239,131 Ram 1500 pickups can leave the backup camera screen blank

Chrysler is recalling 239,131 Ram 1500 pickups from the 2025 and 2026 model years because a radio software error can stop the rearview camera image from appearing when the truck is put in reverse. The vehicles were built between October 6, 2023, and February 23, 2026, and the fix is a free radio software update, delivered over the air or by a dealer. The recall is filed with the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration as campaign 26V560.

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NHTSA’s own wording of the consequence is blunt: a rearview image that does not display reduces the driver’s view behind the vehicle, increasing the risk of a crash. The failure shows up at the moment a driver shifts into reverse and looks at the screen expecting a view of what is behind the truck, and finds nothing there.

Campaign 26V560 and the radio software fault

The manufacturer’s recall report to NHTSA, submitted September 1, 2026, says suspect vehicles may not display the rearview image during a backing event and identifies the problem as a noncompliance with Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard 111, the rule on rear visibility. It attributes the problem to suspect radio software and leaves the formal cause description otherwise blank. The filing also describes how the finding unfolded: customer reports came first, records review came next, and a formal committee decision came last. The report does not state how many warranty claims or customer complaints were involved, so the size of the problem in the field is not public from that filing.

The timeline inside the report shows a slow burn. The company’s Technical Safety and Regulatory Compliance team opened an investigation on March 17, 2026, after reports of rearview cameras not displaying, then reviewed warranty, field and customer assistance records along with production and engineering change records. Engineering recognized the issue on August 5, 2026, and the company’s Vehicle Regulations Committee determined on August 26 that a noncompliance existed. The recall report followed six days later. The build range of October 2023 to February 2026 spans more than two years of production, which accounts for a population of more than 239,000 trucks.

One small wrinkle concerns the count. The recall report and the FleetOwner roundup of commercial vehicle recalls both give 239,131 vehicles, while the public NHTSA database record for the campaign lists 239,130 potentially affected units. The database record otherwise matches the report on the defect, the consequence and the remedy.

What FMVSS 111 requires of a backup camera

The standard behind the recall is specific about timing. Under 49 CFR 571.111, the rearview image must appear within 2.0 seconds of the start of a backing event, and a backing event begins when the driver moves the direction selector to reverse. The image has to stay on while the truck backs up and must show the required field of view behind the vehicle, including test objects of set sizes placed at set positions. In a modern truck the camera feed is drawn on the radio’s display, so a fault in the radio software can leave the screen blank even when the camera itself is working, which is the failure mode this recall describes.

The rule applies to passenger cars and to pickups and other trucks with a gross vehicle weight rating of 4,536 kilograms or less, and every covered vehicle manufactured on or after May 1, 2018, must comply. A pickup whose radio software sometimes fails to draw the camera feed at all cannot meet that requirement, which is why a software defect in the infotainment system counts as a safety compliance problem and not just an annoyance.

Remedy, notification dates and owner steps

The remedy is an over-the-air radio software update, or a visit to a dealer for the same update, at no charge. According to the recall report, dealers were notified on or about September 9, 2026, and that was also the date the affected vehicle identification numbers became searchable on NHTSA’s site. Owner letters began going out on or about September 24, with a phased notification window running from September 24 to October 2. Those dates have passed, so owners of a 2025 or 2026 Ram 1500 who have not yet seen a letter or a software prompt can check their truck directly, either with the VIN search or at a dealer, rather than waiting for further mail.

Owners can enter a VIN on NHTSA’s recall page for campaign 26V560 to confirm whether a specific truck is included. They can also call Chrysler customer service at 800-853-1403 and refer to Chrysler’s number for the recall, 83D. The recall report did not give a release date for the software itself, so the timing of an over-the-air update to any individual truck depends on the manufacturer’s rollout. Dealers are the fallback for owners who prefer not to wait, since the same update can be installed there at no cost.

This article was produced with the assistance of AI and reviewed by Morning Overview editors prior to publication.

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