Dexter preliminary evaluation PE20017
The steering arm may fall onto roadway. NHTSA’s Office of Defects Investigation opened this preliminary evaluation about the multiple axle. Opened Oct 9, 2020, closed May 6, 2021 after 7 months. It led to safety recall 21E019000. became a recall
What NHTSA says
Source: Office of Defects Investigation, as filedThe Office of Defects Investigation (ODI) opened this Preliminary Evaluation (PE) on October 9, 2020 to investigate a Technical Service Bulletin (TSB #10168802) submitted by Dexter Axles (Dexter) in December 2019 regarding the failure of Smart-Steer 2.0 steering arm mounting bolts. The failure of these steering arm mounting bolts allows the steering arm assembly to detach and fall into the roadway. In response to an Information Request (IR) letter, Dexter submitted additional information regarding these failures, including warranty claim data and pictures of tie rods with lost clamps and steering arms. Through data analysis, ODI identified a trend of warranty claims with multiple occurrences of steering arm mounting bolts failing on Dexter Smart-Steer 2.0 axle assemblies. ODI was also aware of a comparable defect being addressed by recall 20E-055 on other steering axles that may have a similar configuration to Smart-Steer 2.0 Dexter Axles. Discussions and analysis of the data between ODI and Dexter resulted in Dexter submitting recall 21E-019 on March 15, 2021. This recall includes and provides a remedy for the entire U.S. population of axles that were the subject of this PE20-017. ODI is closing this PE with Dexter?s safety recall 21E-019.
A Preliminary Evaluation is the first formal stage: NHTSA has decided the complaints and other information it screened are worth a closer look, and asks the manufacturer for its own data on the condition. 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 | 2020 | |
| Closing resume | INCLA | 2020 | |
| Information request to the manufacturer | INIM | 2020 |
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 DEXTER AXLE without naming a model year — an equipment or manufacturer-level query.
Common questions
Source: NHTSA Office of Defects InvestigationIs PE20017 a recall?
No — it is the investigation that led to one. Recall 21E019000 is the campaign; its page carries the remedy.
Is PE20017 still open?
No. It closed on May 6, 2021 and led to recall 21E019000.
Which vehicles does PE20017 cover?
NHTSA filed it against DEXTER AXLE without naming a model year.