Broken steering Casting caused crash of our Dutch Star w/ Spartan Chassis

[darsben]

Contact the NHTSA and fill out a report

https://www-odi.nhtsa.dot.gov/VehicleComplaint/

 

[doc brown]

Contact the NHTSA and fill out a report

https://www-odi.nhtsa.dot.gov/VehicleComplaint/

Done! Thank you! This is a life and death problem that Spartan is ignoring and it's just not right.

 

[CapeDave]

I am wondering if something further up the system caused this failure?
Inquiring minds want to know the outcome of the manufactures investigation!
If a blow out caused that part to break it is a manufacture defect that part was not strong enough.
Did you get a lawyer to represent your side of it??
Why were you not able to turn the wheel?
Thank God you made it through the day !
IMO part was defective "void" and not up to task "strength"

 

[MYRV2]

WOW... sure glad to hear that everyone involved walked away from this...I often wonder about stuff like this driving on California roads.... some of the hits to the suspension seem way too violent...the fact that the steering wheel was locked leads me to believe both front wheels were still tied together...so if the front tire blew and the casing locked in the suspension...you would loose steering control..and would not be able to turn the steering wheel... correct??? then the impact would bust parts??? hard to say...but, the fact that no one lost their life is most important... what spartan does about this is most important now...It's kinda like the deal I went threw with ford and the front wheel bearing ...ford was total at fault... but swept the whole deal under the rug... over 5000 rigs were out on the road with the same problem.... hush hush....yeah they fixed the coaches..but kept everyone as a single ? I had it happen to two chassis in a row..

 

[Utclmjmpr]

  I just rolled under my Spartan chassis with the 1200 IFS system,,I have a "bellcrank" at each end of the assy. and they are not aluminium,, but steel and all appears good.>>>Dan  (33 year A&P-IA DOM)

 

[garyb1st]

Fortunately you are still around and driving another motorhome.  I live in the L.A. area and am only 3 miles from the 101.  There couldn't be a worse place for the kind of problem you experienced.  Fortunately, you were driving at a reasonably safe speed.  Max 55 mph in California with towing.  This is an excellent reason to keep the speed down. 

 

[John From Detroit]

I think you did right to notify NTSC do not know if they will reply however. Government agency and all.

From the photo of the casting all i can tell is "it broke" can't tell why. Eyes on I might be able to say "Bad Casting" but  I'm not good enough to comment on the photo.

 

[RVMommaTo6]

I've been in an RV accident on the highway, the nys thruway, so I know how traumatic that is. I'm so sorry that happened to you. I'm sure you already feel this way, but as much as it sucks that you lost your motorhome, walking away and not killing anyone else is what really matters. I'm thankful you're ok.

 

[wrdore]

Hi I know this is an old post, but I recently had a failure of my steering gear box casting. Completely unable to steer however I was backing into my RV covering when the failure occurred  thank God I was not going 65 mph on the interstate, needless to say my guardian angle was looking out for me. I have a question, was it the steering gear box casting that failed and caused the lack of steering or was it a mechanical link to the tire that caused it? My steering box casting failed.

 

[Old_Crow]

Since the original post is from '14, and the OP is still with us, I'd like to ask what the final resolution of the original situation was.  Inquiring minds and all that.

 

[doc brown]

Hi I know this is an old post, but I recently had a failure of my steering gear box casting. Completely unable to steer however I was backing into my RV covering when the failure occurred  thank God I was not going 65 mph on the interstate, needless to say my guardian angle was looking out for me. I have a question, was it the steering gear box casting that failed and caused the lack of steering or was it a mechanical link to the tire that caused it? My steering box casting failed.

In both of our cases, it was the Bell Crank casting that failed. It's the piece that the 2 tierods and the steering arm all connect to. The OP was actually traveling at speed when his failed. Fortunately for me, I was in a parking lot going in reverse when mine failed with no warning, leaving me with absolutely no steering. Can you post or email me images of your failure? I'm contacting an attorney. This is life and death and obviously faulty castings.

Glad you and no one else was injured! I wonder how many of these have failed and seriously injured or killed people?

 

[doc brown]

  I just rolled under my Spartan chassis with the 1200 IFS system,,I have a "bellcrank" at each end of the assy. and they are not aluminium,, but steel and all appears good.>>>Dan  (33 year A&P-IA DOM)

My Bell Crank that failed is cast iron, not aluminum. So was the OP's. They did not show any outward sign of failure before failing but there are obvious voids and cavities internally that unfortunately can't be seen until they break or x-rayed.

 

[doc brown]

https://www.nhtsa.gov/recalls?nhtsaId=11145237

Here is link to the report I filed with the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. They haven't responded, but I'm not holding my breath. If you have had a similar failure please file a report with them as well.

I'd also appreciate you emailing images of your failed part and a description of what happened to [email protected]. I'm going to get something done about this one way or the other.

 

[doc brown]

I found this description for an unrelated recall of slack adjusters. Does this sound like an accurate description though? It seems spot on to me, just replace "slack adjuster housing" with "Bell Crank" and you've got exactly the problem.

http://webforms.sgs.com/v4/corp/safeguards/pdf/PRODUCT-RECALLS-Automotive-April-16-30.pdf

"due to an incomplete "knitting" of the iron at the time of casting, inadequate structural integrity of the slack adjuster housing can occur, which could cause the housing to break at the handle under normal operating loads"

 

[jubileee]

The slack adjuster is the arm ( ratcheted for adjustment, thus the name) that connects the air brake chamber to the brake camshaft.

 

[doc brown]

The slack adjuster is the arm ( ratcheted for adjustment, thus the name) that connects the air brake chamber to the brake camshaft.

I know, I was more concerned with the "incomplete "knitting" of the iron at the time of casting, inadequate structural integrity...causing the iron to break under normal operating loads" part.

In the recall it came from it's not the actual slack adjuster that is the problem, but the cast iron housing that holds it in place. I would posit that is exactly the same thing that occurred when these bell cranks were cast in the early 2000s.

 

[House Husband]

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