Your recreational vehicle may be involved in a safety recall and may create a safety risk for you or your passengers. Safety defects must be repaired by a certified dealer at no cost to you. However, if left unrepaired, a potential safety defect in your vehicle could lead to injury or even death.
What is a recall?
When a manufacturer or the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) determines that a recreational vehicle or item of RV equipment creates an unreasonable risk to safety or fails to meet minimum safety standards, the manufacturer is required to fix that vehicle or equipment at no cost to the consumer.
NHTSA releases its most recent list of recalls each Monday.
The number of RV recalls has increased significantly in recent years: 169 recalls were issued during 2016, 203 recalls during 2017, and 230 for 2018.
It should be noted that RV recalls are related to vehicle safety and not product quality.
NHTSA has no interest in an air conditioner failing to cool or slide out failing to extend or retract—unless they can be directly attributed to product safety.
NHTSA announced 12 recall notices during July 2019. These recalls involved 7 recreational vehicle manufacturers—Forest River (6 recalls), Thor Motor Coach (1 recall), Erwin Hymer (1 recall), Winnebago (1 recall), Jayco (1 recall), Keystone RV Company (1 recall), and Newmar (1 recall).
Forest River
Forest River, Inc. (Forest River) is recalling certain 2017-2018 Berkshire Coach Ultra UL1912 and UL1913 motorhomes. Water and contaminants may get into the block heater cable’s splice connector causing corrosion and damage.
Forest River will notify owners, and Ford dealers will disable the vehicle’s engine block heater cable, free of charge. The recall is expected to begin July 24, 2019. Owners may contact Ford customer service at 1-866-436-7332. Forest River’s number for this recall is 78-1032.
Forest River
Forest River, Inc. (Forest River) is recalling certain 2017-2020 Coachmen Chapparal, Chapparal Lite, Chapparal X-Lite and Shasta Phoenix recreational trailers. The outside kitchen may be equipped with a standard outlet receptacle and not a Ground Fault Circuit Interrupter (GFCI) protected outlet.
Forest River will notify owners, and dealers will replace a standard 110V outlet in the exterior kitchen with a Ground Fault Circuit Interrupter (GFCI) one. The recall is expected to begin July 31, 2019. Owners may contact Forest River customer service at 1-574-825-8360. Forest River’s number for this recall is 110-1035.
Forest River
Forest River, Inc. (Forest River) is recalling certain 2019-2020 Georgetown and FR3 motorhomes. The slim-rack slide out mechanisms may activate unintentionally, moving the slide room in or out unexpectedly.
Forest River will notify owners, and dealers will provide a new controller and switch for the slideout mechanism, free of charge. The recall is expected to begin July 31, 2019. Owners may contact Forest River at 1-574-206-7600. Forest River’s number for this recall is 68-0991.
Forest River
Forest River, Inc. (Forest River) is recalling certain 2020 Work and Play fifthwheel (WPF33W17) trailers. The 12V and 110V cables for an optional generator may not be isolated from objects stored in the generator compartment, which can result in an electrical short.
Forest River will notify owners, and dealers will isolate the wires in the generator compartment so that they can’t short, free of charge. The recall is expected to begin July 31, 2019. Owners may contact Forest River customer service at 1-574-825-6302. Forest River’s number for this recall is 31-1036.
Forest River
Forest River, Inc. (Forest River) is recalling certain 2019-2020 Cherokee trailers, model CKT294BH. The Federal Placard states incorrect Cargo Carrying Capacity (CCC) and Gross Vehicle Weight Rating (GVWR) information, which may result in the trailer being overloaded.
Forest River has notified owners, providing replacement placards that contain accurate Gross Vehicle Weight Rating and Cargo Carrying Capacity information, free of charge. The recall began June 24, 2019. Owners may contact Forest River customer service at 1-541-995-3447. Forest River’s number for this recall is 64-1033.
Forest River
Forest River, Inc. (Forest River) is recalling certain 2019 Rockport work trucks equipped with an optional trailer brake controller. The brake controller may have been wired improperly, which may prevent the brake controller from activating the trailer brakes when the vehicle’s brakes are applied.
