Daimler Recalls Trucks
This story appears in the April 16 print edition of Transport Topics.
Editor’s note: The original version of this story should have stated Daimler was recalling trucks for possible problems with the driver seat. There are no issues with the actual seat belts. A corrected version appears below.
Daimler Trucks North America announced a recall of up to 8,747 recently built Freightliner Cascadia trucks and Western Star 4900s for possible seat problems and 1,000 Cascadias and Business Class M2s for possible steering wheel problems.
Daimler said it discovered the problems “through routine manufacturing and inspections” and knew of no accidents or injuries resulting from the recalled components.
The Cascadia is Freightliner’s main over-the-road truck. The M2 is a medium-duty vocational. The Western Star can be a severe-duty or over-the-road Class 8 vehicle.
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration said on its website, www.safercar.gov, where it places its recall notices, that Daimler’s “report date” of both problems was March 30.
“DTNA initiated both of these voluntary safety campaigns following discovery of the defects during routine manufacturing and inspections at our Cleveland [N.C.] Truck Manufacturing Plant,” Daimler spokeswoman Amy Sills told Transport Topics. “The campaigns involve a seat weld and a steering wheel nut, each affecting relatively short periods of production. Both defects have since been corrected by the suppliers involved.”
Sills said Daimler believes that fewer than 10% of the 10,000 trucks being recalled have one of the defects.
The Cascadias and Western Stars with the possible seat problem were built from Dec. 22, 2011, through Feb. 23 this year, the NHTSA notice said.
“These seat bases may have out-of-specification welds that may allow the seat to buckle unexpectedly,” NHTSA said.
“An unexpected movement of the seat could affect vehicle control and visibility, increasing the risk of a crash,” NHTSA said.
Daimler said that the Cascadias and M2s involved with a possible steering wheel defect were built from Jan. 20 through Feb 17 this year.
“These vehicles may have been assembled with a steering wheel nut that may not provide the clamp load required to fully seat the steering wheel on the steering shaft,” NHTSA said.
“A steering wheel that is not fully seated onto the steering shaft may wobble and make it difficult to control the vehicle, increasing the risk of a crash,” the agency said.
Daimler will notify owners of the trucks and will have new replacement parts installed by DTNA authorized dealers free of charge, the company said.
In early March, Daimler said it was recalling all 110,000 of its heavy-duty Freightliner, Western Star and Sterling trucks built between 2005 and this year, trucks equipped with Detroit Diesel 13-, 15- and 16-liter engines, to fix a possible fuel system leak that could cause accidents, fuel leaks and fires (3-12, p. 3).
No accidents or injuries have been reported for the earlier defect, Sills said.
“There is no connection between these safety campaigns and any prior DTNA recall,” she added. She did not have immediate comment on the progress of the first recall.
Daimler shut down its Sterling brand in 2009.
