A hitch plate can bend on 100 utility trucks, letting the trailer behind them break loose

Recall 26V639000 covers 100 work trucks whose rear hitch plate can bend under load. Ring Power Corporation is the company named on the filing, and owner letters are scheduled to go out on October 16, 2026.

The defect is the hitch plate that carries the pintle hook, and the filing says it can bend, which puts the connection between truck and trailer at risk.

A pintle hitch mounted without reinforced bracing

The record in the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration’s public recalls database lists the number plainly: “Potentially affected: 100,” according to the federal recall dataset. The filing’s defect summary is short and specific. It states: “Pintle hitch installed without reinforced bracing, causing the rear bumper hitch plate to bend.” The problem is therefore one of construction rather than wear. The hitch was fitted to the trucks without the stiffening that would keep the plate rigid when a trailer pulls on it.

A pintle hitch is a different animal from the ball hitch on a pickup. According to the reference entry on the pintle hook, the trailer’s lunette ring, a steel loop on the tongue, is clamped by a pincer-type device on the towing vehicle. That design is favored for heavy, rough-duty towing because the ring can swivel and pitch on uneven ground. It also means the whole pulling force passes through the hook and the plate that holds it to the truck. When that plate flexes, the geometry of the coupling changes. The recall record does not describe the exact mode of failure, only the outcome.

What happens when the coupling lets go

NHTSA’s consequence statement in the filing is blunt: “The pintle hitch may fail, causing a loss of trailer control and increasing the risk of a crash.” Any trailer that separates, or swings wildly because its coupling has shifted, becomes an unguided mass moving at road speed. The people most exposed are the drivers behind and beside the truck, not only the operator in the cab. That is why a hitch defect sits in a different category from many recalls involving convenience or comfort parts. The load being towed on a work truck is often equipment, and a loose trailer can carry that weight across lanes.

The filing, as read for this report, does not spell out a remedy. Owners will learn the details from the notification letters, which the record dates to October 16, 2026. Until then, the practical question for any fleet manager is whether a truck on the list is currently pulling a trailer.

Which trucks are on the list

The recall names a small and unusual set of models. The vehicle list in the record reads: “2020 Terex General 65, 2020-2021 C6000, 2020-2022 C4000, and TC55 vehicles.” That is four entries, and only the first carries a manufacturer name. The Terex brand is described by the company as a maker of specialty vehicles and equipment for customers in emergency response, waste management, utilities and construction, which fits the kind of truck that tows a trailer for a living.

The filing lists no model year for the TC55, and the record offers no breakdown of how the 100 vehicles divide among the four entries. Anyone responsible for a vehicle with one of those names should check its identification number against the recall rather than assume it is in or out. The filer, Ring Power Corporation, presents itself as a Cat dealer in North and Central Florida that sells, services and rents heavy equipment. The record does not explain how the company came to file the recall, and nothing here should be read as saying where the 100 trucks operate.

How owners can check a vehicle

NHTSA runs a public lookup at its recalls page, where a vehicle’s identification number can be searched for open campaigns. The same page lets drivers file a safety problem report, and it lists 888-327-4236 as the agency’s general contact number. The campaign number to look for is 26V639000. Because the owner letters are dated October 16, some owners will not have heard anything yet, and a search of the database can confirm coverage earlier. For a truck that regularly pulls a trailer, parking the rig until the status is known costs little compared with the failure described in the filing.

The dataset entry was received on October 2, 2026, and the numbers above reflect the record as read through October 11. Recall details can be revised after a filing, so the notification letter will be the final word on the repair and on which vehicles qualify. Small recalls like this one are easy to overlook because 100 vehicles is a tiny fraction of the trucks on American roads. The risk does not scale with the count, though. A single trailer that comes loose on a highway ramp or a city arterial endangers whoever happens to be behind it, and work trucks tend to travel on exactly those routes at commuting hours, towing equipment that can weigh far more than a passenger car.

Fleet operators carry a particular burden here. A truck that belongs to a company may be driven by several people over a week, and none of them may have seen the recall notice. Passing the campaign number along to every driver, and inspecting the hitch plate for any visible bend or gap near the mounting points, is a sensible interim step while the official remedy is pending.

This article was produced with the assistance of AI and reviewed by Morning Overview editors prior to publication.

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