Forest River will notify owners, and dealers will replace the brake controller, free of charge. The recall is expected to begin August 7, 2019. Owners may contact Forest River customer service at 1-574-327-2392. Forest River’s number for this recall is 65-1046.
Thor Motor Coach
Thor Motor Coach (TMC) is recalling certain 2019-2020 Challenger, Miramar, Magnitude, Outlaw, Omni, and Palazzo motorhomes. The vehicle control system software may cause the slide-out room to move unexpectedly.
TMC will notify owners, and dealers will update the affected software, free of charge. The recall is expected to begin August 28, 2019. Owners may contact TMC customer service at 1-877-855-2867. TMC’s number for this recall is RC000170.
Erwin Hymer
Erwin Hymer Group North America, Inc. (Erwin Hymer) is recalling 2013-2019 Roadtrek E-Trek, RS Adventurous, CS Adventurous, and TS Adventurous motorhomes built on Sprinter chassis and equipped with one or two second row captain’s chairs, with integrated seat belts. The seat pedestal base anchor brackets to the chassis fame may not have enough strength to prevent the seat and seat belt from moving in the event of a crash. As such, these vehicles fail to comply with the requirements of Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard (FMVSS) number 210, “Seat Belt Assembly Anchorages” and 207, “Seating Systems.”
The recall began June 26, 2019. Owners may contact Erwin Hymer customer service at 1-844-464-3735. Erwin Hymer’s number for this recall is 2019-01.
Winnebago
Winnebago Industries, Inc. (Winnebago) is recalling certain 2018-2019 Forza motorhomes. The exterior storage compartment door may unexpectedly open while the vehicle is in motion.
Winnebago will notify owners and dealers will install a new latch and the catch will be inspected and properly aligned and readjusted if necessary. The manufacturer has not yet provided a notification schedule. Owners may contact Winnebago customer service at 1-641-585-6939 or 1-800-537-1885.
Jayco
Jayco, Inc. (Jayco) is recalling certain 2019-2020 White Hawk Travel Trailers. The breakaway switch may have been incorrectly wired, which can cause the trailer brakes to not function in the event of a trailer separation from the tow vehicle.
Jayco will notify owners, and dealers will inspect the breakaway switch for proper wiring, rewiring it as necessary, free of charge. The recall is expected to begin in July 2019. Owners may contact Jayco customer service at 1-800-517-9137. Jayco’s number for this recall is 9901438.
Keystone RV Company
Keystone RV Company (Keystone) is recalling certain 2020 Crossroads Hampton and Sunset recreational trailers. The breakaway switch may have been incorrectly wired, which can cause the trailer brakes to not function in the event of a trailer separation from the tow vehicle.
Keystone will notify owners, and dealers will rewire the breakaway switch, free of charge. The recall is expected to begin August 5, 2019. Owners may contact Keystone customer service at 1-866-425-4369. Keystone’s number for this recall is 19-357.
Newmar
Newmar Corporation (Newmar) is recalling certain 2016-2019 Ventana LE and 2017-2019 Dutch Star, Essex, London Aire, Mountain Aire and Ventana, and 2018-2019 New Aire motorhomes built on a Daimler trucks chassis. The rear mounted Power Distribution Module (PDM) may have been damaged during manufacturing, possibly resulting in the rear marker lights, brake lights, or turn signals not functioning.
Newmar will notify owners, and Daimler Trucks dealers will inspect and replace the rear PDM, as necessary, free of charge. The recall is expected to begin August 6, 2019. Owners may contact Newmar customer service at 1-800-731-8300. Newmar’s number for this recall is 18V-852.
Note: Owners may also contact the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration Vehicle Safety Hotline at 1-888-327-4236 (TTY 1-800-424-9153), or go to www.safercar.gov.
Please Note: This is the sixth in a series of posts relating to RV Manufacturers Recalls
Worth Pondering…
It is easier to do a job right than to explain why you didn’t.
—Martin Van Buren