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?

Rain Spirit RV Resort, Cottonwood, Arizona © Rex Vogel, all rights reserved

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 11 recall notices during March 2020. These recalls involved 6 recreational vehicle manufacturers—Forest River (4 recalls), Heartland (2 recalls), Keystone (2 recalls), Jayco (1 recall), Triple E (1 recall), and Thor Motor Coach (1 recall).

Orange Groove RV Park, Bakersfield, California © Rex Vogel, all rights reserved

Forest River

Forest River, Inc. (Forest River) is recalling certain 2019-2020 Surveyor, NO BO, Cherokee, R. POD, Clipper, Viking, Independence, Puma and East to West trailers. The spare tire carrier U-bolts may fail allowing the spare tire carrier and spare tire detach from the vehicle.

Forest River will notify owners, and dealers will replace U-bolts, free of charge. The recall is expected to begin March 13, 2020. Owners may contact Surveyor, NO BO, R. and POD customer service at 1-574-642-3119, Independence, Viking, and Clipper customer service at 1-269-467-4600, Puma customer service at -574-642-0606, East and West customer service at 1-574-264-6664 or Cherokee customer service at 1-877-426-5337. Forest River’s number for this recall is 51-1133

Creekfire RV Resort, Savannah, Georgia © Rex Vogel, all rights reserved

Forest River

Forest River, Inc. (Forest River) is recalling certain Shasta SST240TH and SST260TH trailers. The tires may have insufficient clearance inside the wheel well allowing the tire to contact the inside of the wheel well, possibly resulting in tire failure.

Forest River will notify owners, and dealers will replace the equalizers with ones that are 2 inches taller and replace any tiresthat has evidence of damage, free of charge. The recall is expected to begin April 8, 2020. Owners may contact Forest River customer service at 1-574-821-1311. Forest River’s number for this recall is 53-1144.

Terre Haute RV Park, Terre Haute, Indiana © Rex Vogel, all rights reserved

Forest River

Forest River, Inc. (Forest River) is recalling certain 2016 Coachmen Orion, 2019-2020 Lone Star Handicap Vans, and 2016-2018 Dynamax Rev vehicles. The transmission shifter cable may separate and disconnect from the transmission, causing the vehicle to not perform shifts intended by the driver and the gear shift lever position not matching the actual transmission gear.

Forest River will notify owners, and Fiat Chrysler USA dealers will replace the transmission shift cable, free of charge. The recall is expected to begin April 28, 2020. Owners may contact Forest River customer service at 1-800-348-7440 or Chrysler (FCA) Ram Trucks at 1-866-726-4636. Forest River’s number for this recall is 51-1149.

Oh! Kentucky Campground and RV Park, Berea, Kentucky © Rex Vogel, all rights reserved

Forest River

Forest River, Inc. (Forest River) is recalling certain 2019-2020 Berkshire and Sportscoach motorhomes equipped with air disc brakes. The brake caliper mounting bolts may have been insufficiently tightened.

Forest River will notify owners, and Daimler Trucks (DTNA) dealers will inspect and repair the vehicles, free of charge. The recall is expected to begin April 28, 2020. Owners may contact DTNA customer service at 1-800-745-8000. Forest River’s number for this recall is FL-845.

Frog City RV Park, Duson, Louisiana © Rex Vogel, all rights reserved

Heartland

Heartland Recreational Vehicles, LLC (Heartland) is recalling certain 2020 Bighorn Traveler, Elkridge, Milestone, and Pioneer Fifth Wheel trailers. The smoke detector may be incorrectly located in the bedroom.

Heartland will notify owners, and dealers will either relocate the detector or add an additional one, free of charge. The recall is expected to begin April 10, 2020. Owners may contact Heartland customer service at 1-877-262-8032.

Hacienda RV Resort, Las Cruces, New Mexico © Rex Vogel, all rights reserved

Heartland

Heartland Recreational Vehicles, LLC (Heartland) is recalling certain 2020 Shadow Cruiser Ultra Lite trailers. The Certification Label indicates an incorrect GVWR and axle rating. As such, these vehicles fail to comply with the requirements of 49 CFR Part 567, “Certification.”

Heartland will notify owners and send them corrected replacement labels, free of charge. The recall is expected to begin May 11, 2020. Owners may contact Heartland customer service at 1-877-262-8032.

He He Illihea RV Resort, Salem, Oregon © Rex Vogel, all rights reserved

Keystone

Keystone RV Company (Keystone) is recalling certain 2020 Hideout, Springdale, and Crossroads Zinger trailers. The spare tire carrier U-bolts may fail allowing the spare tire carrier and spare tire detach from the vehicle.

Keystone will notify owners, and dealers will replace U-bolts, free of charge. The recall is expected to begin April 20, 2020. Owners may contact Keystone customer service at 1-866-425-4369. Keystone’s number for this recall is 20-371.

The Barnyard RV Park, Lexington, South Carolina © Rex Vogel, all rights reserved

Keystone

Keystone RV Company (Keystone) is recalling certain 2020 Bullet 34RI trailers equipped with overhead cabinets across the rear wall. The trailers may be missing an egress window in the main living area, preventing passenger exit in the event of an emergency.

Keystone will notify owners, and dealers will replace the existing crank open vent window with an egress window, free of charge. The recall is expected to begin April 21, 2020. Owners may contact Keystone customer service at 1-866-425-4369.

Sea Breeze RV Park, Portland, Texas © Rex Vogel, all rights reserved

Jayco

Jayco, Inc. (Jayco) is recalling certain 2013-2015 Fifth Wheel Seismic and 2015 Pinnacle trailers. The trailers were built with 6,000lb capacity axles instead of 7,000lb axles as intended.

Jayco will notify owners, and dealers will replace the axles and leaf springs, free of charge. The recall is expected to begin March 23, 2020. Owners may contact Jayco customer service at 1-800-517-9137. Jayco’s number for this recall is 9901506

Texas Lakeside RV Park, Port Lavaca, Texas © Rex Vogel, all rights reserved

Triple E

Triple E Recreational Vehicles (Triple E) is recalling certain 2020 Wonder W24RTB, W24MB, and W24FTB travel trailers. The 12V ceiling pot light wires are not protected with a grommet where they pass through the aluminum tubing, allowing them to chafe and arc.

Triple E has notified owners, and dealers will cover the ceiling pot light wiring in a split tubing or install a grommet to protect the wire from the metal edges of the tubing, free of charge. The recall began March 13, 2020. Owners may contact Triple E customer service at 1-877-992-9906. Triple E’s number for this recall is CA#9643-1.

Las Vegas RV Park, Las Vegas, Nevada © Rex Vogel, all rights reserved

Thor Motor Coach

Thor Motor Coach (TMC) is recalling certain 2020-2021 Tellaro 20AT and 20LT, and 2020 Sequence 20A, 20K, and 20L motorhomes. The transmission shifter cable may separate and disconnect from the transmission, causing the vehicle to not perform shifts intended by the driver and the gear shift lever position not matching the actual transmission gear.

Chrysler will notify owners, and dealers will replace the transmission shift cable, free of charge. The recall is expected to begin May 16, 2020. Owners may contact TMC customer service at 1-877-855-2867. TMC’s number for this recall is RC000185.

Leaf Verde RV Park, Buckeye, Arizona © Rex Vogel, all rights reserved

Please Note: This is the 14th 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