Grand Design RV has recalled 148 of its 2026-2027 Imagine travel trailers because the safety chains installed at the factory are rated below the trailer’s gross vehicle weight rating, or GVWR. The campaign is numbered 26V667, and dealers will swap the chains at no charge.
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Owner letters are scheduled for November 19, 2026, which leaves several weeks in which affected trailers can still be hitched and towed with the undersized chains.
A chain that cannot hold the trailer it protects
Safety chains are the backup connection between a trailer and the tow vehicle. If the hitch coupler fails or comes loose, the chains are supposed to keep the two attached while the driver slows down. The entry in the federal recall dataset is titled “Safety Chains Are Underrated For GVWR,” and it states the consequence directly: the trailer can detach from the tow vehicle, increasing the risk of a crash. Grand Design RV, LLC filed the report under its own campaign number 910069, and the record was received on October 9, 2026.
The recalled group is small. Only 148 units across the 2026 and 2027 model years of the Imagine line are listed, and the corrective action is limited to replacing the chains. Dealers perform the swap free of charge, and the filing lists no other change to the trailers, no software or structural work, and no refund or buyback option. For a travel trailer that spends most of the year in storage, a chain replacement is among the simpler campaigns an owner can face, provided the dealer has the correct parts on hand when the letter arrives.
Federal safety-chain rules for towed combinations
The yardstick for a safety chain is simple and is written into federal motor carrier safety regulations. Under 49 CFR 393.70(d)(3), a safety device and its attachment must have an “ultimate strength of not less than the gross weight of the vehicle or vehicles being towed.” That provision governs commercial motor vehicle combinations, not recreational trailers pulled by private owners, so it is a reference point and not the legal basis of this recall. It does show the engineering convention, though: a chain assembly that is weaker than the loaded weight of the trailer is not a margin of safety at all.
GVWR is the maximum loaded weight the manufacturer assigns to the trailer, including cargo, water and propane. A chain rated below that number might hold an empty trailer and still fail in a breakaway with a full load, which is the situation the recall is meant to prevent.
An echo of the Momentum recall
This is not the first time Grand Design has had to fix chains. In August 2023, RV Travel reported a recall of as many as 1,209 Momentum 23G and 25G travel trailers from model years 2022-2024 for the same fault, safety chains rated below GVWR. The consequence then was the same one stated now, that the trailer could detach from the tow vehicle, and the remedy was the same, a free chain replacement at the dealer, with owner letters planned for September 6, 2023. Grand Design customer service answered owner questions about that campaign at 1-574-825-9679, the same line listed in the new filing.
The new recall covers a different product line and a far smaller group, so it does not repeat the earlier one. What the two campaigns share is a part that was specified or installed below the weight rating of the trailer it was meant to secure, and a repair that consists of nothing more than bolting on stronger chains. For owners, the lesson is that a safety component can be wrong from the factory even on a new trailer, and that checking the chain rating against the certification label takes only a minute.
What Imagine owners can do before the letter arrives
Nothing in the filing orders owners to stop towing, and the record marks neither a fire risk nor a do-not-drive condition. Owners who want to act before the mailing can call Grand Design at 1-574-825-9679 or contact a dealer to ask about scheduling the chain replacement. The recall number to quote is 26V667, and the manufacturer’s own reference is 910069.
A VIN search is the surest way to confirm that a specific trailer is included. The NHTSA entry for 26V667 and the agency’s general recall lookup both accept a VIN, and the lookup covers every open campaign. Because only 148 trailers are involved, the chance that a given Imagine owner is affected is modest, but the group is small enough that a dealer can usually check a trailer in a few minutes. Anyone towing an Imagine of that vintage can also compare the tag rating on the chains with the GVWR printed on the trailer’s certification label; if the chain is rated lower, it is the part the recall covers.
This article was produced with the assistance of AI and reviewed by Morning Overview editors prior to publication.
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