Thor Motor Coach, Forest River and 6 others preliminary evaluation PE20021
Trimark 060-1650 Door Latch Failures. NHTSA’s Office of Defects Investigation opened this preliminary evaluation about the equipment on 34 model years (2013–2019). Opened Nov 23, 2020, closed Dec 13, 2024 after 4.1 years without a recall. closed
What NHTSA says
Source: Office of Defects Investigation, as filedOn November 23, 2020, the Office of Defects Investigation (ODI) opened PE20021 to investigate allegations of inoperative Trimark THP 060-1650 door lock/latches originally equipped on model years (MY) 2015-2017 Class A and Class C motorhomes. ODI received forty-six Vehicle Owner’s Questionnaires (VOQs) describing consumers being locked in or out of their vehicles. The door latch, containing a die-cast zinc plunger, was produced by Equality during calendar years 2014-2016. The die-cast may become porous and brittle over time and can break without warning, causing the vehicle owner to be unable to open the recreational vehicle door equipped with the latch. If the motorhome does not have any other doors such as some Class A models, occupants could be trapped inside, needing to climb out using the emergency exits. If locked out, owners would be unable to easily get in and retrieve children and pets. ODI analyzed the data provided by Trimark in response to its January 27, 2021 information request letter. Although an elevated failure rate was evident on a specific combination of plunger bolt, door lock/latch assembly and door, the data showed that most failures occurred within the first two years of service on the affected 2015-2017 vehicles. This data suggests that component failures generally would have already occurred. Further, ODI data reflects a downward trend in complaints after calendar year 2018 and for post- MY 2016 vehicles. This downward trend may be attributed Trimark's actions in 2016 such as changes in the manufacturing process of its zinc plunger component for the relevant population and its 2016 decision to switch to a steel plunger. In view of the nature of early-life failure, and failure rate trending downward for model years 2017 and newer, this Preliminary Evaluation (PE) is closed. The closing of this investigation does not constitute a finding by NHTSA that a safety-related defect does not exist. The Agency reserves the right to take additional action if warranted by future circumstances. To review the ODI reports cited in the Closing Resume ODI Report Identification Number document, go to NHTSA.gov.
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 | |
| Manufacturer's response — data | INRD | 2020 | 15 files 123456789101112131415 |
| Memo to the investigation file | INME | 2020 | |
| Filed document | INCV | 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 owners had already reported
Source: complaints on file the day it openedWhen NHTSA opened this on Nov 23, 2020, owners had filed 84 complaints with the agency about the model years above. Owner complaints are the agency’s main early signal: ODI screens them, and a Preliminary Evaluation is usually where a pattern in them ends up.
This is what the complaint file held on that date, not a claim about which reports prompted the investigation — NHTSA’s complaint records carry no investigation number, so nobody can make that link from the data alone. The opening resume linked above names the reports ODI itself cited. Complaint records on this site begin with 2016.
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 closed without a recall. That means NHTSA found no defect trend it chose to act on at the time, or the manufacturer addressed the condition another way (a service campaign or a bulletin, which have their own pages). A closed file can be reopened if new reports arrive.
Model years it names
Source: as NHTSA filed themAlso named on model years this site has no page for: 2013 A.c.e. 29.2; 2014 Ford F-53; 2018 Ford F-53; 2016 Forest River Berkshire; 2016 Forest River FR3; 2018 Forest River FR3; 2018 Forest River Forester; 2015 Forest River Georgetown; 2018 Forest River Sunseeker; 2017 Thor Palazzo; 2016 Thor Motor Hurricane; 2016 Thor Motor Outlaw; 2014 Thor Motor Coach ACE; 2015 Thor Motor Coach ACE; 2016 Thor Motor Coach ACE; 2017 Thor Motor Coach ACE; 2015 Thor Motor Coach Axis; 2016 Thor Motor Coach Axis; 2014 Thor Motor Coach Challenger; 2015 Thor Motor Coach Challenger; 2017 Thor Motor Coach Challenger; 2018 Thor Motor Coach Compass; 2015 Thor Motor Coach Four Winds Siesta; 2015 Thor Motor Coach Hurricane; 2014 Thor Motor Coach Palazzo; 2017 Thor Motor Coach Palazzo; 2017 Thor Motor Coach Tuscany; 2015 Thor Motor Coach Vegas; 2016 Thor Motor Coach Vegas; 2017 Thor Motor Coach Windsport; 2016 Winnebago Minnie Winnie; 2018 Winnebago Minnie Winnie; 2019 Winnebago Trend.
A vehicle page’s investigation list carries the same action; a name here is the scope NHTSA opened, not a list of affected VINs.
Common questions
Source: NHTSA Office of Defects InvestigationIs PE20021 a recall?
No. A preliminary evaluation is NHTSA asking questions, not a recall. A safety recall carries an NHTSA campaign number and a duty to repair for free; this one closed without one. Whether one particular vehicle has an open recall is a VIN question at nhtsa.gov/recalls.
Is PE20021 still open?
No. It closed on Dec 13, 2024 without a recall.
Which vehicles does PE20021 cover?
NHTSA opened it on 34 model years: 2017 Ford E-Series, 2013 A.c.e. 29.2, 2014 Ford F-53, 2018 Ford F-53, 2016 Forest River Berkshire, 2016 Forest River FR3 and more. That is the scope of the inquiry, not a list of affected vehicles; a recall, if one follows, defines its own population by VIN.