Almost 700,000 more Ram pickup trucks added to tailgate recall
The latest addition to the recall brings the running tally to more than 2 million affected trucks.
Ram's tailgate woes continue. The company announced hundreds of thousands more pickup trucks will be included in an ongoing recall campaign. The original recall, which was announced in 2018 to cover 1.1 million pickups, expanded this past May with another 410,000 trucks and now includes the latest addition of 694,181 models.
The latest filing with NHTSA shows the nearly 700,000 additional Ram 1500, 2,500 and 3,500 pickups come from the 2013-2018 model years to match previous filings. The tailgate issue is only found in trucks with power-locking tailgates, but covers the short, medium and long-bed variants.
According to previous documents filed with NHTSA, the locking mechanism could break and allow the tailgate to open and spill its contents into the road behind the driver. Obviously, surprise obstacles in the road increases the risk of a crash for other drivers. Ram has previously stated that all loose cargo should remain secured even with a properly functioning tailgate assembly, per the owner's manual.
Owners will need to bring their trucks into a dealership where a technicians will inspect the tailgate assemblies and replace the tailgate latch free of charge. For owners who fixed the problem outside of the warranty period and before the recall, Fiat Chrysler Automobiles encourages them to begin the reimbursement process.
