The defect
Newmar Corporation (Newmar) is recalling certain 2017-2018 Dutch Star, 2016-2018 Mountain Aire and London Aire, and 2012-2018 Essex and King Aire motorhomes built on a Spartan Motors chassis. The ball joints on the independent front suspension (IFS) modules can loosen and separate, leading to a partial loss of steering.
The risk
A separated ball joint can cause a loss of steering control, increasing the risk of a crash.
The remedy
Newmar will notify owners, and Spartan service centers will remove, clean, apply thread locker, reinstall and torqued the ball joints, as necessary, free of charge. The recall began on May 3, 2017. Owners may contact Spartan at 1-800-543-4277 to locate a qualified service center or contact Newmar customer service at 1-574-773-7791. Newmar's number for this recall is 17004.
NHTSA's own wording · initiated by MFR
Vehicles covered
| Model | Model years |
|---|---|
| Newmar Dutch Star | 2017, 2018 |
| Newmar Essex | 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018 |
| Newmar King Aire | 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018 |
| Newmar London Aire | 2016, 2017, 2018 |
| Newmar Mountain Aire | 2016, 2017, 2018 |
Components: SUSPENSION:FRONT:CONTROL ARM
Model years in this recall
NHTSA complaints and the number of recall campaigns for each model year this recall covers.
| Model | Year | Complaints | Recalls |
|---|---|---|---|
| Newmar Dutch Star | 2017 | 6 | 18 |
| Newmar Dutch Star | 2018 | 16 | 15 |
| Newmar Essex | 2012 | 0 | 7 |
| Newmar Essex | 2013 | 0 | 8 |
| Newmar Essex | 2014 | 0 | 13 |
| Newmar Essex | 2015 | 1 | 14 |
| Newmar Essex | 2016 | 0 | 7 |
| Newmar Essex | 2017 | 0 | 9 |
| Newmar Essex | 2018 | 0 | 17 |
| Newmar King Aire | 2012 | 0 | 7 |
| Newmar King Aire | 2013 | 0 | 7 |
| Newmar King Aire | 2014 | 1 | 9 |
| Newmar King Aire | 2015 | 0 | 9 |
| Newmar King Aire | 2016 | 0 | 7 |
| Newmar King Aire | 2017 | 1 | 11 |
| Newmar King Aire | 2018 | 1 | 11 |
| Newmar London Aire | 2016 | 1 | 8 |
| Newmar London Aire | 2017 | 5 | 11 |
| Newmar London Aire | 2018 | 0 | 14 |
| Newmar Mountain Aire | 2016 | 0 | 8 |
| Newmar Mountain Aire | 2017 | 0 | 11 |
| Newmar Mountain Aire | 2018 | 1 | 16 |
Other suspension recalls in 2017
42 of the 810 recall campaigns reported to NHTSA in 2017 concerned the suspension; Newmar Corporation filed 120 campaigns in all.
| 17V800000 13 Dec 2017 | East Manufacturing Corp. |
| 17V727000 17 Nov 2017 | BMW of North America, LLC |
| 17V703000 8 Nov 2017 | Kawasaki Motors Corp., U.S.A. |
| 17V693000 2 Nov 2017 | REV Recreation Group |
| 17V651000 16 Oct 2017 | Daimler Vans USA, LLC |
| 17V643000 12 Oct 2017 | Keystone RV Company |
| 17V637000 11 Oct 2017 | Nissan North America, Inc. |
| 17V577000 20 Sept 2017 | Hyundai Motor America |
NHTSA recalls (public domain) · all recalls of 2017