A Blank Camera Screen Recalls 239,131 Rams

A radio error can leave the Ram camera image off the screen. The fix is a free update, over the air or at a dealer.

A recall usually means a trip to the dealer. This one may not.

Chrysler is recalling 239,131 Ram 1500 pickups from model years 2025 and 2026 because a radio software error can leave the rearview camera image off the screen. NHTSA logged the campaign as 26V560000 on September 1.

What actually fails

Nothing mechanical. The camera works; the radio software can fail to put its picture on the display when the truck goes into reverse.

That matters beyond convenience. Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard 111, Rear Visibility, requires the image to appear, so a truck that does not display it is out of compliance with the standard, not merely inconvenient.

What the standard actually demands

Most owners have never read FMVSS 111, and it is more specific than "there has to be a camera." For vehicles in this weight class built on or after May 1, 2018, the rule sets out what the picture has to do:

It has to arrive fast. Section S6.2.3 gives the system 2.0 seconds from the start of a backing event to put a compliant image on the screen. A picture that shows up when you are already rolling is not the same product.

It has to stay. S6.2.5 says the image remains visible for the whole backing event until the driver changes the view or takes the selector out of reverse.

It has to come back by itself. S6.2.6 requires the system to default to the rearview image at the beginning of each backing event, no matter what view the driver picked last time. You are not supposed to have to remember anything.

And it has to go away. S6.2.4 says the image is not displayed once the backing event is over.

Read together, those four lines describe a camera that behaves the same way every single time. That predictability is what the defect takes away.

The part worth knowing

The remedy is a radio software update, over the air or at a dealer, free of charge.

That is an unusual sentence in a recall notice. Most campaigns end with a work order and a truck sitting in a service bay. This one can end with an update that installs while the pickup is parked.

Do not assume yours updates itself. Chrysler's own remedy language says over the air or at a dealer, which means some trucks will need the visit. The way to know is the VIN.

Three dates to write down

September 1: the campaign was filed with NHTSA.

September 9: the affected VINs became searchable in the federal recall lookup.

September 24: owner letters are expected to be mailed.

The letter is the slowest of the three. If you own one of these trucks, the VIN lookup already has your answer, and you do not have to wait for paper to act on it.

How to check in two minutes

Find the VIN on the driver door jamb or at the base of the windshield. Enter it in the federal recall lookup. The tool answers for that individual truck, not for the model, and that is the difference that matters when a campaign covers two model years and not every unit built.

Note the wording the agency uses: potentially affected. The 239,131 figure is the size of the population the manufacturer had to cover, not a count of trucks confirmed to have the fault. Your VIN is what turns a population into an answer.

If it comes back open, Chrysler's customer service line is 800-853-1403 and the manufacturer's number for this recall is 83D. Give them that number and the call gets shorter.

Why a camera recall is worth your time

It is easy to shrug at a screen problem when nothing is leaking and nothing is loose. Two reasons not to.

First, backing is where a pickup does most of its close-quarters work: hooking a trailer, easing into a dock, moving around a yard with people on foot. The camera is what covers the ground you cannot see over the tailgate.

Second, an open recall follows the truck. It shows up when you sell it, when a fleet buyer runs the VIN, and when anyone pulls the history. Closing a free software update is the cheapest item on any maintenance list.

Until it is closed, back like it is 2005

If the screen has gone dark on your truck, the fix is not to trust it intermittently. Use the mirrors, get out and look before you commit, and use a spotter in a yard with people moving.

A camera that works four times out of five is worse than no camera, because you stop building the habit that covers you the fifth time.

While the lookup is open

Check the rest of your fleet in the same sitting. Recall lookups are free, they take a minute per truck, and the answer is specific to each VIN. A pickup with an open campaign nobody knew about is a common find, and it costs nothing to close.

And if you hook a trailer every day, look at the hardware the camera cannot help you with: hitch play, the wiring pigtail, and the trailer's own lights. We do trailer and suspension work in Houston, Dallas and Monterrey: thetrucksavers.com.

Source: National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, recall campaign 26V560000