1.27 million Ram 1500 pickups recalled in the US over a rear seat-belt anchor assembly issue
A US recall involving more than 1.27 million Ram 1500 pickups highlights a less obvious side of vehicle safety: not every safety defect begins with a badly designed component. Sometimes the problem is how a perfectly ordinary part was installed on the production line.
According to National Highway Traffic Safety Administration recall report 26V495, FCA US is recalling certain 2019-2026 model-year Ram 1500 pickups. The potentially affected US population is 1,271,294 vehicles built between February 17, 2018 and April 27, 2026.
The issue concerns second-row seat-belt buckle anchors that may not have been properly attached to the body structure. If an anchor is not correctly secured, the buckle may have reduced load-management capability and the belt may be less effective at restraining an occupant in certain driving conditions or crashes.
Only about 0.1% are estimated to actually have the defect
The size of the recall does not mean 1.27 million trucks are known to have loose anchors. FCA US estimates that roughly 0.1% of the recalled population may actually contain the defect.
A broad recall population is used because the manufacturer has to identify every vehicle that may have been built during the suspect production period. For a restraint-system issue, the appropriate response is to inspect the potentially affected population rather than wait until individual failures are confirmed.
This is an assembly issue, not a defective seat-belt part
NHTSA’s report makes an unusually useful distinction: the recall is not related to a part defect. It is a vehicle assembly issue in which a second-row seat-belt buckle anchor may not have been secured to the body.
Seat-belt anchorage must comply with Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard No. 210. An improperly fastened anchor can reduce the system’s ability to manage crash loads and restrain an occupant as intended.
That is why the remedy does not automatically involve replacing the entire seat-belt assembly. Dealers will inspect the relevant anchor and, if necessary, properly attach it to the vehicle structure at no charge.
No dashboard warning, although some owners noticed an unattached buckle
The NHTSA filing lists no dashboard or advance warning associated with the condition. Ram/Mopar has since added in its official recall FAQ that some customers reported a buckle that was not attached to the floor. In other words, a severe example may be visible, but owners should not rely on a pull test or visual check instead of the formal inspection.
FCA US will inspect the second-row centre and driver-side seat-belt buckle anchors and, if necessary, properly attach them to the vehicle body structure at no charge.
There is no Stop Drive instruction. Ram says customers may continue driving, but advises them not to occupy the potentially affected second-row centre or driver-side seating positions until the inspection or repair has been completed.
Why does a 2019 model-year recall start with vehicles built in 2018?
Model year and production year are not always the same. FCA US began producing the first 2019 model-year trucks on February 17, 2018, which is why the suspect production window starts in 2018 even though the affected model years begin with 2019.
The period runs through April 27, 2026, when the last vehicle potentially built with an improperly attached buckle anchor left production according to the recall filing.
Owner notifications begin around August 18
FCA US planned to notify dealers around August 6, with phased owner notifications beginning around August 18. NHTSA’s filing also states that VINs became searchable from August 6.
For US-market owners, checking the VIN is more useful than relying on model year alone. Two trucks from the same model year can have different recall status depending on production records and whether the anchor was confirmed to have been properly attached before release.
What does this mean for Malaysia?
Ram/Mopar says the campaign also covers an estimated 156,138 vehicles in Canada, 15,088 in Mexico and 74,084 vehicles in certain markets outside North America. The public FAQ does not identify which countries make up that last group, and Move Auto has not found a Malaysian authority or official local notice naming recall 67D/26V495. It should therefore not be presented as a Malaysian recall.
Malaysia does have privately and parallel-imported vehicles. Owners of a Ram 1500 originally supplied for the US market should use the vehicle’s VIN in the NHTSA or Mopar recall system rather than relying only on model year or location.
Ram/Mopar also says the company is aware of one injury potentially related to the issue. That is not the same as a confirmed causal finding, but it reinforces why a low estimated defect rate should not be confused with a zero-risk condition.
The broader lesson applies to every manufacturer: safety quality control includes more than engineering a strong component. Fastener torque, installation, process verification and production records can be just as important when a restraint system is expected to work correctly in a crash.
A recall population is a risk-management boundary, not a count of confirmed defective vehicles. Here, FCA US estimates the defect rate at only about 0.1%, yet the system involved is a seat-belt anchor that owners may not be able to assess in normal use. This is exactly where a recall system matters: identifying a manufacturing-risk window and inspecting vehicles before a rare production problem becomes a serious crash outcome.
Related reading: BMW i3 Neue Klasse enters Munich production: how a legacy factory is being rebuilt for the next EV era
Move Auto will continue following major international recalls and vehicle-safety issues, while clearly separating overseas actions from any official recall that applies to Malaysia.
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