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.
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 5 recall notices during May 2020. These recalls involved 3 recreational vehicle manufacturers— Forest River (3 recalls), Jayco (1 recall), and Heartland (1 recall).
Forest River
Forest River, Inc. (Forest River) is recalling certain 2020 StarTrans P/S2 ST93036 transit buses equipped with Freedman GO-ES foldaway seats. The seat belt retractor block out zone may have not been set correctly, potentially resulting in a seat belt that may not properly secure the occupant. As such, these vehicles fail to comply with the requirements of Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard (FMVSS) number 209, “Seat Belt Assemblies.”
Forest River will notify the vehicle owners, and dealers will inspect and replace the retractors, free of charge. The recall is expected to begin June 7, 2020. Owners may contact Forest River customer service at 1-800-348-7440 or Freedman Seating customer service at 1-800-443-4540. Forest River’s number for this recall is 05-1158.
Forest River
Forest River, Inc. (Forest River) is recalling certain 2020-2021 Vibe trailers, models VBT16RB-OR and VBT17DB-OR. The roof vent for the refrigerator may be missing.
Forest River will notify owners, and dealers will install a vent on the roof for the refrigerator, free of charge. The recall is expected to begin June 22, 2020. Owners may contact Forest River customer service at (503) 831-5413. Forest River’s number for this recall is 22-1166.
Forest River
Forest River, Inc. (Forest River) is recalling certain 2019-2020 XLR Micro Boost trailers, models XLT25LRLE-79 and XLT27LRLE-79. The fasteners used to attach the ramp door may loosen and cause the ramp door to detach from the vehicle.
Forest River will notify owners, and dealers or authorized service centers will replace the fasteners for the ramp door, free of charge. This recall is expected to begin June 24, 2020. Owners may contact Forest River customer service at 1-574-642-0432. Forest River’s number for this recall is 79-1161.
Jayco
Jayco, Inc. (Jayco) is recalling certain 2020 Jay Flight SLX Travel Trailers manufactured in the Idaho facility. The propane supply hose connection to the refrigerator may be improperly tightened, possibly resulting in a propane leak.
Jayco will notify owners, and dealers will conduct a leak test at the refrigerator connections, repairing them as necessary, free of charge. The recall is expected to begin May 29, 2020. Owners may contact Jayco customer service at 1-800-283-8267. Jayco’s number for this recall is 9901509.
Heartland
Heartland Recreational Vehicles, LLC (Heartland) is recalling certain 2020 Mallard, Prowler, Trail Runner, and Wilderness trailers equipped with a bumper-mounted spare tire carrier. The U-bolt that secures the spare tire may break, and cause the spare tire to detach during travel.
Heartland will notify owners, and dealers will replace the spare tire mounting U-bolts, free of charge. The recall is expected to begin July 14, 2020. Owners may contact Heartland customer service at 1-877-262-8032.
Please Note: This is the 16th 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