The defect
Forest River, Inc. (Forest River) is recalling certain 2016 StarCraft Quest school buses built on Ford Transit chassis. In the affected vehicles, the flexible coupling connecting the transmission to the driveshaft may prematurely fail.
The risk
If the coupling fails, the vehicle will not be able to move under its own power and the disconnected driveshaft may impact and damage the brake and fuel lines. Additionally, the separated driveshaft may allow the vehicle to roll if the vehicle is exited when the transmission is in 'Park' but the parking brake is not applied. These scenarios may increase the risk of a crash.
The remedy
Forest River will notify owners, and as an interim repair, Ford dealers will replace the flexible coupling on any vehicle with more than 30,000 miles. A final remedy repair of a redesigned flexible coupling or a revised driveshaft equipped with a universal joint is being developed and is expected in early 2018. These repairs will be made free of charge. The recall began on July 25, 2017. Owners may contact Ford customer service at 1-800-392-3673 or Forest River customer service at 1-800-348-7440. Forest River's number for this recall is 5-07142017-0481.
NHTSA's own wording · initiated by MFR
Vehicles covered
| Model | Model years |
|---|---|
| Starcraft Quest | 2016 |
Components: POWER TRAIN:DRIVELINE:DRIVESHAFT
Model years in this recall
NHTSA complaints and the number of recall campaigns for each model year this recall covers.
| Model | Year | Complaints | Recalls |
|---|---|---|---|
| Starcraft Quest | 2016 | 0 | 1 |
Other power train recalls in 2017
47 of the 810 recall campaigns reported to NHTSA in 2017 concerned the power train; Forest River, Inc. filed 592 campaigns in all.
| 17V840000 22 Dec 2017 | PACCAR Incorporated |
| 17V821000 20 Dec 2017 | Chrysler (FCA US LLC) |
| 17V796000 11 Dec 2017 | Aston Martin The Americas |
| 17V730000 17 Nov 2017 | Daimler Trucks North America LLC |
| 17V706000 9 Nov 2017 | Honda (American Honda Motor Co.) |
| 17V702000 6 Nov 2017 | Crysteel Manufacturing Inc |
| 17V671000 24 Oct 2017 | Ford Motor Company |
| 17V669000 23 Oct 2017 | Ford Motor Company |
NHTSA recalls (public domain) · all recalls of 2017