The Weekly Haul: What Moved the Truck World This Week

If you spent the last week with your head under a hood or your boots in the dirt, don't worry — we kept ours on the news desk. From a Ram resurgence that's catching Detroit's attention to a fresh wave of recalls, a museum break-in (the good kind — ground-breaking), and a 2027 Super Duty that's getting more serious about going off-road from the factory floor, here's the truck news that actually mattered this week.

1. Ram is Having a Moment — And It Has Everyone's Attention

Let's start with the headline that has the rest of the industry sitting up straight: Ram 1500 sales are up roughly 27% year-over-year in Q1 2026, the brand's strongest light-duty quarter since 2022. The return of the HEMI V-8 — and the wave of customer enthusiasm that came with it — is being credited as the primary driver.

Ram's Q1 light-duty number landed near 59,828 units, and while that still trails Ford's F-Series (159,901) and the Silverado (128,818), the trajectory is what people are talking about. As CarBuzz put it, Ram is "closing in" on the Silverado in a way it hasn't in years.

We've heard from plenty of customers on our lot saying the same thing: bring back the V-8 rumble and the buyers will follow. Looks like Ram listened.

Ram 1500 "America250" Special Editions Revealed

Coinciding with the 250th anniversary of the United States in 2026, Ram unveiled the America250 Special Edition trims this week. The trucks add patriotic paint treatments, unique badging, and curated powertrain pairings — including HEMI V-8 options. Pricing details and full availability are still trickling out, but Motor1's coverage suggests this is a limited-window, dealer-allocated release.

And Then There's the Ramcharger

The Ram 1500 Ramcharger — Ram's range-extended electric pickup — continues to draw long looks. It pairs twin electric motors with a gas-powered onboard generator and reportedly produces 663 horsepower and 615 lb-ft of torque, with a quoted 0-60 mph time of 4.4 seconds. The "range anxiety solved" pitch is a smart play for the truck buyer who isn't ready to go full battery-electric yet. We'd consider some of those quoted figures preliminary until independent testing catches up, but on paper, it's one of the more interesting truck stories of the year.

2. Recall Roundup: A Busy Week at NHTSA

A handful of recalls hit the wires this week. None of them are catastrophic on their face, but if you own one of these trucks, you'll want to flag it with your dealer.

Ford Ranger and Bronco (issued May 11, 2026) — Certain 2024–2026 Ford Ranger and Bronco units are being recalled for a loose or potentially dislodged seat frame height-adjust pivot bolt in the front seats. The remedy involves a dealer inspection and bolt service.

Ram 2500 (issued around May 7, 2026) — A subset of 2026 Ram 2500 pickups are being recalled because the steering column control module may fail in a way that disables electronic stability control. A separate Ram 2500 action this month addresses a powertrain control module reprogramming for incorrect vehicle speed calibration.

Ram Heavy Duty Brake Warning Issue — A 2026 Ram Heavy Duty recall was also issued recently for an incorrect brake warning light condition. Reports indicate this is a software-side fix.

Ram Instrument Cluster Recall — Approximately 65,348 Ram trucks are being recalled over an instrument cluster failure that can cause the display to go dark.

Tesla Cybertruck — Tesla is recalling certain 2024–2026 Cybertrucks equipped with the optional 18-inch steel wheels because the brake rotor stud holes may crack and allow a stud to separate from the wheel hub. NHTSA documents indicate roughly 173 units are potentially affected — small population, but a serious failure mode if it occurs.

Ford's Larger 2026 Recall Trend — Zooming out, Ford is on pace to potentially break its own recall record this year, with a separate, much larger action affecting an estimated 4.3 million pickups and SUVs over a software error that could disable trailer brakes and exterior lights. Coverage from Autoblog and PickupTruckTalk suggests the issue is being handled via over-the-air software updates where applicable.

If you're not sure whether your truck is affected, the fastest path is to plug your VIN into NHTSA's recall lookup tool or call your dealer.

3. Ford's 2027 Super Duty Gets Serious About Dirt

Ford rolled out more details this week on the 2027 Super Duty lineup, and the direction is clear: the brand wants the factory to do the off-road work that customers have historically been doing in the aftermarket.

A few highlights worth knowing about:

New XL Off-Road 35-Inch Tire Package — You can now order a base XL trim Super Duty with factory 35-inch tires. That's a meaningful spec for the work-truck-as-trail-truck crowd.
Tremor + STX Appearance Package on XL — Tremor hardware is migrating down the trim ladder. The pairing brings 35-inch Goodyear Wrangler DuraTrac tires, an electronic locking rear differential, Trail Control, and a Rock Crawl Mode.
Chassis Cab Luxury Touches — Ford is also reportedly bringing more refined interior options to chassis cab variants, signaling that fleet and upfit customers want creature comforts too.

