely to find their rig on the list.
Twenty-six model entries, from a 2022 Cedar Creek to a 2027 FR3
Trade coverage of NHTSA’s weekly recall roundup, published by Truck Parts & Service, lists the affected brands as 2022-2027 Cedar Creek, 2023-2027 FR3, 2023-2026 Palomino, 2024 Cardinal, Wildcat and Shasta Oasis, 2024-2026 Hardside, the Palomino Real-Lite Camper, and 2026 Puma and Puma Tracks. The count it reports is 6,275 units, and it states the defect in one line: the power cord fuse may not provide adequate circuit protection.
The manufacturer’s own filing is more granular. Forest River’s safety report, which NHTSA posted as recall 26V704, splits the population into 26 vehicle entries, each with its own build window and unit count. Production dates in that Part 573 report run from June 6, 2022 for the oldest Cedar Creeks to Sept. 30, 2026 for the newest FR3s, and the company estimates that 100 percent of the vehicles in the population carry the defect.
Cedar Creek dominates. By the filing’s per-model counts, the six Cedar Creek entries, from 331 units of the 2022 model year to 840 of the 2023 model year, add up to 3,636 vehicles, more than half the recall. The 2025 Cedar Creek (834 units) and 2026 Cedar Creek (824) sit close behind the 2023 model, while the 2024 Cedar Creek accounts for 657. Palomino and FR3 entries are far smaller, and a few are single units: one 2023 Palomino and one 2023 FR3, both built in July 2023.
A 15-amp circuit, a 7.5-amp fuse and the pinched-wire scenario
Here the filing adds detail the roundup leaves out. Forest River describes furniture wiring that does not conform to codes for circuit protection of underrated wiring: the conductors are undersized for a 15-amp direct-current circuit and are not properly protected. If that wiring is pinched or shorted, the report says, the risk of injury or fire rises.
The trigger came from a supplier. According to the chronology in the report, Lippert, the component maker, notified Forest River on Oct. 15, 2026 of its own equipment recall, numbered 26E-070, covering a 12-volt cord sold under part number 2021015493. Forest River submitted its vehicle report to NHTSA on Oct. 30, roughly two weeks later, which is why the story shows up in the Nov. 9 roundup rather than in an earlier one.
Fire risk from low-voltage furniture circuits is easy to underrate. Slide-outs, seating mechanisms and lighting in a travel trailer run through cords that get routed behind panels and under cushions, where a squashed insulation layer can bridge conductors. A correctly rated fuse is the cheap component meant to open the circuit before the wire heats; the recall says that safeguard is the part that may not do its job on these units.
The 7.5-amp fix and a December start
The remedy is mechanical and small. Per the filing, a technician inspects the 12-volt cord for a 7.5-amp fuse, and where one is missing, replaces cord 2021015493 with a new cord, part 2026072629, that has an inline 7.5-amp fuse. No other component is called out, and the document lists no interim step for owners and no warning to stop using the vehicle.
Timing matters for anyone hoping to schedule the repair. Forest River’s report sets dealer and remedy notification for Dec. 21, 2026 and says no dealers are involved in the notification step. The company plans to send suspected VINs to a third-party vendor to look up current owners, then mail notices after NHTSA supplies an identification number and an acknowledgment letter. VIN lookup on NHTSA’s recall search is also scheduled to open Dec. 21.
The recall is labeled phased, which means parts and instructions are released in stages rather than all at once. Owners who want to confirm status sooner can contact Forest River with a VIN. Component maker Lippert, which identified the cord problem, is the supplier behind the replacement part.
One gap stays open until then. The filing lists no phone number or named contact at Forest River, only its Elkhart, Indiana address, and it names no spokesperson who has explained why the fuse protection fell short. Lippert’s equipment recall and the vehicle recall will show their final populations in NHTSA’s database once the December notices go out
This article was produced with the assistance of AI and reviewed by Morning Overview editors prior to publication.
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