Ref: the federal safety agency #15v615000 voq #10671053 1/8/15 we filed a complaint that our '07 pierce impel fire truck had a steering issue, operator did not feel in control, and mechanics found ball joints failed. There is a 910 pierce fire truck recall that reference our complaint. The recall covers 06/07 arrow, quantum, dash, lance, and enforcer. How can we file the complaint on a pierce impel, send failed ball joints, and then not have the complaint truck covered in the recall? We sent failed ball joints to the federal safety agency. Most of the ball joints sent did not have boot failures, the ball joints were locked-up, galled, and coatings missing. The tak4 suspension is an assembly which includes the ball joints. When a pierce fire truck is built, the tak4 assembly is taken and bolted under that chassis, it is adjusted to the truck weight. If pierce claims in their 910 truck recall that the ball joint boots could rip/tear on the models listed for 06/07, how can the same boots not rip on impel, velocity, or other models with tak4 in the 06/07 model year? One step further, the ball joint boots that pierce is claiming rips/tears is the same boot used on the tak4 suspension from 04 to 09. Why are these boots not being recalled? Is pierce allowed to base their recall solely on warranty records? That would be one or possibly two years. After the warranty period or denied claim, there is no record of failure. Research how many replacement ball joints, boots, and control arms have been sold by pierce! Many of these issues have been ignored by pierce and left for the operators of the trucks to correct and pay for. Straight axle front end suspension trucks have given many years of service with no issues; the tak4 is not reliable in comparison. There have been trucks with wheel off events and trucks that drivers report not feeling in control of. These ball joint recalls should be LED by the federal safety agency.
The worst 2007 Pierce Impel problems
Ranked by number of owner complaints. Mileage and cost come from what owners wrote.
- Steering3
- Suspension3
Problems by type
Tap a problem to see which part fails, at what mileage and in which other years.
- Steering3
- Suspension3
Recalls 12
Electrical system: software
- What is wrong
- Pierce Manufacturing (Pierce) is recalling certain 2004-2018 Arrow XT, Dash, Enforcer, Impel, Quantum and Velocity aerial vehicles. The aerial device may unexpectedly rotate to the right when the ladder is being extended.
- Risk
- If the aerial device moves in an unexpected direction, the ladder may contact an object, such as a building or an electrical wire, increasing the risk of injury.
- Remedy
- Pierce will notify owners, and dealers will reprogram the aerial control module, free of charge. The recall began February 28, 2019. Owners may contact Pierce customer service at 1‑888‑974‑3723. Pierce's number for this recall is 74B295.
Recall number 19V022000 · Recall details
Structure
- What is wrong
- Pierce Manufacturing (Pierce) is recalling certain 2007-2017 Pierce Velocity, Impel, Arrow-XT, Quantum, and Enforcer emergency response vehicles equipped with 75ft aerial devices with a 21 inch or 28 inch limited retraction bracket. The bracket on the aerial device may detach from the aerial and fall to the ground.
- Risk
- If the bracket falls, it could strike a person below.
- Remedy
- Pierce will notify owners, and dealers will install additional hardware to mount the limited retraction bracket, free of charge. The recall began on August 22, 2018. Owners may contact Pierce customer service at 1‑888‑974‑3723. Pierce's number for this recall is 74B290.
Recall number 18V463000 · Recall details
Suspension: front: control arm: lower ball joint
- What is wrong
- Pierce Manufacturing (Pierce) is recalling certain model year 2006-2007 Arrow XT, Dash, Enforcer, Lance, Impel, and Quantum vehicles manufactured January 1, 2006, to March 31, 2007. In the affected vehicles, tears in the ball joint protective boots may result in contamination of the ball joints.
- Risk
- The contamination may cause premature ball joint failure and the wheel to disengage from the control arm, increasing the risk of a vehicle crash.
- Remedy
- Pierce will notify owners, and dealers will inspect the affected vehicles for torn ball joint boots. Pierce will also evaluate the ball joint wear. Ball joints with an unexpected level of wear will be replaced. These repairs will be performed free of charge. The recall began on December 10, 2015. Owners may contact Pierce customer service at 1‑888‑974‑3723. Pierce's number for this recall is 74B267.
