Fiat Chrysler Automobiles (FCA) is recalling 37,580 of its 2019 to 2020 Ram Heavy Duty pickups equipped with the Mopar accessory bed step in the United States marketplace. According to FCA’s release to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), the step may fail in certain angular or side-load loading conditions. Similar vehicles not included in the recall were not equipped with a bed step or built after the bed step was removed from production.
Ram 2500 models that are affected by the recall were manufactured on October 18th, 2018, through March 1st,
2020. Approximately, 25,822 of the trucks affected were the three-quarter-ton model. The remaining 11,758 Ram3500 pickups that were recalled were built on January 8th, 2019, through March 1st, 2020.
Chronology :
• On February 26th, 2020, Fiat Chrysler Automobiles (“FCA US”) Mopar Body Engineering notified the FCA US Vehicle Safety and Regulatory Compliance (“VSRC”) organization of a potential issue with the bed step breaking when in use after a side-load is applied to the step.
• From February 27th, 2020, through March 3rd, 2020, FCA US VSRC reviewed field data to understand the scope of the issue.
• On February 28th, 2020, FCA US Mopar Body Engineering performed testing to determine bed step performance in certain side-loading conditions.
• Between February 27th, 2020, and March 30th, 2020, FCA US VSRC and FCA US Engineering met to review the
issue, the potential safety consequence, the component test results, and understand the suspected scope of vehicles affected.
• As of March 30th, 2020, FCA US identified zero CAIRs, 27 warranty claims, and zero-field reports potentially
related to this issue.
• As of March 30th, 2020, FCA US is not aware of any accidents or injuries potentially related to this issue.
• On April 2nd, 2020, FCA US determined, through the Vehicle Regulations Committee, to conduct a voluntary
safety recall of the affected vehicles.
FCA will notify owners, and dealers will replace the bed step support brace, free of charge. The recall is expected to begin on May 29th, 2020. Owners may contact FCA customer service at 1-800-853-1403. FCA’s numbers for this recall are W24 and W44. Owners may also contact the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration Vehicle Safety Hotline at 1-888-327-4236 (1-800-424-9153), or go to www.safercar.gov.
