2019-2026 Ram 1500 Recall: Improperly Installed Seat Belt Buckle Anchor/FMVSS 210

Chrysler has told federal regulators that the second-row seat belt buckle anchors on 1,271,294 Ram 1500 pickups may never have been properly attached to the body structure. The campaign spans the 2019 through 2026 model years, every year the current-generation truck has been built.

Campaign 26V495000 is a noncompliance filing rather than a wear-and-tear defect. Chrysler reported that the trucks fail Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard 210, the rule governing how seat belt anchorages are mounted and how much load they must hold. A truck assembled wrong in 2018 has been wrong every day since.

VIN lookup went live at NHTSA on August 6. Owner letters do not mail until August 18, so an owner who checks today will know a week and a half before the mail arrives.

The Issue

The buckle anchor is the bracket tying the buckle stalk to the truck's floor or seat frame. In a crash it carries the entire load of the belted occupant, and FMVSS 210 sets both how that joint is built and how much force it has to survive. Chrysler's filing says some of these joints were assembled incorrectly on the line.

The remedy language gives the defect away. Dealers will "inspect and attach the seat belt buckle anchor to the body structure as necessary." Attach, not replace or reinforce. On the affected trucks the anchor was left unfastened.

That also explains the size of the campaign. Chrysler cannot tell from build records which trucks received a proper anchor and which did not, so every truck in the eight-year window is included and dealers sort them one at a time. Most of the 1.27 million will be inspected and sent home unchanged.

Affected Models

Model years	Vehicle	Named in the federal filing
2019-2026	Ram 1500	Yes, certain trucks in each year
2019-2026	Ram 2500, 3500	No
2019-2024	Ram 1500 Classic	Not broken out separately

NHTSA's record names a single model, "1500," across all eight years. Ram sold the previous-body 1500 Classic alongside the current truck through 2024, and the federal listing does not separate the two. A Classic owner should run the VIN rather than assume the campaign stops at the current body.

What the Filing Does Not Say

Chrysler's report carries no chronology, no warranty claim totals, and no field reports. The notes field is empty. Nothing in the record states when the company found the assembly problem, or how a line error ran across eight model years before surfacing.

Fresh noncompliance filings often look like this. The Part 573 report a manufacturer submits does contain a defect chronology, and it typically reaches the public record weeks after the campaign number is issued. Until it does, the federal record establishes the scope and the fix but not the history.

What Owners Should Do

August 6, 2026. VINs became searchable at NHTSA. That date has passed, so any owner can check now at nhtsa.gov/recalls or through Mopar's lookup.

August 18, 2026. Chrysler mails owner notification letters.

On receipt. Dealers inspect the anchor and attach it where needed, free of charge. Chrysler's number for this recall is 67D, and customer service is 1-800-853-1403.

What an Owner Can Check in the Driveway

This defect is partly visible without tools, which is unusual. The buckle stalk in the second row should not shift when pulled hard upward and to the side. Signs that warrant a call:

• Movement at the base. The stalk shifts, lifts, or rotates where it disappears into the seat cushion or floor.
• Travel the neighboring belt does not have. One stalk pulls up farther than the one beside it.
• Trim that no longer sits flush at the anchor point, or a bolt head standing proud of the surface.
• A creak or click from the seat base when a belted passenger shifts weight.

None of this replaces the dealer inspection. An anchor can be improperly installed and still feel firm under hand pressure, because crash loads run an order of magnitude past anything an arm can apply. A stalk that moves is reason to call sooner. A stalk that feels solid is not proof the truck is clear.

How Long Will the Recall Repair Take?

Chrysler has not published a labor estimate. The work itself is short. A technician lifts the second-row cushion or trim, confirms whether the buckle anchor is bolted to the body structure, and fastens it if it is not. On trucks that pass, the visit is mostly diagnostic.

Volume is the constraint here, not complexity. At 1.27 million trucks, dealer scheduling is what stretches a campaign like this, and the trucks needing actual repair are the ones that wait if a bracket or fastener kit runs short.

How Worried Should a Ram Owner Be?

NHTSA classifies the consequence as injury risk. There is no park-it advisory, no instruction to keep the truck outdoors, and no restriction on driving it. An affected Ram 1500 can be driven normally while the owner waits for an appointment.

Who rides in back changes the urgency. The second row is where child seats and boosters go, and a booster-seated child is restrained by the vehicle belt and the buckle it latches into. An owner hauling kids daily has more reason to book early than an owner who uses the back seat for tools.

Three other campaigns already touch the current Ram 1500: a trailer tow module recall filed in February, instrument cluster software that started as a December 2025 filing and was later expanded, and headlight wiring filed July 1 that still has no final remedy. Any one of them reads as routine. Four open campaigns on one truck generation, with the newest reaching back to trucks built in 2018, is a pattern worth the VIN check.

Find your Ram 1500 recall information: https://www.mopar.com/en-us/my-vehicle/recalls/recalls.html