Campaign 07V-289

Certain freightliner school buses and trucks manufactured from october 23, 2004, to march 21, 2006

Defect summary

CERTAIN FREIGHTLINER SCHOOL BUSES AND TRUCKS MANUFACTURED FROM OCTOBER 23, 2004, TO MARCH 21, 2006. DURING THE STEERING COLUMN MANUFACTURING PROCESS TWO WELDS MAY HAVE BEEN MISSING.

Consequence

COLUMNS WITH TWO WELDS MISSING MAY FATIGUE AND FRACTURE AND ALLOW THE STEERING WHEEL TO PROGRESSIVELY BE MOVED OUT OF ITS NORMAL POSITION WHICH MAY CAUSE THE STEERING TO RESPOND DIFFERENTLY THAN EXPECTED. IF THIS CONDITION IS IGNORED, A CRASH MAY OCCUR.

Remedy

FREIGHTLINER WILL NOTIFY OWNERS AND INSPECT AND REPAIR THE AFFECTED VEHICLE FREE OF CHARGE. THE RECALL BEGAN ON AUGUST 30, 2007. OWNERS CAN CONTACT FREIGHTLINER AT 1-800-547-0712.

Notes

FREIGHTLINER RECALL NO. FL-503.CUSTOMERS MAY CONTACT THE NATIONAL HIGHWAY TRAFFIC SAFETY ADMINISTRATION'S VEHICLE SAFETY HOTLINE AT 1-888-327-4236 (TTY: 1-800-424-9153); OR GO TO HTTP://WWW.SAFERCAR.GOV.

Source: NHTSA ODI recalls file, campaign 07V289000. Text as published by NHTSA.

Vehicles covered

5 product lines are covered

Owner complaints filed with NHTSA about steering on these vehicles: 2, of which 2 involved a crash, fire, injury or death. Complaints are not verified by NHTSA.

Vehicles covered by campaign 07V-289
Make	Model	Model years	Complaints on this component
Freightliner	Century ST	2005 to 2006	0
Freightliner	Columbia	2005 to 2006	1
Freightliner	Coronado	2005 to 2006	0
Thomas Built Buses	FS-65	2004 to 2006	1
Thomas Built Buses	Saf-T-Liner	2004 to 2006	0

Source: NHTSA ODI recalls and complaints files. Equipment, tire and child-seat campaigns list products, not vehicles.

Investigation

This recall followed an NHTSA defect investigation

EA07002 STEERING COLUMN WELD CRACKS
Opened Jan 30, 2007, closed Jul 12, 2007

07V-592 Dec 21, 2007
On certain trucks equipped with trw steering gears, models tas85 and rcs85, these steering gears contain potentially defective sector shafts with…
07V-570 Dec 10, 2007
On certain motor home chassis built using inline power steering filters, part no. 14-16829-000, the filter can plug due to failure of the screen…
07V-403 Sep 6, 2007
On certain trucks equipped with rack and pinion steering, the ball socket assembly at the inner end of the driver side tie rod may be damaged in a…
07V-400 Sep 5, 2007
On certain trucks equipped with rack and pinion steering, the tie rod arms may have been incorrectly installed
07V-394 Aug 30, 2007
On certain school bus and motor home chassis, improper pinch bolt installation may result in decoupling of the steering shaft and a loss of steering
07V-357 Aug 13, 2007
On certain trucks built with a trw global adjustable upper steering column, two upper tilt plate bolts may loosen with use and fall out