Thor Motor Coach preliminary evaluation PE24023
Trailer Hitch Receiver Structure May Crack and Separate. NHTSA’s Office of Defects Investigation opened this preliminary evaluation about the frame and members on 23 model years (2016–2023). Opened Aug 14, 2024, closed Jan 16, 2026 after 17 months without a recall. closed
What NHTSA says
Source: Office of Defects Investigation, as filedThe Office of Defects Investigation (ODI) opened this Preliminary Evaluation, PE24023, on August 14, 2024, to investigate allegations of Thor Motor Coach motorhome frame or trailer hitch structure cracking and separating. The hitch was manufactured by Lippert and installed by Thor as standard original equipment. ODI received eight Vehicle Owner Questionnaires (VOQs) describing the hitch structure cracking. If not caught in time, a cracked hitch can fully fracture and separate from the vehicle. ODI sent information requests to Thor and Lippert on September 6, 2024 and September 27, 2024, respectively. Thor's full response was received October 31, 2024, and Lippert's full response was received December 6, 2024. ODI reviewed the responses and learned of improvements introduced to increase the overall strength of the system. The manufacturers reported 32 total incidents, and ODI is aware of 37 non-duplicative subject vehicle incidents in total, including four crash incidents where the towed vehicle separated and struck a roadside feature. The overall failure rate for all subject vehicles is low, and ODI isnot aware of any failures on vehicles produced in the last 30 months. Although a defect has not been identified, the manufacturers understand the seriousness of a potential hitch receiver structure failure. As a result, Thor, supported by Lippert, is conducting a customer satisfaction campaign that instructs consumers to inspect their hitch structure and informs what to look for and what to do if issues are found. If consumers areuncomfortable performing this inspection, Thor dealers can inspect the trailer hitch for them. The inspection and repair will be done at no expense to the consumer. ODI is closing this Preliminary Evaluation (PE) with this manufacturer action. 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 | 2024 | |
| Closing resume | INCLA | 2024 | |
| Information request to the manufacturer | INIM | 2024 | |
| Manufacturer's response — data | INRD | 2024 | 37 files 12345678910111213141516171819202122232425262728293031323334353637 |
40 of 135 documents shown; the rest are under this number at nhtsa.gov.
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 Aug 14, 2024, owners had filed 52 complaints with the agency about the model years above, of which 21 named the structure, trailer hitches NHTSA went on to investigate. 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: 2021 Thor Motor Coach Challenger; 2022 Thor Motor Coach Challenger; 2023 Thor Motor Coach Challenger; 2016 Thor Motor Coach Hurricane; 2017 Thor Motor Coach Hurricane; 2018 Thor Motor Coach Hurricane; 2020 Thor Motor Coach Hurricane; 2022 Thor Motor Coach Hurricane; 2023 Thor Motor Coach Hurricane; 2016 Thor Motor Coach Miramar; 2018 Thor Motor Coach Miramar; 2020 Thor Motor Coach Miramar; 2021 Thor Motor Coach Miramar; 2023 Thor Motor Coach Miramar; 2016 Thor Motor Coach Outlaw; 2018 Thor Motor Coach Outlaw; 2019 Thor Motor Coach Outlaw; 2017 Thor Motor Coach Windsport; 2019 Thor Motor Coach Windsport; 2020 Thor Motor Coach Windsport; 2021 Thor Motor Coach Windsport; 2022 Thor Motor Coach Windsport; 2023 Thor Motor Coach Windsport.
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 PE24023 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 PE24023 still open?
No. It closed on Jan 16, 2026 without a recall.
Which vehicles does PE24023 cover?
NHTSA opened it on 23 model years: 2021 Thor Motor Coach Challenger, 2022 Thor Motor Coach Challenger, 2023 Thor Motor Coach Challenger, 2016 Thor Motor Coach Hurricane, 2017 Thor Motor Coach Hurricane, 2018 Thor Motor Coach Hurricane 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.