K.Z., Inc. is recalling 391 SportTrek fifth-wheel trailers from the 2026 and 2027 model years because the charge line may lack circuit protection. The recall was received by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration on Oct. 13, 2026 as campaign 26V672000, and the filing warns that an unprotected charge line can cause the wire to overheat, increasing the risk of a fire. Dealers will inspect the trailers and reconfigure the wiring at no cost.
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A charge line with nothing guarding it
The defect is titled “Missing Circuit Protection on Charge Line” in the federal data, and the agency files it under electrical system wiring, fuses and circuit breakers. A charge line carries power to the trailer’s battery, and a fuse or breaker in that line is what limits the current the wire can be asked to carry. The consequence statement spells out what happens without one: “An unprotected charge line can cause the wire to overheat, increasing the risk of a fire.”
As with other filings of this kind, that is a statement of risk. The record does not report a fire, an injury or a crash involving a SportTrek, and it does not say how the missing protection came about on the line. It also does not distinguish between the two model years: the agency data carries two entries, for 2026 and 2027, that are otherwise identical, and together they make up the 391 potentially affected units.
The figures can be checked in the NHTSA record for 26V672000 and in the Department of Transportation’s recall dataset for reports received since Oct. 13, where the manufacturer’s own campaign number, KZ-2026-02, appears alongside the federal one.
What the dealer will do
The remedy is written with room for judgment. “Dealers will inspect and reconfigure the wiring as necessary, free of charge,” the record says. The wording means the visit begins with an inspection of the charge line and ends with a wiring change only where the protection turns out to be missing. Nothing in the record asks owners to stop using the trailers, and the filing sets no cap on how many units a dealer may need to open up, since the wording applies to the whole population of 391 trailers until each one has been looked at. A dealer that finds protection already present on a given trailer would have nothing to change.
Owner letters are expected to be mailed on Dec. 12, 2026. Owners who want to start sooner can reach K.Z. customer service at 1-800-768-4016, extension 153 or 154, the contact listed in the filing. A trailer’s status can also be checked with the agency’s recall lookup by vehicle identification number, which reports unrepaired recalls tied to a VIN but may not yet list the newest campaigns.
The letter itself is regulated. Under 49 CFR Part 577, it must describe the defect, explain the risk to safety, and state that the manufacturer will remedy the problem without charge, and it must also tell the owner that a complaint can be made to the safety agency if the repair is not performed within a reasonable time.
A SportTrek recall from 2021
SportTrek is a model that has appeared in the recall database before, though on a very different scale. In campaign 21V814, filed by KZRV, L.P., NHTSA’s office of defects investigation received the report on Oct. 15, 2021. As summarized in the 2021 recall listing for 21V814, the issue involved the water heater and fireplace circuits on 2022 Stratus and SportTrek trailers, which were wired to a 20-amp breaker when a 15-amp breaker was required. Only eight units were involved, and the fix was a dealer breaker replacement; owner letters in that campaign were mailed on Dec. 6, 2021.
The comparison is useful for what it shows about the category, not as evidence the two are connected. Both recalls concern whether a circuit has the right protective device, and both are repaired in a dealer bay. They differ in the particulars: the 2021 breaker was the wrong size on two circuits, while the 2026 campaign is about a charge line that may have no protection at all.
Federal rules require a manufacturer to report such a defect to the agency within five working days of determining it is safety-related, and the report must state the number of vehicles potentially affected and describe the defect. Those two elements, in 49 CFR 573.6, are what the 391-unit count and the one-line charge-line description in the new filing satisfy.
For owners of 2026 and 2027 SportTrek fifth wheels, the date to hold is Dec. 12, 2026, when letters are expected. The record leaves open how many of the 391 trailers will need their wiring changed after inspection, and whether any owner has already noticed a symptom such as a warm or discolored wire near the battery. Neither question is answered in the filing, which stays at the level of the defect statement, the remedy and the notification date.
This article was produced with the assistance of AI and reviewed by Morning Overview editors prior to publication.
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