Recall number 15V615000 · Recall details
Structure: body: door
- What is wrong
- Pierce Manufacturing Inc. (Pierce) is recalling certain model year 2007-2013 Velocity, Impel, and Dash CF emergency vehicles manufactured June 6, 2007, through May 31, 2013. The springs in the outer door handles are not of sufficient stiffness to prevent inadvertent door opening in certain impacts. Thus, these vehicles fail to conform to the requirements of Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard No. 206, "Door Locks and Door Retention Components."
- Risk
- In the event of a crash, the weak springs may allow the door to open and possibly fail to contain emergency personnel or equipment, increasing the risk of injury.
- Remedy
- Pierce will notify owners, and dealers will replace the door handle spring with a stiffer one, free of charge. Owners may contact Pierce at 1‑920‑832‑3000. The recall began on June 28, 2013. Pierce's recall number is 74B242.
Recall number 13V214000 · Recall details
Latches/locks/linkages
- What is wrong
- Pierce is recalling certain model year 2007-2010 Velocity and Impel fire trucks manufactured from June 6, 2007, through October 30, 2010. The springs inside the inner door handles may allow the door to open inadvertently.
- Risk
- If the door inadvertently opens while the vehicle is in motion, the occupants may fall out and suffer personal injury.
- Remedy
- Pierce will notify owners, and dealers will replace the inner door handles, free of charge. The recall began during May 2013. Owners may contact Pierce at 1‑920‑832‑3000.
Recall number 13V062000 · Recall details
Steering
- What is wrong
- Pierce is recalling certain model year 1998 through 2008 arrow xt, lance, velocity, enforcer, impel, and dash custom fire apparatus vehicles manufactured from may 30, 1998 through november 25, 2008. The steering gear bracket may fracture and break. If this occurs the steering gear may detach from the vehicle.
- Risk
- Detachment of the steering gear will result in a loss of steering control that could cause a crash.
- Remedy
- Pierce will notify owners and dealers will install a new steering gear mounting bracket free of charge. The safety recall began on october 12, 2010. Owners are being instructed to inspect the steering gear bracket prior to each trip. The remedy to repair this defect is expected to begin no earlier the january 31, 2011. Owners may contact pierce at 1‑888‑974‑3723.
Recall number 10V423000 · Recall details
Service brakes, hydraulic: foundation components: disc: caliper
- What is wrong
- Pierce is recalling certain model year 2006 through 2010 arrow xt, dash, enforcer, impel, quantum, and velocity fire trucks manufactured from october 11, 2006 through june 16, 2010 and equipped with meritor wabco ex225 rear disc brakes and onspot automatic tire chains. The meritor wabco ex225 rear disc brake caliper may interfere with the onspot automatic tire chain brackets. This interference may restrict the caliper from full movement.
- Risk
- If this interference occurs, braking performance may be reduced without warning and a crash may occur.
- Remedy
- Dealers will install new automatic tire chain brackets. The new brackets provide additional clearance for the full actuation of the disc brake calipers. This service will be performed free of charge. The safety recall began in july 2010. Owners may contact pierce at 1‑920‑832‑3000.
Recall number 10V317000 · Recall details
Structure: body: bumpers
- What is wrong
- Pierce is recalling certain model year 2003 through 2009 custom contender, dash, enforcer, impel, lance saber, and velocity fire trucks manufactured from february 20, 2003, through march 27, 2009. These trucks may be equipped with drop-down fire hose trays mounted under the front bumper. The hose tray latch may accidentally open while the vehicle is in motion.
- Risk
- If this occurs the fire hose may drop to the roadway without warning. Potential injury to people and property may occur. The sudden hose deployment may also distract drivers trying to avoid the hose and a crash may occur.
- Remedy
- A new and improved latch design has been developed and a new hose box incorporating the new latch will be installed free of charge. The safety recall began on october 4, 2010. Owner may contact pierce at 1‑920‑832‑3000.
Recall number 10V300000 · Recall details
Air bags: side/window: curtain
- What is wrong
- Pierce is recalling certain model year 2007 through 2009 fire trucks equipped with side-roll protection systems. The sensor designed to detect vehicle roll can malfunction resulting in an inadvertent deployment of the protection system.
