NHTSA campaign 15V757000 · Part 573 safety recall report

Champion Bus, Inc.: Equipment Adaptive/Mobility

Champion Bus, Inc. reported this defect to federal regulators on Nov 16, 2015 and put the number of vehicles at risk at 1,338. The repair is free for as long as the recall stands.

The defect

Champion Bus, Inc. (Champion) is recalling certain model year 2006-2015 Challenger, Defender, Crusader, American, American Coach, American Crusader, Corporal, CTS-FE, CTS-RE, HC American, Platinum Shuttle, and Stacked Rail transit buses manufactured January 1, 2006, to August 25, 2015, equipped with certain model S2005, S2010, S5005, S5010, S5505, and S5510 wheelchair lifts. The affected lifts are equipped with folding link arms that may have pivot holes that are too big, allowing the bearings to move out of position.

The risk

If the bearings move out of position, the stowed platform may have excessive movement resulting in failure of the platform mounting. This failure could cause the wheel chair lift platform to fall out of the vehicle when the doors are opened, increasing the risk of injury for the lift operator.

The remedy

Champion will notify owners, and Ricon will inspect the link arms for damage or for displaced bearings. The platform will be inspected for cracks. Any damaged parts will be replaced, free of charge. The recall began on December 21, 2015. Owners may contact Champion customer service at 1-810-724-1753 extension 415, or Ricon customer service at 1-800-322-2884. Champion's number for this recall is 15E-068. Note: These buses and wheelchair lifts were subject to a similar recall in 2014. All vehicles that received that recall remedy are still affected by this recall as well.

120 model years covered

Newest first
VehicleComplaintsRecallsFiresCrashes
2015 Champion American0100
2015 Champion American Coach0300
2015 Champion American Crusader0300
2015 Champion Challenger0400
2015 Champion Corporal0100
2015 Champion Crusader0500
2015 Champion Cts-Fe0200
2015 Champion Cts-Re0300
2015 Champion Defender0400
2015 Champion HC American0100
2015 Champion Platinum Shuttle0100
2015 Champion Stacked Rail0200
2014 Champion American0100
2014 Champion American Coach0400
2014 Champion American Crusader0500
2014 Champion Challenger1601
2014 Champion Corporal0200
2014 Champion Crusader0700
2014 Champion Cts-Fe0400
2014 Champion Cts-Re0500
2014 Champion Defender0600
2014 Champion HC American0300
2014 Champion Platinum Shuttle0300
2014 Champion Stacked Rail0400
2013 Champion American0100
2013 Champion American Coach0400
2013 Champion American Crusader0500
2013 Champion Challenger0700
2013 Champion Corporal0200
2013 Champion Crusader0600
2013 Champion Cts-Fe0400
2013 Champion Cts-Re0500
2013 Champion Defender0500
2013 Champion HC American0300
2013 Champion Platinum Shuttle0300
2013 Champion Stacked Rail0400
2012 Champion American0100
2012 Champion American Coach0300
2012 Champion American Crusader0400
2012 Champion Challenger1500
2012 Champion Corporal0200
2012 Champion Crusader0500
2012 Champion Cts-Fe0300
2012 Champion Cts-Re0400
2012 Champion Defender0400
2012 Champion HC American0300
2012 Champion Platinum Shuttle0300
2012 Champion Stacked Rail0400
2011 Champion American0100
2011 Champion American Coach0300
2011 Champion American Crusader0200
2011 Champion Challenger0400
2011 Champion Corporal0200
2011 Champion Crusader0500
2011 Champion Cts-Fe0200
2011 Champion Cts-Re0300
2011 Champion Defender0300
2011 Champion HC American0200
2011 Champion Platinum Shuttle0200
2011 Champion Stacked Rail0300
2010 Champion American0100
2010 Champion American Coach0400
2010 Champion American Crusader0400
2010 Champion Challenger0800
2010 Champion Corporal0200
2010 Champion Crusader0800
2010 Champion Cts-Fe0300
2010 Champion Cts-Re0600
2010 Champion Defender0700
2010 Champion HC American0200
2010 Champion Platinum Shuttle0200
2010 Champion Stacked Rail0300
2009 Champion American0100
2009 Champion American Coach0400
2009 Champion American Crusader0400
2009 Champion Challenger01100
2009 Champion Corporal0200
2009 Champion Crusader01000
2009 Champion Cts-Fe0200
2009 Champion Cts-Re0300
2009 Champion Defender0900
2009 Champion HC American0200
2009 Champion Platinum Shuttle0200
2009 Champion Stacked Rail0300
2008 Champion American0100
2008 Champion American Coach0400
2008 Champion American Crusader0300
2008 Champion Challenger01000
2008 Champion Corporal0200
2008 Champion Crusader0800
2008 Champion Cts-Fe0300
2008 Champion Cts-Re0300
2008 Champion Defender01100
2008 Champion HC American0200
2008 Champion Platinum Shuttle0200
2008 Champion Stacked Rail0200
2007 Champion American0100
2007 Champion American Coach0200
2007 Champion American Crusader0400
2007 Champion Challenger0900
2007 Champion Corporal0200
2007 Champion Crusader0400
2007 Champion Cts-Fe0400
2007 Champion Cts-Re0400
2007 Champion Defender01000
2007 Champion HC American0200
2007 Champion Platinum Shuttle0200
2007 Champion Stacked Rail0200
2006 Champion American0100
2006 Champion American Coach0200
2006 Champion American Crusader0200
2006 Champion Challenger0900
2006 Champion Corporal0400
2006 Champion Crusader0500
2006 Champion Cts-Fe0300
2006 Champion Cts-Re0400
2006 Champion Defender0500
2006 Champion HC American0200
2006 Champion Platinum Shuttle0200
2006 Champion Stacked Rail0200

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 15V757000.

Full record for the 2015 Champion American → · Recalls carrying a do-not-drive advisory → · Where this data comes from →