1988 Ford Ranger: recalls and complaints

NHTSA lists 1 recall campaign for the 1988 Ford Ranger. The campaign is 87V141000. NHTSA received the report on 4 Sep 1987. The NHTSA record gives the component Service Brakes, Hydraulic / Foundation Components. NHTSA has 89 complaints on file for this model year. 2 NHTSA investigations name this model year.

The NHTSA recall file shows no do-not-drive advisory and no park-outside advisory on this campaign.

This page cannot show if a recall applies to one vehicle. The NHTSA VIN lookup shows the unrepaired recalls of one vehicle.

Remedy of campaign 87V141000, in the NHTSA record

Replace rear brake assemblies.

NHTSA VIN lookup

Complaint information entered into NHTSA’s Office of Defects Investigation vehicle owner's complaint database is used with other data sources to identify safety issues that warrant investigation and to determine if a safety-related defect trend exists.
NHTSA publishes these words. Source: NHTSA Datasets and APIs, section Complaints, read on 1 Oct 2026. Complaint file through 30 Sep 2026. Recall file through 30 Sep 2026.

Since the last update

No tracked figure of this page changed in a data update. What the log tracks

All updates to the register

Recall campaigns

1 campaign. 141 units in total.

87V141000Received 4 Sep 1987. 141 units.
Service Brakes, Hydraulic / Foundation Components
Defect, in the NHTSA record
Trucks were built with incorrect rear brake assemblies. Consequence of defect: a tendency for rear brake lockup would exist particularly during heavy brake applicaion with a lightly loaded truck. Also, increased stopping distance would be required if the brake modulation (pumping the brakes) is used to control the vehicle during a hard brake stop.
Remedy, in the NHTSA record
Replace rear brake assemblies.
Report filed by FORD MOTOR COMPANY. Owner notification date in the NHTSA record: 11 Sep 1987.

The campaign number opens the NHTSA record. Each quotation is the text of the NHTSA recall file.

Recall campaign: One recall in the NHTSA recall file, with one campaign number. A campaign can name many makes, models and model years.

Units: The number of vehicles or products that a recall can include. The manufacturer or the firm reports the number to the agency.

Complaints by component

89 complaints, 117 component mentions.

A complaint can name more than one component. Each component that a complaint names is one component mention. The figure per 1,000 component mentions shows how many of each 1,000 mentions name the component.

1988 Ford Ranger
All 1988 vehicles

1988 Ford Ranger: complaints by component, per 1,000 component mentions
Component	1988 Ranger	All 1988 vehicles	Ranger, all years	Mentions
Electrical System	324.8	158.7	64.7	38
Engine and Engine Cooling	128.2	118.1	45.9	15
Power Train	94	64.7	86.7	11
Service Brakes, Hydraulic	94	96.1	71.3	11
Seat Belts	85.5	117.9	24.1	10
Fuel System, Gasoline	59.8	67.1	38.6	7
Visibility	42.7	32.4	37.3	5
Structure	34.2	51.8	71.5	4
Steering	25.6	58.9	20	3
Vehicle Speed Control	17.1	46.2	54.8	2

The table shows the 10 components with the most mentions, of 17.

Complaints that report a crash: 5
Complaints that report a fire: 23
Injuries in the complaints: 8
Deaths in the complaints: 1
Date of the newest complaint: 17 Sep 2018

These figures are the entries of the persons who sent the complaints.

Complaint: A report about a possible safety problem that a person sends to NHTSA. This site shows the number of complaints and not their text.

Complaints about the 1988 Ford Ranger, by the year NHTSA received them. The largest year is 1996, with 30 complaints.

Investigations

NHTSA investigations that name the 1988 Ford Ranger
Number	Type	Subject	Component	Opened	Closed	Campaign
PE92029	Preliminary evaluation	WHL SEPARATION/TORQUE LOSS	Suspension	16 Mar 1992	31 Aug 1992
EA90042	Engineering analysis	THROTTLE STICKING	Vehicle Speed Control / Linkages	31 Aug 1990	31 Dec 1991

Investigation: A study of a possible safety defect by the NHTSA Office of Defects Investigation. An investigation with no closing date in the NHTSA file is open.

Other model years

The number under each year is the number of recall campaigns.

A year without a link has fewer than 2 campaigns and fewer than 25 complaints. It has no page.

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Official channels

NHTSA VIN lookupNHTSA shows the unrepaired recalls of one vehicle from its VIN or its license plate.
NHTSA: report a safety problemThe NHTSA form for a complaint about a vehicle, a tire, a child seat or equipment.
NHTSA page of the 1988 Ford RangerThe recalls, the complaints and the investigations that NHTSA shows for this model year.

Cite this page

Recall Register. 1988 Ford Ranger: recalls and complaints. https://recallregister.com/vehicle/ford/ranger/1988/. Source: NHTSA Office of Defects Investigation, recall, complaint and investigation files. Data through 30 Sep 2026.

Sources

Source: NHTSA Office of Defects Investigation
Licence: US government work, public domain
Recall file through: 30 Sep 2026
Complaint file through: 30 Sep 2026
First complaint in the file: 1 Jan 1995
Manufacturer in the recall file: FORD MOTOR COMPANY

The NHTSA record is the authority. A complaint count is the number of different complaint numbers for the make, the model and the model year. How the register is made. Report an error.

Questions

How many units are in the recall campaigns for the 1988 Ford Ranger?: 141 units in 1 campaign. A campaign can name other models and model years, and its units include them.
How many recall campaigns does the Ford Ranger have for all model years?: NHTSA lists 102 recall campaigns for the Ford Ranger, model years 1978 to 2026. 1 of them names the 1988 model year.
Which component do the complaints about the 1988 Ford Ranger name most often?: Electrical System: 38 of 117 component mentions, or 324.8 per 1,000. For all 1988 vehicles the figure is 158.7 per 1,000.
Is an NHTSA investigation of the 1988 Ford Ranger open?: No. Each of the 2 investigations that name this model year has a closing date in the NHTSA file.