Fiat Chrysler is recalling around 257,000 Dodge Ram pickup trucks in the United States for rear axle issues that can increase the risk of a crash.

The U.S. recall affects 256,956 Dodge Ram 1500 pickups from the 2005 model year, the Detroit News reported.

The safety campaign, which is scheduled to start on Feb. 13, affects nearly 288,000 trucks worldwide, according to Reuters. Of the recalled pickups, 21,779 are registered in Canada, 8,802 are in Mexico and 408 are outside of North America.

Customers have reported that the rear axle can lock up or detach, sometimes at speeds of 50 mph or more. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, which opened an investigation in June into 260,000 Dodge Ram pickups related to axle failures, has received 15 reports of seizing or detaching rear axles.

Seven of the incidents happened at speeds at or more than 50 mph, and in two of the reports, customers said the locking rear axle forced the vehicle to spin.

"I lost immediate control of the vehicle," one driver described in a complaint that detailed how he and his two children "almost died" in a 2005 Dodge Ram 1500. "I fought to regain control of my truck, just missing being rear ended and broad sided by several vehicles."

The problem is apparently a result of faulty pinion nuts that can loosen and wreak havoc on the truck's rear axle.

In the July 2013 incident, the driver with two kids blamed the problem on a rear pinion nut that caused the rear axle to clench "throwing the drive shaft completely off my vehicle with no warning." He said the repairs cost him $4,500.

The latest campaign follows a 2012 NHTSA investigation and subsequent recall involving 48,058 Dodge Ram 1500 and Dodge Dakota trucks from 2009 and 2010 with faulty pinion nuts that result in a locked-up rear axle or a separating rear drive shaft. 

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