December 16, 2021 Update – Chrysler has remedied issues with 27,657 models including the 2019 and 2020 Ram 2500 pickup trucks and the Ram 3500 pickup trucks dealing with bed step failures. Additionally, 462 of these models have been categorized as unreachable and 134 have been removed from the recall. Two groups of Ram pickup truck models were remedied in 2020 and three were remedied in 2021 for bed steps that may cause failures when used with heavy loads.
Despite being a minor, non-mechanical problem compared to other stalling issues experienced by the Chrysler RAM 2500 and RAM 3500 pickup trucks, these truck owners should remove the platform step because it can fail unexpectedly during use.
Laguna Hills, CA – May 15, 2020 – Chrysler recalled a total of 37,580 2019 and 2020 Ram 2500 pickup trucks and Ram 3500 pickup trucks that have had issues with the bed step accessory. During heavy loading, the bed step can break leading to user injury.
Dangers of a Faulty Bed Step
Having a bed step is a convenient feature that makes it easier for the user to climb into the bed of the truck.
In Ram trucks, if too much pressure is applied to the bed step, such as when a user steps up while carrying a heavy item, it can cause the support brace holding the step in place to break. As of March 30, 2020, owners have filed a total of 27 warranty claims. While there are no reported injuries from the faulty steps, the risk of an eventual fall and injury is imminent without the recall in place.
According to the National Safety Council (NSC), over nine million people went to the emergency room for treatment of an injury related to a fall in 2016. While the NSC considers a fall to be a preventable injury, it is largely unavoidable when it comes to faulty equipment.
Is Your Vehicle Affected?
Based on the production records, the recall consists of 25,822 Ram 2500 pickups. The manufacture dates of all the pickup trucks are between October 18, 2018, and March 1, 2020. The recall also includes 11,758 Ram 3500 pickup trucks manufactured between January 8, 2019, and March 1, 2020.
Replacement Bed Steps Are Currently Unavailable
Thus far, no repair for the bed step assembly is available. A letter sent to dealers by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) instructs them to remove the bed step assembly on all unsold vehicles. Chrysler will notify dealers when a new deployable bed step becomes available. At that time, the dealers will be able to contact the vehicle owners to bring their trucks in for the installation of a new bed step at no cost.
RAM 2500 safety issues
The owners of the Ram recall should be also aware of two previous Ram recalls. In March 2020, Chrysler recalled over 87,000 trucks because of a potential fire hazard caused by leaking transmission fluid on these RAM pickups.
The same trucks are also among 318,537 recalled vehicles because of a rear-view camera display image that remains on longer than ten seconds. The lingering display image in several models of Jeep SUVs could distract the driver and possibly contribute to a vehicular accident.
Scheduling a Repair
To locate a dealership near you to remove the bed step and avoid the danger of this faulty equipment, visit Motorsafety.org.
Is your vehicle part of this recall?
Over 27,000 vehicles are included in this Chrysler recall. To see if your car is one of them, use MotorSafety’s free vehicle lookup tool.
