Gunite equipment query EQ11004
Gunite Slack Adjusters Breaking. NHTSA’s Office of Defects Investigation opened this equipment query about the automatic. Opened Aug 4, 2011, closed Mar 19, 2012 after 8 months. It led to safety recall 11V479000, 11V481000, 11V488000, 11V555000, 11V601000. became a recall
What NHTSA says
Source: Office of Defects Investigation, as filedOn February 23, 2011, Accuride Corporation notified the NHTSA that it had decided certain Gunite branded automatic slack adjusters contain a safety related defect. Accuride stated that certain slack adjusters, manufactured between October 15, 2010, and January 31, 2011, contain inadequate structural integrity at the slack adjuster housing due to inadequate knitting of the iron at the time of casting. This inadequate structural integrity could cause the housing to break at the handle under normal operating loads. If the slack adjuster were to break, the wheel brake to which the slack adjuster is attached would no longer function, causing the vehicle to have reduced braking capacity and, if mounted on the steer axle, the vehicle could pull to one side, possibly resulting in a crash. This issue was assigned recall number 11E-008. Accuride's Defect Report also contained a purchaser list of vehicle manufacturers who were sold these slack adjusters. On August 4, 2011, NHTSA's Recall Management Division opened an equipment query (EQ) for this issue in order to write to these affected vehicle manufacturers. On September 8, 2011, RMD mailed information request (IR) letters to 15 manufacturers notifying them of the Accuride safety recall and requesting they conduct a safety recall for any new motor vehicles they manufactured with these slack adjusters. On November 3, 2011, RMD mailed a 2nd IR letter on November 3, 2011 to 5 manufacturers who did not respond to the first letter. Autocar Industries, Inc., Beall Transport of Montanna, and Kalmar Industries Corp., responded that their units were only sold into the aftermarket. These units would be covered under Accuride's safety recall. Manac Inc. and Polar Tank Trailer, LLC., responded that their only affected units were shipped to Canada and, thus, no U.S. safety recall is necessary. MAC Trailer Mfg., Inc. responded that the units they received did not fall within the production dates that Accuride recalled. Road Systems Incorporated responded that their affected inventory was returned to Accuride and no motor vehicles were affected. Three companies did not file sufficient responses to RMD's IR letters. Despite additional correspondence through phone calls and e-mails, Alfab, Inc. and Peerless Limited did not file a written response with RMD. E.D. Etnyre & Co. mailed RMD a large packet of notification letter copies and recall remedy receipts that they collected in the course of Accuride's recall. When RMD explained the regulatory requirement that E.D. Etnyre & Co. must notify the NHTSA of its defective vehicles via a Part 573 Defect & Noncompliance Information Report, the company chose not to respond. These three companies will be referred to NHTSA's Office of the Chief Counsel for further enforcement action. In total, five manufacturers responded to RMD's IR letters by submitting Defect Reports and conducting safety recalls for their affected vehicles. Those companies are listed below:11V-479 - Silver Eagle 11V-481 - Wilson Trailer Company 11V-488 - Transcraft Corporation 11V-555 - Mertz Manufacturing LLC 11V-601 - Rosa Trailer Mfg. As RMD received adequate responses from all but three companies (as noted above), this Equipment Query is closed.
A Equipment Query is a query about a piece of equipment — a component, a tire, a child seat — rather than a whole vehicle. The summary is the agency’s own text from its investigation file, unedited; the opening and closing resumes with the full reasoning are on NHTSA’s site under this number.
What this means for an owner
Source: and what happens nextAn investigation is not a finding that a defect exists, and it puts no duty on anyone. NHTSA opens a Preliminary Evaluation when complaints and other reports suggest a condition worth asking the manufacturer about; it upgrades to an Engineering Analysis when the answers warrant testing; it closes either when it recommends a recall, when the manufacturer recalls on its own, or when no defect trend is found. The agency’s own goals are about four months for a petition, eight for a Preliminary Evaluation or a Recall Query and eighteen for an Engineering Analysis; many run longer.
This one became a recall. The campaign page carries the manufacturer’s filed defect, risk and remedy, the build window and every model year covered; whether one specific vehicle is included is settled by VIN at nhtsa.gov/recalls.
Model years it names
Source: as NHTSA filed themNHTSA filed this action against ACCURIDE CORPORATION without naming a model year — an equipment or manufacturer-level query.
Common questions
Source: NHTSA Office of Defects InvestigationIs EQ11004 a recall?
No — it is the investigation that led to one. Recall 11V479000, 11V481000, 11V488000, 11V555000, 11V601000 is the campaign; its page carries the remedy.
Is EQ11004 still open?
No. It closed on Mar 19, 2012 and led to recall 11V479000, 11V481000, 11V488000, 11V555000, 11V601000.
Which vehicles does EQ11004 cover?
NHTSA filed it against ACCURIDE CORPORATION without naming a model year.