Fiat Chrysler's Ram truck division has announced a recall of certain 2015 to 2018 Ram 1500, 2500, and 3500 pickup trucks for one very specific reason: the tailgates may open. A total of 410,351 trucks are affected because of faulty tailgate latches. There is a risk that the vehicles' tailgates could open while in transit, spilling cargo onto the road and into traffic, thus creating hazardous driving conditions. The precise source of the problem is the locking mechanism within the tailgate.

Apparently, a piece in the assembly could fracture and release the latches, resulting in the tailgate suddenly falling open. This recall does not affect trucks equipped with the manual tailgate locks. The fix is quite simple. Ram dealership technicians will open the tailgate cover and install a block that will prevent any unintentional tailgate openings.

The work itself will only take about half an hour and owners will be notified starting at the end of June. As usual with recalls, this will be done free of charge. As of this writing, we don't know whether there have been any injuries or fatalities related to this defect. Unfortunately, this is not the first Ram truck recall in recent times. This past January, for example, the all-new for 2019 Ram 1500 was recalled due to a power steering problem. In February, a recall was issued for Ram Heavy Duty models for steering linkage separation. Last August, 1.4 million Ram trucks were also recalled for faulty tailgates.

Automotive recalls are nothing new, but they have certainly become more frequent in recent years. This is largely due to the fact that automakers do not want to take any chances when it comes to safety. Often times, a recall is issued even though there are no known injuries or fatalities. It's simply not worth the risk to wait.