NHTSA Office of Defects Investigation
Equipment Query EQ11-004: Gunite Slack Adjusters Breaking
- Closed
NHTSA's Office of Defects Investigation opened Equipment Query EQ11-004 on August 4, 2011 and closed it on March 19, 2012. NHTSA's investigations file lists the Gunite Automatic Slack Adjuster for it and links 5 recalls to it.
Updated daily from NHTSA's investigations file
Key facts
- NHTSA number
- EQ11-004 (also written EQ11004)
- Investigation type
- Equipment Query An administrative investigation that reviews recall reports to confirm that the equipment suppliers and vehicle manufacturers involved in an equipment recall have filed the recall reports required of them.
- Status
- Closed March 19, 2012
- Opened
- Closed
- Vehicle or equipment manufacturer
- ACCURIDE CORPORATION
- Component
- Service Brakes, Air — Slack Adjusters — Automatic
- Recalls linked by NHTSA
- Vehicles and equipment
- Gunite Automatic Slack Adjuster
NHTSA's summary
As NHTSA's Office of Defects Investigation wrote it for Equipment Query EQ11-004.
try.vin does not copy NHTSA's investigation documents; NHTSA's investigation record lists the ones NHTSA has published.
On February 23, 2011, Accuride Corporation notified the NHTSA that it had decided certain Gunite branded automatic slack adjusters contain a safety related defect.
Accuride stated that certain slack adjusters, manufactured between October 15, 2010, and January 31, 2011, contain inadequate structural integrity at the slack adjuster housing due to inadequate knitting of the iron at the time of casting.
This inadequate structural integrity could cause the housing to break at the handle under normal operating loads.
If the slack adjuster were to break, the wheel brake to which the slack adjuster is attached would no longer function, causing the vehicle to have reduced braking capacity and, if mounted on the steer axle, the vehicle could pull to one side, possibly resulting in a crash.
This issue was assigned recall number 11E-008.
Accuride's Defect Report also contained a purchaser list of vehicle manufacturers who were sold these slack adjusters.
On August 4, 2011, NHTSA's Recall Management Division opened an equipment query (EQ) for this issue in order to write to these affected vehicle manufacturers.
On September 8, 2011, RMD mailed information request (IR) letters to 15 manufacturers notifying them of the Accuride safety recall and requesting they conduct a safety recall for any new motor vehicles they manufactured with these slack adjusters.
On November 3, 2011, RMD mailed a 2nd IR letter on November 3, 2011 to 5 manufacturers who did not respond to the first letter.
Autocar Industries, Inc., Beall Transport of Montanna, and Kalmar Industries Corp., responded that their units were only sold into the aftermarket.
These units would be covered under Accuride's safety recall.
Manac Inc. and Polar Tank Trailer, LLC., responded that their only affected units were shipped to Canada and, thus, no U.S. safety recall is necessary.
MAC Trailer Mfg., Inc. responded that the units they received did not fall within the production dates that Accuride recalled.
Road Systems Incorporated responded that their affected inventory was returned to Accuride and no motor vehicles were affected.
Three companies did not file sufficient responses to RMD's IR letters.
Despite additional correspondence through phone calls and e-mails, Alfab, Inc. and Peerless Limited did not file a written response with RMD.E.D. Etnyre & Co. mailed RMD a large packet of notification letter copies and recall remedy receipts that they collected in the course of Accuride's recall.
When RMD explained the regulatory requirement that E.D. Etnyre & Co. must notify the NHTSA of its defective vehicles via a Part 573 Defect & Noncompliance Information Report, the company chose not to respond.
These three companies will be referred to NHTSA's Office of the Chief Counsel for further enforcement action.
In total, five manufacturers responded to RMD's IR letters by submitting Defect Reports and conducting safety recalls for their affected vehicles.
Those companies are listed below:11V-479 - Silver Eagle 11V-481 - Wilson Trailer Company 11V-488 - Transcraft Corporation 11V-555 - Mertz Manufacturing LLC 11V-601 - Rosa Trailer Mfg.
As RMD received adequate responses from all but three companies (as noted above), this Equipment Query is closed.
Vehicles and equipment listed for this investigation
NHTSA's investigations file lists these vehicles and equipment for Equipment Query EQ11-004. A listed model year means only that an investigation names it; it says nothing about any particular vehicle. Model years with a try.vin recall page link to that page's NHTSA investigations section.
Gunite
Gunite Automatic Slack Adjuster
- model year not given
What an NHTSA investigation is
NHTSA's Office of Defects Investigation (ODI) looks into possible safety defects in vehicles and equipment, often after owner complaints. An investigation usually starts as a Preliminary Evaluation, or as a Recall Query when it concerns whether an existing recall covers the right vehicles or fixes the problem, and ODI can upgrade it to a more detailed Engineering Analysis. A Defect Petition asks NHTSA to open an investigation, and Audit and Equipment Queries are administrative investigations into whether companies complied with federal vehicle safety requirements, such as reporting, recall and certification rules.
An open investigation is not a finding that a safety defect exists, and NHTSA can close one without a recall.
To see whether a specific vehicle has an open recall, enter its VIN at nhtsa.gov/recalls.
Free VIN check: decode a VIN to see its year, make and model.
Sources
NHTSA's investigation record for EQ11-004
Investigation details come from NHTSA's investigations file, which try.vin imports once a day. The investigation types are described from the U.S. Department of Transportation Inspector General's May 2023 report on NHTSA's Office of Defects Investigation, NHTSA's petition rules (49 CFR Parts 552 and 557) and NHTSA's Office of Defects Investigation procedures. How try.vin reads NHTSA investigations.