The defect
Spartan Motors Chassis, Inc. (Spartan Chassis) is recalling certain model year 2006-2007 Diamond, model year 2006-2010 Gladiator, model year 2009-2010 Metrostar and one model year 2007 Advantage emergency response vehicles manufactured December 22, 2005, through October 13, 2010, and equipped with independent front suspensions (IFS) by Ridgewell Corporation. In the affected vehicles, welds on the IFS cradles may crack.
The risk
Cracking of the welds could result in difficulty in steering the vehicle, increasing the risk of a crash.
The remedy
Spartan Chassis will notify owners, and dealers will repair any cracks and install reinforcement brackets, free of charge. An interim notification will be sent in January 2014. A second notification will be sent when the remedy parts are available. Owners may contact Spartan at 1-517-543-6400. Spartan's number for this recall is 13028.
NHTSA's own wording · initiated by MFR
Vehicles covered
| Model | Model years |
|---|---|
| Spartan Advantage | 2007 |
| Spartan Diamond | 2006, 2007 |
| Spartan Gladiator | 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010 |
| Spartan Metrostar | 2009, 2010 |
Components: SUSPENSION:FRONT
Model years in this recall
NHTSA complaints and the number of recall campaigns for each model year this recall covers.
| Model | Year | Complaints | Recalls |
|---|---|---|---|
| Spartan Advantage | 2007 | 0 | 6 |
| Spartan Diamond | 2006 | 0 | 5 |
| Spartan Diamond | 2007 | 0 | 6 |
| Spartan Gladiator | 2006 | 0 | 12 |
| Spartan Gladiator | 2007 | 0 | 16 |
| Spartan Gladiator | 2008 | 0 | 21 |
| Spartan Gladiator | 2009 | 0 | 23 |
| Spartan Gladiator | 2010 | 0 | 29 |
| Spartan Metrostar | 2009 | 0 | 15 |
| Spartan Metrostar | 2010 | 0 | 19 |
Other suspension recalls in 2013
24 of the 627 recall campaigns reported to NHTSA in 2013 concerned the suspension; Spartan Motors, Inc. filed 41 campaigns in all.
| 13V622000 16 Dec 2013 | Honda (American Honda Motor Co.) |
| 13V560000 7 Nov 2013 | Terex Advance |
| 13V556000 6 Nov 2013 | Hyundai Motor Company |
| 13V550000 5 Nov 2013 | Kia Motors Corporation |
| 13V547000 31 Oct 2013 | Isuzu Manufacturing Services of America |
| 13V543000 31 Oct 2013 | Blue Bird Body Company |
| 13V545000 31 Oct 2013 | Blue Bird Body Company |
| 13V503000 17 Oct 2013 | Altec Industries Inc. |
NHTSA recalls (public domain) · all recalls of 2013