Freightliner recall

[Rd1]

"Sure glad we had it done as they found the my tubular cage had a crack in it. It could have failed and caused a lot of damage. So I recommend if you got the recall notice, have it done ASAP!"


Sound advice, same should apply to FCCC (and other manufacturers) to respond ASAP when they are FULLY AWARE of their own problems. There was no excuse for very many to suffer on this issue, till a legal measure forced them to a recall. This cavalier attitude, is the core of the problem with their decision makers. This is similar to the Dutch Star on fire. There are just some innocent hydraulic cables laying by the engine(improperly),so what! Till one catches on fire.

This pattern, seems to repeat itself on known issues/defects. Oh well, it is just a frame cracking and breaks.. so what, any thing can fail!! Despite evidence, their logic portrays either incompetence, or negligence. or perhaps both.

[Tizbad]

Hey RD1! I see that you are still advertising your dislike for Freightliner Custom Chassis, just like you did for many weeks regarding their steerable tag back in May of 2019. Based on your negative comments on this forum regarding them, my guess is that you no longer own a Newmar with a Freightliner Custom Chassis. I find your negative opinions regarding Freightliner Custom Chassis to be very unproductive for this forum. We need to stick to the facts only, and keep our opinions to ourselves.
In my case, FCCC repaired my failing brackets proactively just before the recall was issued. The new design appears to be a very robust design.
Additionally, if you still own a Newmar, how about including that information in your signature to help provide some credibility?

Thanks,
Stu

[tom chelbana]

It is really surprise me that the breaking/cracking FL chassis fan assembly started in 2015 and even as late as today Newmar owners were requesting and saying how they were so pleased that FL has so many service locations. There will be many more fan drive assembly coming apart this year because many owners haven't had the newest replacement assembly. This is really bad news for owners that are out of warranty.
Newmar Man

[RUFINIT]

[QUOTE=tom chelbana; Newmar Man[/QUOTE]

I agree with Stu about the continued negative talk about F/liner and other manufactures. If you want to promote your product, do it on its own merits not on your biased attitude against the competition.

Tom, You constantly bad mouth F/liner. You should also sign yourself Spartan Man although it isn't necessary because we all know how you feel.

Do you even remember when Spartan had the same type of issue in 2005, 2006 and 2007 with their fan mechanism on the K2 chassis? Many broke on the highway and cause a lot of owners grief. Including Newmar's newest high line at that time, the London Aire. Many upset owners posted here. Mine, a 2006 Essex was recalled not once, but twice. First they "fixed it" then they had to fix it again with a new design since the first one cause excessive vibration. Then here was the turbo exhaust bracket that kept braking. They had to redesign and fix via a recall.

No company is perfect. Maybe Spartan is better than Freightliner, as you continually profess. I know that I and other F/L owners are sick of hearing this. I posted my update letting people know how mine was fixed. I am trying to help others. I am done with this forum because of posts like yours.

Enjoy your Spartan

[Mmdg02]

RUFINIT, Well said but I don’t think you should leave this forum. You can add a member to your ‘Ignore list’.

[ewlee]

Originally Posted by RUFINIT

I have some first hand knowledge about the recall. A few weeks ago, I called Freightliner and because of posts in this thread I asked if the recall is an inspection or a recall to replace the cage. He said it is to replace the cage and brackets. He said there are two levels of recall, depending on your coach and what it has for cage and brackets. Based on my vin, he said mine was the A recall - the big one. FL allows 13.9 hours of labor to complete. There is also a B recall, and that is a six hour fix. This is for the later model coaches, which had the modified bracket.

I contacted Sacramento Truck Center who has a dedicated RV shop. They just opened a new facility next door to their truck shop with 6 bays. I made my appointment a couple of weeks ago and they ordered the parts in so they would be there when we were coming through Sacramento on our way back from Indio to Seattle.

I dropped it off yesterday (Tuesday) and they said they would need it three days: two for the recall and one for the annual service. We got a hotel for a couple of nights. I checked in with them this morning and they said they would probably get it done today. So we checked out of the hotel at 1 and drove to the shop. They were just completing the recall. They were nice enough to put two techs on the job, to get us out earlier.

Sure glad we had it done as they found the my tubular cage had a crack in it. It could have failed and caused a lot of damage. So I recommend if you got the recall notice, have it done ASAP!

Joe,
Thank you for sharing your experience. Likewise, my chassis is an "A" recall and your information lines up with what I have been told. I was told 13.9 hours and a total replacement of the cage support. Glad all worked out for you. Safe travels

[redbaron73]

Originally Posted by Mmdg02

RUFINIT, Well said but I don’t think you should leave this forum. You can add a member to your ‘Ignore list’.

Good advice

[Hawkeye]

I don't understand why some of these guys don't get banned. Here is a good example, we might lose a helpful poster and retain a basher.

Freightliner Man

[Rd1]

Originally Posted by Tizbad

Hey RD1! I see that you are still advertising your dislike for............
Stu

Stu, what I am and HAVE BEEN advertising is my dislike of ANY manufacturer who has a problem and looks the other way.


