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.

Camping at Smokiam RV Resort, Soap Lake, Washington © Rex Vogel, all rights reserved

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 10 recall notices during August 2019. These recalls involved 8 recreational vehicle manufacturers—Forest River (3 recalls), Heartland Recreational Vehicles (1 recall), REV Recreation Group (1 recall), Gulf Stream Coach (1 recall), Thor Motor Coach (1 recall), Winnebago (1 recall), Vanleigh RV (1 recall), Tiffin (1 recall)

Forest River

Camping at Dead Horse Point State Park, Utah © Rex Vogel, all rights reserved

Forest River, Inc. (Forest River) is recalling certain 2013-2019 Starcraft Allstar, 2013 and 2019 Allstar XL, 2017 Candidate II, 2014-2018 Senator II and Senator II HD, and 2015-2019 Starlite vehicles equipped with Safe Fleet Prolo Roof Escape hatches. Due to a manufacturing issue, the roof hatch external handle may unexpectedly break under reasonable use.

Forest River will notify owners, and dealers will replace the hatch, free of charge. The recall is expected to begin September 13, 2019. Owners may contact Forest River customer service at 1-800-748-3440. Forest River’s number for this recall is 05-1060.

Forest River

Camping at Texas Lakeside RV Resort, Port Lavaca, Texas © Rex Vogel, all rights reserved

Forest River, Inc. (Forest River) is recalling certain 2019-2020 Flagstaff and Cherokee Arctic Wolf recreational trailers equipped with MORyde Orbital or You Turn Rubber Pin Box Wedge Kits. The pin boxes may have been equipped with bolts 1-3/4″ in length when they should be equipped with 2″ long bolts.

Forest River will notify owners, and dealers will inspect the bolts and replace them as necessary, free of charge. The recall is expected to begin September 11, 2019. Owners may contact MORyde customer service at 1-574-293-1581 or Forest River customer service at 1-574-642-8954 (Flagstaff) or 1-260-499-2100 (Cherokee). Forest River’s number for this recall is 51-1065.

Forest River

Camping at New Green Acres RV Resort, Waterboro, South Carolina © Rex Vogel, all rights reserved

Forest River, Inc. (Forest River) is recalling certain 2020 Columbus Fifthwheel Trailers. The rear ladder blocks the egress window on the rear wall, preventing the use of the window.

Forest River will notify owners, and dealers will install an egress window, free of charge. The recall is expected to begin September 18, 2019. Owners may contact Forest River customer service at 1-574-821-1487. Forest River’s number for this recall is 410-1071.

Heartland Recreational Vehicles

Camping at Columbia River RV Park, Portland, Oregon © Rex Vogel, all rights reserved

Heartland Recreational Vehicles, LLC (Heartland) is recalling certain 2017 Bighorn Traveler, 2016-2020 Elkridge, Elkridge Ex, 2019-2020 Milestone, 2017-2018 North Peak, 2016-2017 Oakmont, 2017-2020 Pioneer FW, 2016-2018 Prowler FW, 2017-2019 Sundance and Sundance XLTFW trailers. The A/C electrical connector may have been improperly installed, possibly causing increased electrical resistance and the connection to overheat.

Heartland will notify owners, and dealers will correct the electrical connections, free of charge. The recall is expected to begin September 6, 2019. Owners may contact Heartland customer service at 1-877-262-8032. Heartland’s number for this recall is 99.01.47.

REV Recreation Group

Camping at Lake Mead National Recreation Area, Nevada © Rex Vogel, all rights reserved

REV Recreation Group (REV) is recalling certain 2016-2019 American Coach American Eagle and 2016 American Heritage motorhomes equipped with factory-installed rear air deflectors. The center mounting plate for the rear air deflector may have been installed incorrectly with screws that may loosen, possibly resulting in the air deflector detaching from the vehicle.

REV will notify owners, and dealers will properly secure the rear air deflector to the fiberglass cap with rivets, free of charge. The recall is expected to begin September 10, 2019. Owners may contact REV customer service 1-800-509-3417. REV’s number for this recall is 190709REV.

Gulf Stream Coach

Camping at Sunny Acres RV Park, Las Cruces, New Mexico © Rex Vogel, all rights reserved

Gulf Stream Coach, Inc. (Gulf Stream) is recalling certain 2017 Serro Scotty S14 RBR travel trailers. The Federal Placard label indicates an incorrect Gross Vehicle Weight Rating (GVWR).

Gulf Stream will notify owners, and dealers will replace the Federal Placard label, free of charge. The recall is expected to begin in August 2019. Owners may contact Gulf Stream customer service at 1-800-289-8787. Gulf Stream’s number for this recall is GS072619.

Thor Motor Coach

Camping at Buccaneer State Park, Mississippi © Rex Vogel, all rights reserved

Thor Motor Coach (TMC) is recalling certain 2019-2020 Omni and Magnitude motorhomes. The battery tray may be improperly welded to the chassis frame, allowing the battery tray to detach from the chassis.

TMC has notified owners, and dealers will weld on an additional support to the battery tray, free of charge. The recall began August 8, 2019. Owners may contact TMC customer service at 1-877-855-2867. TMC’s number for this recall is RC000171.

Winnebago

Camping at Poche’s RV Park, Breaux Bridge, Louisiana © Rex Vogel, all rights reserved

Winnebago Industries, Inc. (Winnebago) is recalling certain 2018-2019 Fuse motorhomes built on a 2018 Ford Transit chassis and equipped with aluminum wheel feature code 63W. The wheel studs may be too long, preventing the lug nuts from properly securing the wheels.

Winnebago will notify owners, and dealers will replace the wheel studs with a shorter version, free of charge. 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. Winnebago’s number for this recall is 159.

Vanleigh RV

Camping at Harvest Moon RV Park, Adairsville, Georgia © Rex Vogel, all rights reserved

Vanleigh RV (Vanleigh) is recalling certain 2015-2019 Vilano and Beacon fifth wheel recreational trailers. The suspension shackles may be too short, causing them to fail.

Vanleigh will notify owners, and dealers will replace the existing shackles with longer ones, free of charge. The recall is expected to begin in August 2019. Owners may contact Vanleigh customer service at 1-662-612-4040.

Tiffin

Camping at Ambassador RV Resort, Caldwell, Idaho © Rex Vogel, all rights reserved

Tiffin Motorhomes, Inc. (Tiffin) is recalling certain 2019-2020 Allegro Open Road motorhomes equipped with Liquid Spring suspension systems. A hydraulic suspension hose may be routed incorrectly, resulting in contact between the hose and the inside rear tire.

Tiffin will notify owners, and dealers inspect the position of the hydraulic hoses. If found to be incorrect, the clamp position will be corrected and the hydraulic hoses and tires inspected for any damage. Damaged components will be replaced as necessary. These repairs will be performed free of charge. The manufacturer has not yet provided a notification schedule. Owners may contact Tiffin customer service at 1-256-356-8661. Tiffin’s number for this recall is TIF-112.

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 seventh 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