2025-2026 Ram Recall: Instrument Panel Display Failure/FMVSS 108, 208

The screen in front of the driver goes dark. Gear selection, speed, brake warnings, tire pressure, airbag status: all of it disappears at once, because on a modern Ram pickup those are not separate gauges but pixels on a single reconfigurable display. Chrysler has now recalled the same trucks twice inside five months for that failure.

Campaign 26V225000, filed April 9, 2026, covers 65,348 Ram 1500, 2500, 3500, 4500, and 5500 pickups and cab chassis from the 2025 and 2026 model years. It follows campaign 25V826000, filed December 1, 2025, which covered 72,509 of the same trucks for the same blank-display symptom.

The second campaign is the more serious of the two on paper. Where the first cited three Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards, the second cites seven.

The Issue

Ram's current instrument panel is a full digital cluster. There is no mechanical speedometer needle and no separate bank of physical telltales behind glass. Everything the driver is legally required to be able to see, including the gear the transmission is actually in, the brake system warning lamp, the stability control indicator, the tire pressure warning, and the airbag readiness light, is rendered by software onto one screen.

A software error can blank that screen. When it does, the truck has not lost its brakes or its airbags. It has lost the driver's ability to know anything about them.

That distinction is why the campaign is written as a compliance failure rather than a component defect. Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard 102 requires the transmission shift position to be displayed. Standard 105 and Standard 135 require brake system warning indicators. Standard 108 governs lamp indicators, 126 covers the electronic stability control telltale, 138 covers tire pressure monitoring, and 208 covers occupant crash protection readiness. A dark cluster violates all of them simultaneously.

Affected Models

Model	Model Years	Body
Ram 1500	2025-2026	Pickup
Ram 2500	2025-2026	Pickup
Ram 3500	2025-2026	Pickup and Cab Chassis
Ram 4500	2025-2026	Cab Chassis
Ram 5500	2025-2026	Cab Chassis

Older DT-generation trucks are outside both campaigns. The 2019 through 2024 Ram 1500 used earlier cluster hardware and software, and neither campaign reaches back into those years. A 2024 truck sitting next to a 2025 truck on the same lot is unaffected.

Chronology and Investigation

Chrysler filed the first campaign on December 1, 2025, under internal recall numbers B4C and B8C. VINs became searchable on NHTSA.gov on December 4, and owner letters went out December 18. The described symptom was an instrument panel cluster display that could be blank, and the cited standards were 102, 105, and 135.

The remedy for that first campaign was conditional. Dealers were told to inspect and update the instrument panel software, or replace the cluster outright if the update did not take.

Four months later, on April 9, 2026, Chrysler filed again under internal number 35D. The vehicle population is the same model line and the same two model years. The symptom description changed from a display that may be blank to a display that may fail, and the list of violated standards grew from three to seven, adding 108, 126, 138, and 208.

A second campaign against the same trucks for the same subsystem is the clearest signal available that the first remedy did not fully resolve the problem. Owners who had the December work performed are still in scope for the April campaign.

Reported Incidents

NHTSA's campaign records for both filings list no crashes, no injuries, and no fatalities attributed to the defect. Chrysler has not published a warranty claim count for either campaign.

The absence of a crash record should be read against how the failure presents. A blank cluster is immediately obvious to the driver, which tends to produce a service visit rather than an accident. The risk sits with drivers who keep operating the truck without knowing which gear is engaged or whether a brake warning has been raised.

What Owners Should Do

VINs for the April campaign became searchable on NHTSA.gov on April 16, 2026. Owner notification letters were mailed May 5, 2026.

The repair is a software update performed at a dealer at no charge. Owners can reach FCA customer service at 1-800-853-1403 and reference recall 35D, or the earlier B4C and B8C if the December campaign was never completed on their truck.

Check the VIN against both campaigns rather than assuming one visit cleared the truck. Having 25V826000 closed out does not close 26V225000.

Symptoms to Watch For Before the Cluster Fails

A flicker at startup. The cluster briefly going dark or scrambling during the key-on sequence before settling is the most commonly reported precursor.

Gear position dropping out. The PRNDL indicator disappearing while the rest of the display stays live suggests the rendering layer is failing selectively.

Telltales that do not complete their bulb check. On startup every warning lamp should illuminate briefly and then extinguish. Lamps that never appear are a software fault, not a burned-out indicator.

A display that resets while driving. The cluster rebooting on its own, with the Ram logo reappearing mid-drive, indicates the software is crashing and recovering.

Trip data resetting without input. Odometer and trip meters returning to a prior state point at the same underlying instability.

How Long Will the Recall Repair Take?

A cluster software flash is a short appointment, typically under an hour of actual work once the truck is on a lift and connected. Most of an owner's day goes to scheduling and waiting rather than the procedure itself.

Trucks that need cluster replacement under the older December campaign take longer, because the part has to be on hand and the replacement cluster has to be configured to the VIN. Ask the service writer which of the two campaigns applies before booking, since the answer changes whether this is an hour or a parts-order wait.

Bottom Line

This is a software recall on a truck that is otherwise mechanically sound, and the fix is free and quick. The reason it deserves attention is the repeat, not the severity of any single failure.

The 2025 model year was the launch year for the Hurricane inline-six and carries its own cluster of first-year campaigns covering wheel hubs, headlights, tire pressure monitoring, and now the instrument panel twice. Buyers shopping a used 2025 or a leftover 2026 should pull the VIN and confirm every open campaign is closed, rather than trusting that a truck with recent dealer service is current.

Until the update is performed, a cluster that goes dark is a reason to stop driving and call rather than a reason to continue to the next errand. The truck will not tell you what it needs you to know.

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