The fan housing was known, as a matter of fact, but was ignored till a catastrophic failure (among other issues) on a 16LADP, forced a change of attitude. Good for you, that you were not the lucky winner of that catastrophic scenario.


The marker lights/pdm issue was FULLY AND CLEARY communicated to fccc, observed by multiple fccc dealers and documented. Reported to newmar, however, fccc blamed newmar and newmar blamed fccc for some 1.5 yrs. Just because folks here were not aware of it, (even though was posted ), does not mean, it should be ignored, because it related to fan club of someone. During that time frame, any one with the issue could have been caught at night or in fog and be involved in a rear end collision. Do we always have to reach such scenarios, before the issue is considered a problem, regardless of THIS of THAT manufacturer, choosing not to address their known problems? HAVE YOU EVER OBSERVED YOUR COAH AT NIGHT/FOG WITH NO TAIL LIGHTS/MARKER LIGHTS ON? Then perhaps you can appreciate driving around without being AWARE! And you or anyone else are certainly free to choose to be un-aware.


The 16-17 XCPs were fraught with very many issues. Dash lights flickering, wipers freezing, brake lights on after engine off, headlights, marker lights/PDM, passive tag axle out of center, fan frame housing, among others. Now, some of you may not be experiencing any major issues, thats great. Just remember, the next time you buy another coach, you may be the genie pig for THIS or THAT manufacturer who CHOOSES to look the other way for their known problem, at your expense.


The previous version of your V-Ride axle (believe on XCM chassis), apparently, had limited or no adjustability for some alignment features causing usual tire wear in some units. Just because some may not notice the difference between honey and s**t, should not be the reason for others to drink the cool-aid that the reasons were due to improper tire inflation or it was a bad batch of SOME tire manufacturer. Nor does it mean such issues should be ignored. There seems to be a pattern for such 'difficulties' by THIS or THAT manufacturer, and we are the ones who PAY for it.


This practice of 'mine is bigger than yours' is most unfortunate. Sadly, it is not limited to this forum. It seems to have become the official religion of the country, You are with us or against us. Thats very unfortunate, cause at the end of the day, WE are the ones who pay for it.


As for your last questions, in due time my friend, in due time. Unknown issues, shall not remain as such.

[sramer]

Originally Posted by Stanmawyer

A search of the Freightliner Custom Chassis website yields NO RESULTS for an XCP chassis.

While I may be “absolutely incorrect” as you say I am, my information comes from the only place I would expect to find it...Freightliner. If they are misleading me by calling my chassis an SL, while providing me an inferior lesser model, an XC chassis, I believe I have a cause for legal remedy. If the SL chassis is simply an XC chassis with a 605 HP engine, then they are doing what Spartan does with the new K3 series...it’s a K2 with a 605 engine, not the original workhorse super duty chassis which is now called a K4 or T4 chassis.

To your knowledge, has Fl fixed this product problem in new production models of the XC chassis?

I could not swear that it has been fixed in the newer production models. To my understand there are 2 levels to the recall. One is where the brackets that mount the fan motor or transmission to the fan cage were just replaced and the other replaced both the cage and brackets. Mine was just the brackets and although I never really looked at the old brackets, supposedly they were not as beefy as the replacement ones plus they added another mounting bolt. My chassis production date was Feb 2019 so FCCC let this problem go on for 3 years+ before taking any action. I look at my fan cage and in reality how flimsy it looks and just cringe when I hear that fan clutch engage. It’s not smooth, it’s almost like dumping a clutch on a standard transmission car is so abrupt.

[Rd1]

"never really looked at the old brackets, supposedly they were not as beefy"

[FLJOE]

Originally Posted by Rd1

Stu, what I am and HAVE BEEN advertising is my dislike of ANY manufacturer who has a problem and looks the other way.
……...CUT...…………...
As for your last questions, in due time my friend, in due time. Unknown issues, shall not remain as such.

So I am guessing you are not going to let everyone know if you still own a Newmar? If not, returning once and awhile to provide constructive advise is one thing, but continued bashing helps no one. Everyone can deal with a "this one time at band camp" story once and awhile, but to keep repeating it gets old quick my friend.

[sramer]

Originally Posted by Rd1

"never really looked at the old brackets, supposedly they were not as beefy"

Wow, I had not seen the old tube style but no wonder they would break. This is the new style, a lot more beefy I would say.

[tom chelbana]

Many MA, LA and Essex owners in the 2017, 18 and even in 19 who had FL chassis were not aware of this fan drive bracket problem because it wasn't well publicize and if it had been FL would have not taken so long to make it right. If more information would have been know earlier FL would have not taken so long.
We had a early Essex with the recall on fan drive assembly because the drive belt adjustment need to be changed out and you won't believe this but Spartan sent a team to California do do recall at the owners choice of location which for us was our home. No comparison between Spartan fan drive belt tensioner replacement and fan drive bracket cracking and damaging CAC and radiator that some posted did 16K damage to their coach.
Newmar Man