GM recall covers 1,559 Silverado and Sierra pickups over roof-rail airbag inflators

What GM is recalling

The campaign covers 2016 Chevrolet Silverado 2500 and 3500 pickups and GMC Sierra 2500 and 3500 pickups, plus 2016 and 2017 Chevrolet Silverado 1500 and GMC Sierra 1500 models. All of them were built between 30 April and 11 May 2016, so 12 days of production account for the whole recall population.

For owners, that means a free replacement of both roof-rail airbag modules at a dealer. Transport Canada has yet to make public a counterpart recall, so the number of trucks affected in Canada is unknown.

GM's filing limits the recall to crew cabs. Regular cab and double cab trucks are excluded, as are trucks built with airbag modules from outside the supplier's suspect production window. GM used part traceability data to identify the 1,559. The breakdown runs 723 2016 Silverado 1500s, 292 Silverado 2500s, 33 Silverado 3500s and two 2017 Silverado 1500s, Motor1 reported. On the GMC side it is 329 2016 Sierra 1500s, 145 Sierra 2500s, 33 Sierra 3500s and two 2017 Sierra 1500s.

Light-duty 1500s account for 1,056 of the total. Heavy-duty 2500 and 3500 trucks make up the other 503.

Why the inflators can rupture

The roof-rail airbag is the curtain that drops along the side windows. Its inflator is a canister of compressed gas mounted on the roof rail above the headliner, one on each side of the cab.

On the recalled trucks the end cap may separate from the inflator, or the canister sidewall may split. Because the hardware sits overhead, anything released would be driven down towards the people inside, driving.ca noted.

GM points to two supplier manufacturing defects that have to occur together: a small crack in the canister introduced during manufacturing, and a small amount of water left inside after the washing process. Either problem on its own might be harmless, according to Motor1. The trapped water allows stress corrosion cracking over time, which weakens the pressurized canister, the filing says. If it ruptures, compressed gas escapes and the end cap or fragments of the inflator can be projected into the cabin.

The filing names Joyson Safety Systems of Valle Hermoso, Mexico as the component manufacturer. It lists roof-rail airbag part numbers 23366022 and 23366021, and the campaign takes in inflators from supplier lot B116B.

How the defect surfaced

A customer called GM on 20 July 2026 to report that the left-side roof-rail airbag in a 2016 Silverado 1500 had apparently ruptured shortly after the truck was driven off. GM inspected the pickup on 28 August and found the inflator's sidewall split, with damage to the headliner and the roof. The occupants reported ringing in their ears.

GM's report on the Silverado mentions no crash. The automaker says it is not aware of any other ruptures tied to the same inflator lot and has received no reports of injuries.

One percent, but every truck gets new parts

NHTSA estimates the defect may be present in about 1% of the recall population. That is an estimate of how many trucks carry the flaw, not a count of failures. GM is replacing the modules on all 1,559 regardless, because of the severity of the potential failure.

The remedy covers both the left and right modules, even though the reported rupture was on the left side.

This is not GM's first pass at the problem. The automaker ran earlier recalls for a similar roof-rail airbag fault this year under NHTSA 26V166, expanded as 26V325. The new filing pulls in a batch it says it did not catch the first time. Those earlier campaigns covered tens of thousands of vehicles, far more than this one, according to Motor1, which also reported that GM had recalled 80,000 vehicles across its lineup in 2026 before this filing. NHTSA records cited by The Weekly Driver show a 2021 recall for the same defect wording covered 410,019 trucks from model years 2015 and 2016.

Owner checks and contacts

VINs became searchable on NHTSA.gov on 24 September, so owners can check before the letter arrives.

GM's number for the recall is N262569920, and the NHTSA campaign ID is 26V611000. Chevrolet owners can call 1-800-222-1020 and GMC owners 1-888-988-7267.