The defect
PINBOXES WELDED TO THE HITCH OF THE 5TH WHEEL UNIT MAY BEND UNDER CERTAIN CONDITIONS WHERE MAXIMUM STRESS IS APPROACHED OR EXCEEDED, CAUSING THE KINGPIN TO BREAK. CONSEQUENCE OF DEFECT: IF THE KINGPIN BREAKS FREE OF THE PINBOX, THE TRAILER COULD SLIDE OFF THE HITCH AND DAMAGE THE TOWING TRUCK OR MAY SEPARATE COMPLETELY FROM THE TOWING VEHICLE AND RESULT IN AN ACCIDENT.
The remedy
REPAIR AND REINFORCE PINBOX AS NECESSARY.
NHTSA's own wording · initiated by ODI
Vehicles covered
| Model | Model years |
|---|---|
| Alfa Travel Trailer | 1981, 1982, 1983, 1984, 1985 |
Components: TRAILER HITCHES
Model years in this recall
NHTSA complaints and the number of recall campaigns for each model year this recall covers.
| Model | Year | Complaints | Recalls |
|---|---|---|---|
| Alfa Travel Trailer | 1981 | 0 | 1 |
| Alfa Travel Trailer | 1982 | 0 | 1 |
| Alfa Travel Trailer | 1983 | 0 | 1 |
| Alfa Travel Trailer | 1984 | 0 | 1 |
| Alfa Travel Trailer | 1985 | 0 | 1 |
Other trailer hitches recalls in 1985
6 of the 173 recall campaigns reported to NHTSA in 1985 concerned the trailer hitches; ALFA LEISURE,INC. filed 16 campaigns in all.
| 85V173000 26 Dec 1985 | AUTOMATIC EQUIP. MFG. CO. |
| 85V167000 20 Dec 1985 | GRUMMAN ALLIED IND., INC. |
| 85V163000 9 Dec 1985 | THEURER INC. |
| 85V073000 5 Jun 1985 | LUFKIN IND., INC. |
| 85V056000 1 May 1985 | FLEETWOOD ENT., INC. |
NHTSA recalls (public domain) · all recalls of 1985