NHTSA campaign 15V616000 · Part 573 safety recall report

Daimler Trucks North America LLC: Trailer Hitches › Fifth Wheel Assembly

Daimler Trucks North America LLC reported this defect to federal regulators on Oct 1, 2015 and put the number of vehicles at risk at 5,801. The repair is free for as long as the recall stands.

The defect

Daimler Trucks North America LLC (DTNA) is recalling certain model year 2011-2014 Cascadia, Business Class M2, Coronado, and Columbia Glider vehicles manufactured April 5, 2010, to June 15, 2013. The affected trucks are equipped with Fontaine Ultra LT Fifth Wheel connectors, which, due to cumulative damage to the fifth wheel and its locking mechanism, have a locking mechanism that may fail to operate or to properly engage.

The risk

If the fifth wheel and locking mechanism are sufficiently damaged, the locking mechanism may fail to operate as intended and the trailer may unexpectedly detach from the tractor, increasing the risk of a crash.

The remedy

DTNA will notify owners, and DTNA authorized service facilities will replace the fifth wheel with an Ultra NT model fifth wheel, free of charge. The recall began on November 20, 2015. Owners may contact DTNA customer service at 1-800-745-8000. DTNA's number for this recall is FL-692.

What this page is, and what to do next

A recall is not an opinion. It is a Part 573 report a manufacturer is required by federal law to file once it decides a defect poses an unreasonable risk to safety, and it commits them to repairing the vehicle at no cost to the owner. The three passages above are the manufacturer’s own wording as published by NHTSA.

This page describes the campaign. It cannot tell you whether one particular car has already been through the shop — that is tracked by VIN, and only the manufacturer knows it. Check yours at nhtsa.gov/recalls or with a franchised dealer, quoting campaign number 15V616000.

Full record for the 2014 Freightliner Business Class M2 → · Recalls carrying a do-not-drive advisory → · Where this data comes from →