Chrysler Air Bag and Steering Wobble Recalls

Los Angeles, CAThe rate of automotive recalls this year appears to be accelerating with Chrysler vehicles accounting for some major numbers. This week, the car manufacturer added to its growing list of recent recalls, a recall affecting approximately 22,100 small cargo vans because of inadvertent side air bag deployments, the company and U.S. safety regulators said.

Chrysler reportedly told the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) it has reports of 25 unexpected air bag deployments in Ram C/V Tradesman commercial vans. No one has been injured and there have been no reported crashes in the affected vehicles, Chrysler said. "In the affected vehicles, road hazards such as potholes may cause the front passenger side curtain and/or seat air bags to deploy unexpectedly," according to the NHTSA. (Reuters.com)

According to Chrysler, 18,245 model year 2013 to 2015 Ram C/V Tradesman vehicles are in the United States and 3,870 are in Canada.

This recall follows several others, notably three separate recalls. affecting as many as 1.2 million Ram pickup trucks for steering-system tie rods that may have been misaligned during assembly or steering-system service." Approximately 968,000 vehicles of the total number affected are in the US and 157,000 are in Canada.

One recall will inspect an estimated 842,400 model-year 2003-2008 Ram 2500 and 3500 trucks to find approximately 116,000 repaired with tie-rod assemblies that could become misaligned. This condition could lead to component fracture and steering loss.

Two additional campaigns are being conducted to capture those vehicles known to have tie-rod assemblies linked to previous recalls. They comprise 294,000 model-year 2008-2012 Ram 2500 and 3500 pickups, chassis cabs and 2008 Ram 1500 4x4 Mega Cabs; plus 43,500 model-year 2008-2012 Ram 4500 and 5500 4x4 chassis cabs.

Chrysler Group is aware of six accidents and two injuries involving model-year 2008-2012 2500 and 3500 trucks and one additional accident with no injuries involving the remaining models.