Ford has also publicly committed to bringing all-new generations of the F-150, Super Duty, midsize truck, and a midsize electric pickup to market by 2029. That last piece — the midsize EV — has been bumped from earlier targets, with the electric F-150 reportedly delayed until 2027 while Ford focuses on stronger gas and hybrid F-150 powertrains in the near term. Take the timing details with a grain of salt; product calendars move.

4. The Next-Gen Silverado and Sierra are Coming This Year

GM's CEO has confirmed that the all-new 2027 Chevy Silverado 1500 and GMC Sierra 1500 are coming in calendar year 2026 — meaning the trucks should be on dealer lots later this year as 2027 models. Spy shots and unofficial renderings of the Silverado ZR2 suggest a more aggressive, modernized take on the off-road formula, including a jump from 33-inch tires to 35-inch tires as standard on the ZR2.

We'd label specific spec sheets as speculation until GM makes its official reveal, but the broader story — new generation, more capability, more on-road tech — looks locked in.

One real-world wrinkle: some analysts are pointing out that the anticipation of the new generation could soften current Silverado sales in the back half of the year as buyers wait. That's the classic late-model-cycle pause. Worth knowing if you're trying to deal-shop.

5. GMC Hummer EV's Quiet 2026 Refinements

The 2026 GMC Hummer EV Pickup continues to be the most powerful production truck most people will ever encounter on paper — up to 1,160 horsepower and 13,000 lb-ft of wheel torque on the available 3X trim with the 24-module battery pack. New for 2026:

A new Carbon Fiber Edition at the top of the lineup, with 22-inch carbon fiber wheels.
Further damper tuning for improved ride quality (Hummer drivers have been asking).
Bi-directional charging capability, so the truck can power a home or jobsite.
An updated Super Cruise hands-free driving system with broader navigation support.

It's still a niche product, but the refinements show GM is iterating, not abandoning.

6. Tesla Cybertruck's Reality Check

Worth noting in the context of the broader EV truck conversation: the Cybertruck briefly led U.S. electric pickup sales in 2024 but has cooled significantly heading into 2026. The lineup has expanded and prices have come down — the Dual Motor AWD now starts around $60,595, and the Cyberbeast remains at $99,990 with 845 hp and a quoted 2.6-second 0-60. The market verdict, fairly or not, is that the Cybertruck has slipped out of the default-pick slot it briefly held, ceding ground to the Silverado EV (range leader) and Rivian R1T (feature leader).

7. For the Truck History Crowd: A Big Week for Museums

A couple of stories worth your weekend if you love the heritage side of this hobby:

Iowa 80 Trucking Museum Expansion — Ground has been broken on a 25,000 square foot expansion of the exhibit hall at the Iowa 80 Trucking Museum in Walcott, Iowa. When complete, the museum's total exhibit space will hit 121,000 square feet. It's already one of the must-visit stops for any trucker, and it's getting bigger.

Mahan Collection Foundation – Hearts & Stars Fundraiser — The Mahan Collection in Basking Ridge, New Jersey, often referred to as the world's largest collection of antique Mack and vintage trucks, is hosting a fundraiser on Saturday, May 16, 2026. A good excuse to head east.

Southern California Railway Museum Antique Truck Show — Also on May 16, 2026, the SoCal Railway Museum is hosting a massive antique truck show — hundreds of vintage trucks ranging from semis to pickups, delivery vehicles, farm rigs, and fire equipment.

National Auto & Truck Museum Kids & Cars Day — On May 30, 2026, NATMUS in Auburn, Indiana, is holding a Kids & Cars event with free admission, photo ops, and select vehicles kids can climb into. If you've got a young truck enthusiast at home, that's an easy yes.

8. On the Horizon: A New Player May Be Coming

Hyundai used the 2026 New York International Auto Show to debut the Boulder concept, a rugged SUV that Hyundai has acknowledged is the basis for a future midsize truck platform designed and built in the U.S. Specific production timing and naming hasn't been confirmed, so we're filing this firmly under "developing story." But if it makes it past concept stage with the proportions and intent shown, it could shake up the midsize segment alongside the Ford Maverick, Toyota Tacoma, and the next-gen Chevy Colorado.

Nissan also showed a Terrano plug-in hybrid SUV concept at the 2026 Beijing Auto Show, with a production version reportedly slated for 2027. Whether any of that platform makes it to a U.S.-market truck remains to be seen.

The Bottom Line

It's a fascinating moment in the truck world. The internal combustion engine isn't dying on the timeline a lot of headlines predicted two years ago — Ford is leaning into better gas and hybrid F-150s and pushing the electric version back, Ram brought back the HEMI and got rewarded for it, and customers are voting with their wallets for trucks that feel like trucks. At the same time, the EV side hasn't stalled — it just looks more like a normal, competitive segment now, with the Silverado EV, Rivian R1T, and Cybertruck each playing distinct roles.

And the heritage side of this whole thing — the museums, the antique shows, the restoration culture — keeps thriving. We love that.