2003 PACE AMERICAN COMMERCIAL TRAILERS

ON JANUARY 11, 2005, ODI INITIATED A MONITORING PROGRAM THAT REQUESTED PACE AMERICAN TO NOTIFY ODI OF ALL NEW WHEEL SEPARATION INCIDENTS.DURING THE APPROXIMATELY ELEVEN-MONTH REPORTING PERIOD, PACE AMERICAN HAS INFORMED ODI THAT NO ADDITIONAL WHEEL SEPARATION INCIDENTS HAVE OCCURRED IN MODEL YEAR 20... 03 VEHICLES THAT ARE THE SUBJECT OF THIS INVESTIGATION.DURING THIS REPORTING PERIOD, PACE REPORTED TWO INCIDENTS PERTAINING TO MODEL YEAR 2004 VEHICLES WHICH, WHEN COMBINED WITH ONE EARLIER REPORT OF A LOOSENED WHEEL, REPRESENT AN INCIDENT RATE OF 8 PER 100,000 VEHICLES FOR MY 2004 VEHICLES.PACE ALSO REPORTED EIGHT INCIDENTS PERTAINING TO MODEL YEAR 2005 VEHICLES, WHICH REPRESENT AN INCIDENT RATE OF 21 PER 100,000 VEHICLES. THERE HAVE BEEN NO REPORTS OF WHEELS SEPARATIONS FROM ANY PACE VEHICLES MANUFACTURED SINCE MARCH 2005.ON DECEMBER 12, 2005, PACE OUTLINED SEVERAL PLANNED OR COMPLETED ACTIONS INTENDED TO IMPROVE WHEEL RETENTION.ACCORDINGLY, ODI WILL CLOSE THIS INVESTIGATION BUT CONTINUE TO MONITOR WHEEL SEPARATIONS FOR ANOTHER TWELVE MONTHS.THE CLOSING OF THIS INVESTIGATION DOES NOT CONSTITUTE A FINDING BY NHTSA THAT NO SAFETY-RELATED DEFECT EXISTS.THE AGENCY RESERVES THE RIGHT TO TAKE FURTHER ACTION IF WARRANTED BY THE CIRCUMSTANCES.Read more

ODI CONDUCTED THIS INVESTIGATION TO INVESTIGATE WHEEL SEPARATIONS OCCURRING IN CARGO TRAILERS. IN 2003, ODI IDENTIFIED A PROBLEM WITH WHEEL SEPARATIONS OCCURRING IN RECREATIONAL VEHICLES (EA04-009, EA04-019, EA04-032) AND, IN AUGUST 2004, EXTENDED THE INVESTIGATION ACTIVTY TO CARGO TRAILERS EQUIPPED... WITH SIMILAR WHEEL END COMPONENTS AS THE RECREATIONAL VEHICLES THAT HAD EXPERIENCED WHEEL SEPARATIONS.PACE AMERICAN HAS PROVIDED INFORMATION TO ODI (4 INCIDENTS INMODEL YEAR 2003 VEHICLES AND 1 INCIDENT IN MODEL YEAR 2004 VEHICLES) THAT INDICATES A SMALL BUT PERSISTENT NUMBER OF SEPARATION INCIDENTS HAVE OCCURRED IN PACE AMERICAN VEHICLES.THE OVERALL INCIDENT COUNT IS SMALL.HOWEVER, VEHICLES EQUIPPED WITH ALUMINUM WHEELS CONSTITUTE A SIGNIFICANTLY HIGHER SEPARATION RATE THAN VEHICLES EQUIPPED WITH STEEL WHEELS.ODI IS UPGRADING PE04-058 TO AN ENGINEERING ANALYSIS TO REQUEST FURTHER INFORMATION FROM PACE AMERICAN.ODI WILL ALSO CLOSELY MONITOR THE WHEEL SEPARATION PERFORMANCE AT PACE AMERICAN FOR THE NEXT 12 MONTHS.Read more