Hercules equipment query EQ15001
Hercules All Trac A/T tires. NHTSA’s Office of Defects Investigation opened this equipment query about the tires. Opened Mar 10, 2015, closed Oct 23, 2015 after 7 months. It led to safety recall 15T011000. became a recall
What NHTSA says
Source: Office of Defects Investigation, as filedThe Closing Resume Summary is attached.
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 resumes carrying the full reasoning are linked below.
The paperwork NHTSA filed
Source: every document on this action, at nhtsa.gov- Opening resume — ODI’s own summary of why it opened this — the subject, what prompted it, and the vehicles in scope.
- Closing resume — ODI’s own summary of why it closed this, and what it concluded.
| Document | Code | Filed | At NHTSA |
|---|---|---|---|
| Opening resume | INOA | 2015 | |
| Closing resume | INCLA | 2015 | |
| Information request to the manufacturer | INIM | 2015 | |
| Manufacturer's response — data | INRD | 2015 | 3 files 123 |
| Manufacturer's response — full submission | INRL | 2015 | 2 files 12 |
These are NHTSA’s own files, served from the agency’s site — the resumes are what ODI wrote when it opened and closed the action, and the rest is the correspondence behind them, including what the manufacturer sent when the agency asked. They are linked, not copied: where a document names the people who wrote in, that redaction is the agency’s to make and its copy is the one you should read.
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 Hercules Tire & Rubber Company without naming a model year — an equipment or manufacturer-level query.
Common questions
Source: NHTSA Office of Defects InvestigationIs EQ15001 a recall?
No — it is the investigation that led to one. Recall 15T011000 is the campaign; its page carries the remedy.
Is EQ15001 still open?
No. It closed on Oct 23, 2015 and led to recall 15T011000.
Which vehicles does EQ15001 cover?
NHTSA filed it against Hercules Tire & Rubber Company without naming a model year.