2024-2026 Ram and Jeep Recall: Inoperative Trailer Lighting and Trailer Brake Failure

A trailer with no brakes and no lights behind a loaded three-quarter-ton pickup is the failure mode Chrysler is recalling 456,287 vehicles to prevent. The trailer tow module in affected trucks was designed incorrectly, and when it fails the tow vehicle keeps working normally while everything behind the hitch goes dark and free-rolling.

Campaign 26V059000, filed February 2, 2026, is the largest recall to hit the current Ram pickup line. It covers 2025 and 2026 Ram 1500, 2500, 3500, 4500, and 5500 trucks, plus the 2024 through 2026 Jeep Wagoneer S and the 2026 Jeep Cherokee.

The scope tells you this is a shared parts-bin component rather than a truck-specific fault. A tow module common to a full-size pickup line and two unrelated Jeep crossovers means the design error was upstream of any one vehicle program.

The Issue

The trailer tow module is the electronic bridge between the truck and whatever is hitched to it. It takes the vehicle's own lighting and braking signals and translates them into the seven-pin connector output that runs the trailer's stop lamps, turn signals, running lights, and electric brake controller.

Chrysler's filing describes the module as improperly designed. Two distinct consequences follow from that, and they are not the same severity.

The lighting failure is a visibility problem. A trailer whose brake lights and turn signals do not illuminate is invisible to traffic behind it in exactly the moments when that traffic most needs the warning, and the driver in the truck has no direct indication anything is wrong because the truck's own lamps still work.

The brake failure is the heavier of the two. Electric trailer brakes on a loaded tandem-axle trailer do a large share of the stopping. Losing them shifts the entire braking load onto a truck that was not engineered to stop the combined mass alone, which lengthens stopping distance substantially and can push the trailer into a sway the driver cannot correct.

Affected Models

Make	Model	Model Years
Ram	1500 Pickup	2025-2026
Ram	2500 Pickup	2025-2026
Ram	3500 Pickup and Cab Chassis	2025-2026
Ram	4500 Cab Chassis	2025-2026
Ram	5500 Cab Chassis	2025-2026
Jeep	Wagoneer S	2024-2026
Jeep	Cherokee	2026

Only vehicles built with the factory trailer tow package carry the module, so a base truck ordered without tow equipment is outside the campaign even within the listed model years. The 2019 through 2024 Ram 1500 is not included.

Chronology and Investigation

Chrysler filed the campaign with NHTSA on February 2, 2026, under internal recall number 03D. VINs became searchable on NHTSA.gov eight days later, on February 10.

Owner notification letters began mailing March 17, 2026, which places this campaign well into its remedy phase. Parts supply for a module replacement across 456,287 vehicles is the practical constraint, and Chrysler staged the mailing accordingly.

The 4500 and 5500 cab chassis trucks in the population are worth separating out. Those are commercial chassis sold to upfitters and fleets, where the tow module is not an option box but the reason the truck was bought. Fleet operators running service bodies and equipment trailers are in the highest-exposure group in this campaign.

Reported Incidents

NHTSA's campaign record lists no crashes, injuries, or fatalities attributed to the defect. Chrysler has not published a field failure rate or warranty claim count.

An empty incident field on a towing recall is less reassuring than it looks. Trailer brake and lighting faults are diagnosed at the trailer, and a crash investigated as a following-too-close or a jackknife does not necessarily get traced back to a tow module part number in the tow vehicle.

What Owners Should Do

VINs have been searchable since February 10, 2026, and owner letters went out beginning March 17. The remedy is a free replacement of the trailer tow module at a dealer.

Owners can reach FCA US customer service at 1-800-853-1403 and reference recall 03D.

Until the module is replaced, treat any trailer connected to an affected truck as unverified. Running the lights and testing the brake controller in a parking lot before pulling onto a road takes two minutes and covers the failure this campaign describes.

Symptoms to Watch For Before the Module Fails

Trailer lights that work intermittently. Lamps that illuminate on one connection and not the next, with no change to the trailer wiring, point at the module rather than the plug.

A brake controller that reads no trailer connected. The in-dash controller reporting an open circuit while the trailer is plugged in and its own wiring tests good is the clearest single indicator.

Gain settings that no longer hold. A trailer brake gain that has to be raised well past its usual setting to get the same braking feel suggests the module is passing a degraded signal.

Turn signals flashing at the wrong rate. A hyperflash or a dead signal on one side only, on a trailer that behaves correctly behind a different tow vehicle, isolates the fault to the truck.

Warning messages about the trailer lighting circuit. The cluster raising a trailer lamp fault and then clearing it on its own should be treated as a real event rather than a glitch.

How Long Will the Recall Repair Take?

The module replacement itself is a modest job, generally a couple of hours including the diagnostic scan and the post-repair function test of the seven-pin output.

The wait for parts is the longer variable on a campaign this size. Call ahead and confirm the module is in stock against your VIN before booking, particularly for the 4500 and 5500 chassis where the part may differ from the light-duty trucks.

Bottom Line

Rated by unit count this is the biggest campaign against the current Ram lineup, and rated by what it actually breaks it belongs near the top of the priority list for anyone who tows.

A truck bought specifically for its 11,610-pound rating is a truck whose owner uses the hitch, and this defect degrades the part of the system the driver has the least direct feedback about. Nothing on the dash necessarily tells you the trailer brakes have stopped contributing until you need them.

For owners who do not tow, the repair can wait for a convenient service appointment. For owners who do, book it before the next load.

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