Chrysler says a fault in the steering column control module can cause a loss of electronic stability control in 8,329 2026 Ram 2500 heavy-duty pickups, and it is replacing the module to fix it. The company reported the defect to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration as campaign 26V651000 on Oct. 6, and Chrysler’s own recall number for the work is 90D.
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This is the second pass at the same module. Chrysler recalled 6,605 Ram 2500 trucks over the same component in April under 26V244, and the new filing is described by the agency as an expansion of that earlier campaign. Owners of a 2026 heavy-duty Ram can now find themselves in either, or both, lists.
A module that can switch the safety system off
The agency’s one-line summary of the defect is that the steering column control module “can cause loss of electronic stability control,” and the filing ties it to Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard 126, the rule that requires stability control on light vehicles. Chrysler tells regulators that the loss of stability control raises the risk of a crash. The trucks therefore fail the standard because one control module can take a required system out of service.
Stability control is the system that brakes individual wheels and trims engine power when a vehicle begins to slide, which matters most in a tall, heavy truck on wet pavement or with a trailer behind it. Autoevolution’s reading of the filing says the fault is internal to the module, and that the stability-control warning light comes on only after the module resets, so a driver gets no notice that the protection has gone. Neither the agency record nor that account describes what fails inside the module.
The same account places the affected trucks in a narrow production window, between Sept. 13 and Nov. 15, 2025, for the U.S. market, and says Stellantis North America began its investigation in July 2026 and reviewed field and customer-assistance records through September. By the end of that month the company’s regulations committee had acted on the noncompliance. The article reports no counts of crashes, injuries or owner complaints, and the agency record gives none either.
An earlier campaign already touched these trucks
The earlier filing is the context the new one needs. The agency’s record for 26V244 shows Chrysler reported it on April 16, 2026, counted 6,605 Ram 2500 trucks of the 2026 model year, and mailed owner letters on May 7, 2026, under Chrysler recall number 36D. It named the same defect, steering column control modules that can cause a loss of electronic stability control, and the same remedy of replacing the module.
Two campaigns with the same words in the summary and different truck counts imply that the first did not capture every truck with the problem. The agency’s records do not say why the population grew, and they do not say how many of the 8,329 trucks sat inside the earlier 6,605. Adding the two counts would therefore be a guess, and owners should not assume that a truck repaired under 36D is automatically clear: a VIN check will show which campaigns apply.
The gap between the two sets of dates is also worth noting. The first letters went out less than a month after the April report, while the new ones are scheduled for Nov. 24, about seven weeks after the Oct. 6 filing. In both cases, the notification date in the agency’s record is a mailing target, not a guarantee that a letter has arrived.
The framing of both filings is regulatory as much as mechanical. Each says the trucks fail to meet the stability-control standard, which is a stricter statement than a possible risk: Chrysler’s own safety and compliance staff found a noncompliance, and the company filed because the standard is not met. That is why the record carries a standard number, and why the remedy is a part replacement instead of an advisory to drive more carefully.
A replacement module, and the November mailing
The remedy is a hardware swap, not a software patch. Dealers will replace the steering column control module at no charge, and autoevolution reports that the part fitted is a newly designed module. Chrysler’s record lists the park-it, park-outside and over-the-air flags as no, so the trucks are not under a stop-driving instruction, and nothing can be fixed remotely; the truck must go to a dealer.
Vehicle identification numbers became searchable on the agency’s website on Oct. 13, 2026, which means an owner can find out ahead of the letters by entering the VIN into NHTSA’s recall lookup. Letters are expected to be mailed on Nov. 24. Chrysler customer service, at 1-800-853-1403, handles questions and scheduling, and the number to quote for this campaign is 90D, not the 36D from the spring.
The agency’s campaign page and the federal recall dataset for reports received between Sept. 29 and Oct. 7 both carry the 8,329 figure. Because the module is the same component as in the earlier recall, the dealer will confirm against the VIN which campaign applies to a given truck.
This article was produced with the assistance of AI and reviewed by Morning Overview editors prior to publication.
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