Ram recalls 1.4 million trucks for tailgates that could pop open

Ram is recalling a total of 1,234,657 pickup trucks in the United States (plus a few hundred thousand sold outside the U.S.) to address tailgates that could pop open while driving. According to documentation posted by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, “Misaligned tailgate strikers may cause a failure to properly latch the tailgate.” If that happens, the tailgate could pop open unexpectedly, regardless of whether the vehicle is stationary or in motion. If that were to happen with a load in the truck bed while the vehicle was being driven, it could allow cargo to fall out, endangering other drivers.

Between June, 2019 and November, 2022, the automaker says it received 15 customer assistance records, 736 warranty claims, and 101 field reports potentially related to this issue, but isn’t aware of any accidents or injuries potentially related to the issue. Stellantis, which owns the Ram brand, will reimburse any owners who paid to have this issue resolved in the past. No parts need to be replaced to fix the problem, just realigned.

According to NHTSA’s documentation, on June 13, 2018, the automaker started building 2019-model-year trucks. Trucks built from that date until July 10, 2022, are included in the recall. After that date, “improved alignment tooling was implemented in vehicle production,” which seems to have solved the problem. Still, less than 1% of all trucks are thought to be affected by the misaligned tailgate strikers. The automaker will notify dealers and begin notifying owners on or about 01/27/2023.