NHTSA Office of Defects Investigation

Recall Query RQ15-002: Wheelchair lift platform failure

Closed

NHTSA's Office of Defects Investigation opened Recall Query RQ15-002 on March 18, 2015 and closed it on October 16, 2015. NHTSA's investigations file lists the Ricon Wheelchair Lift for it and links 16 recalls to it.

Updated daily from NHTSA's investigations file

Key facts

NHTSA number: RQ15-002 (also written RQ15002)
Investigation type: Recall Query An investigation into whether an existing recall covers the right vehicles or whether its remedy works, run much like a Preliminary Evaluation.
Status: Closed October 16, 2015
Opened: March 18, 2015
Closed: October 16, 2015
Vehicle or equipment manufacturer: Ricon Corporation
Component: Structure — Frame and Members
Recalls linked by NHTSA: 15V-564: Wheel Chair Lift Link Arm Pivot Holes, reported September 4, 2015
15V-565: Wheel Chair Lift Link Arm Pivot Holes, reported September 4, 2015
15V-724: Wheel Chair Lift Link Arm Pivot Holes, reported November 3, 2015
15V-765: Wheel Chair Lift Link Arm Pivot Holes, reported November 18, 2015
15V-766: Wheel Chair Lift Link Arm Pivot Holes, reported November 18, 2015
15V-767: Wheel Chair Lift Link Arm Pivot Holes, reported November 18, 2015
15V-768: Wheel Chair Lift Link Arm Pivot Holes, reported November 18, 2015
15V-769: Wheel Chair Lift Link Arm Pivot Holes, reported November 18, 2015
15V-770: Wheel Chair Lift Link Arm Pivot Holes, reported November 19, 2015
15V-772: Wheel Chair Lift Link Arm Pivot Holes, reported November 19, 2015
15V-773
15V-779
15V-868
15V-870
16V-001
15E-068 (NHTSA record)
Vehicles and equipment: Ricon Wheelchair Lift

NHTSA's summary

As NHTSA's Office of Defects Investigation wrote it for Recall Query RQ15-002.

On July 15, 2014, Ricon Corporation released safety recall 14E-041 to address lower pivot fatigue fractures in certain of its S-series wheel chair lifts.

Ricon took this action after becoming aware of subject lift field failures including six involving school buses owned and operated by First Student (a school transport contractor) in Baltimore, MD.Ricon?s remedy in 14E-041 was the installation of an ?elastomeric bumper kit? (essentially a rubber bumper), designed to limit lift platform oscillation while in the stowed position. This RQ was opened when it became evident that lower pivot fatigue failures were continuing to occur on buses that had been remedied pursuant to 14E-041.

On February 25, 2015, we were contacted by First Student, Baltimore regarding a recall remedy failure of a Ricon S-series wheelchair lift platform in three of its buses.

We inspected those buses the following day and later, with Ricon staff.

Subsequently the pivot bushing holes in the folding link arms were found to be larger than specified thus allowing the busing to withdraw and the lift to oscillate while stowed.

This movement stressed the link arms near the pivot bushing hole causing them to crack.

Since the remedy in 14E-041 was inadequate, Ricon decided to conduct a second recall (15E-068) to address the newly discovered root cause.

With that recall, this RQ is closed.

Vehicles and equipment listed for this investigation

NHTSA's investigations file lists these vehicles and equipment for Recall Query RQ15-002. 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.

Ricon

Ricon Wheelchair Lift
- 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 RQ15-002

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.