2013 Forest River Vlite problems

What is wrong

Forest River is recalling certain model year 2012-2013 Rockwood, Windjammer, Vlite and Flagstaff travel trailers manufactured February 3, 2012, through February 4, 2013. When an affected trailer hits a large bump or pot hole, the trailer tire may contact the bottom of the floor.

Risk

As a result, the tire may become damaged and possibly blow out which may cause a loss of control, increasing the risk of a crash.

Remedy

Forest River will notify owners, and dealers will add a lift kit between the frame and the axle mounting brackets, free of charge. Owners may contact Forest River at 1‑574‑825‑7178.

Recall number 13V554000 · Recall details

ODI opened RQ14-004 based on 3 Vehicle Owner Questionnaires (VOQs) which reported a condition similar to recall 13V‑554.This recall addressed insufficient clearance between the tire and trailer floor.The condition was due to a frame supplier change which resulted in reduced clearance between the top of the tire and the bottom of the wheel wellOf the three VOQs reported in the opening resume two were not included in recall 13V‑554 and one was.Both of the vehicles not included used a different frame than the recalled trailers.Upon thorough examination of the condition experienced by the owners it was found that neither unit exhibited insufficient tire clearance between the bottom of the floor and top of the tire.Forest River's initial Information Request Response (IRR) submission did not adequately address all the questions asked by ODI.Following a meetingwith Forest River personnel on March 20, 2015 an IRR was submitted on May 22, 2015, which satisfied ODI.This submission is included in the public repository.When asked how Forest River identified the recall population they used a production change to determine the start and end dates.On February 3, 2012 Forest River introduced a new frame.The engineering drawings used to launch this new frame failed to identify the frame rail height.Furthermore, Forest River failed to verify that the new frame rail height was the same as the one it replaced.This created a half inch reduction in clearance.This issue was not identified and remedied untilFebruary 4, 2013 which is the end of the recall population. A thorough review of the complaint and warranty informationreceived during this investigation was preformed.After removing claims that could be associated with recall 13V‑554 a defect trend was not identified on the remaining population.The only crash which also included an injurycould not be positively associated with the alleged defect. This investigation is closed.The closing of this investigation does not constitute a finding by the federal safety agency that no safety-related defect exists.The agency reserves the right to take further action if warranted by the circumstances.The ODI reports cited above can be reviewed at: http://www-odi.the federal safety agency.dot.gov/owners/Searchreference under the following complaint identification numbers: 10598458, 10598344, 10538519.

RQ14004