Halloween is over, which means we’re marching inexorably towards the holidays and their barrage of themed media. It seems Ram has gotten in the spirit of the season, because it’s recalling nearly 34,000 1500 trucks for breaking Ralphie’s Little Orphan Annie decoder ring — sorry, for breaking the front wheel bearing encoder ring, which can disable the truck’s electronic stability control.
The wheel bearing encoder ring is part of the stability control system, which works in conjunction with an ABS sensor to measure wheel speed. When it breaks, your truck can lose its sense of how fast its wheels are moving, which will trip the ESC system into just shutting down.
The affected Rams were built between October of 2023 and August of 2024, according to Ram’s recall filing with the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, but the company estimates only a small number of trucks actually have the fault. The issue, according to Stellantis, isn’t actually with the part itself — it’s the installation of the encoder that could leave it broken.
Owners of affected trucks will be notified about the recall in December, but your local dealer already knows about it. If you’re concerned your Ram might be affected, head over to NHTSA’s recall site and punch in your VIN or license plate number to see if you’re included. You can take up the bathroom translating your crummy advertisements after your car is safe to drive.
