Nissan North America has announced the recall of nearly 196,000 sport utility vehicles in the United States for corrosion problems that could damage steering and suspension systems.

The recall extends to the Nissan Pathfinder from 1997 to 2003, and the Infiniti QX4 from 1996 to 2004.

“In areas of the country in which heavy concentrations of road salt are used, a mixture of snow/water and salt … may result in corrosion of the strut tower housing in some subject vehicles,” the National Highway Transportation Safety Administration website said.

“This may lead to grinding noises, increased steering effort, and possibly the steering column to break, resulting in the loss of steering control, which could result in a crash.”

Most of the vehicles were sold in Connecticut, Delaware, Iowa, Illinois, Indiana, Massachusetts, Maine, Maryland, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Vermont, Washington D.C., West Virginia and Wisconsin.

Nissan will inspect the SUVs and repair the vehicles free of charge as needed.

(Source: CNN)