Ram truck tailgate danger prompts Fiat Chrysler to expand its recall

If you’re driving along in your Ram pickup truck with a load in the back, the last thing you want to happen is for your tailgate to suddenly fall open. With the risk of objects falling from the truck onto the road, any drivers following behind won’t much like it either.

A fault with the tailgate’s power-locking functionality that could lead to such an incident has prompted its maker, Fiat Chrysler Automobiles (FCA), to expand an existing recall to an additional 693,128 Ram trucks.

FCA’s first recall regarding the issue came in 2018 and involved 1.1 million Ram pickups, but this was expanded earlier this year to include an additional 410,000 trucks.

Now, nearly 700,000 Ram 1500, 2500, and 3500 trucks manufactured between 2013 and 2018 have been added to the recall, with most registered in the U.S. and Canada. It brings the total number of Ram vehicles recalled in relation to the issue to more than 2 million.

“Unintended opening”

“An unintended opening of the tailgate while driving may result in a loss of unrestrained cargo from the truck bed,” FCA said in correspondence seen by the Chicago Tribune. “Lost cargo may create a road hazard to operators and occupants of other vehicles, and can cause such vehicles to crash without prior warnings.”

The FCA told Digital Trends that it’s unaware of any related injuries or accidents occurring as a result of the fault, adding that the recall expansion follows a review of customer data carried out by the automaker.

Customers affected by the Ram recall expansion should receive notification by mail by the end of October 2019, FCA told Digital Trends. If you believe you have a Ram pickup truck that falls under the recall notice, the automaker advises owners to take extra care to secure loose cargo on the truck until the repair work has been carried out, though such a procedure should be normal practice anyway.

Anyone with concerns about the issue should contact FCA’s customer service.

Ram recalls

Ram trucks have been hit by quite a few recalls in recent years, and for a range of issues, too. In 2017, for example, the automaker recalled 1.8 million Ram pickups after a fault was discovered that could cause the vehicle to roll away in some circumstances, while in May 2018 it was one of many FCA vehicles recalled to fix a fault with its cruise control technology.

Despite the problems, the Ram brand continues to perform well for FCA. Last year, for example, sales of the pickup reached a new annual record of 597,368 vehicles, helped mainly by sales of the Ram 1500, which increased by 15% year-on-year to 377,286 vehicles.

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