- Risk
- Inadvertent deployment of the side-roll protection system could result in a vehicle crash or injury to an out of position occupant.
- Remedy
- Pierce will notify owners and the vehicles will be repaired free of charge. The safety recall began on august 31, 2009. Owners may contact pierce toll-free at 1‑888‑974‑3723.
Recall number 09V341000 · Recall details
Electrical system: 12v/24v/48v battery
- What is wrong
- Pierce is recalling 167 my 2007-2008 velocity and impel fire trucks. A battery box is positioned on both sides of the chassis frame directly under the cab. Cab interference may occur with the positive battery post and the aluminum cab floor substructure.
- Risk
- If metal-to-metal contact were to happen, an electrical arcing between the cab and battery could occur increasing the risk of electrical short circuit and a fire.
- Remedy
- Owners will receive a remedy kit along with instructions and should inspect the positive battery posts to make sure the protective caps have not worn away, if contact with the cab has occurred, replace the battery post protective caps. This remedy will be free of charge. The recall began on april 6, 2009. Owners may contact pierce at 1‑888‑974‑3723.
Recall number 09V105000 · Recall details
Service brakes, air: disc: caliper
- What is wrong
- Pierce is recalling 15 my 2007-2008 dash, enforcer, impel, quantum and velocity fire trucks equipped with arvinmeritor rear disc brakes and hendrickson firemaax suspension. Interference with the brake caliper adjuster bolt sleeve and the suspension beam may occur. This interference may occur if the right hand and left hand brake components were assembled on the wrong side of the axle. The adjuster bolt is designed to rotate as the brake pads wear. If the sleeve becomes damaged, the sleeve may prevent the adjuster from rotating.
- Risk
- If the adjuster can not rotate, brake performance may be compromised and a crash may occur.
- Remedy
- Dealers will adjust the bolt sleeve and the proper components free of charge. All owners have been notified by arvinmeritor.
Recall number 08V598000 · Recall details
Steering: gear box: shaft pitman
- What is wrong
- On certain fire trucks equipped with trw steering gears, models tas85 and rcs85, these steering gears contain potentially defective sector shafts with an incorrect gear tooth which may interfere with the rack-piston teeth, resulting in a stick or bind condition.
- Risk
- This condition has the potential to cause the steering gear to stall and restrict the steering turning angle of the vehicle which could result in a vehicle crash.
- Remedy
- Pierce is working with trw to replace the defective steering gear (please see 07e101). The recall began on january 11, 2008. Owners ontact trw at 765‑429‑1768 or pierce at 920‑832‑3249.
Recall number 08V020000 · Recall details
Technical service bulletins for the 2007 Pierce Impel 44
Bulletins tell dealers how to fix known problems. A warranty extension means the manufacturer pays for that repair for longer.
- All Roto Rays, Division of Eastern Fire Equipment Services, are warranted to the purchaser for 3 years...
- All Roto Rays are warranted to the purchaser for twenty-four months from the date of service against...
- Pierce has updated our inverter installation policy to require a sub-feed breaker box with inverters that...
- Pierce is communicating a material change to the ball joint boots used in applicable service kit PN 2742031
- This bulletin provides a procedure to update Telematics Control Unit (TCU) devices in Pierce custom...
- This bulletin provides a procedure for comprehensive update of the Command Zone (CZ) Telematics Control...
- This bulletin provides a procedure to update webpage and MQTT certificates in the Telematics Control Unit...
- The steering column clockspring airbag (Pierce PN 1799451) has become obsolete and will require...
- The previous bolt-in airbag and steering wheel design are now obsolete and will require replacement if the...
- Husky XP pressure transducer troubleshooting procedure for transducer-related performance concerns.
What 2007 Pierce Impel owners say
Most recent owner complaints, unedited.
3/7/15, this fire truck had steering issues. The crew was returning from a fire call. The crew called the on-call technician and reported the truck was hard to drive, hard to control, and not safe. The technician test drove and agreed with the driver. The ill steering truck was taken out of service. (history with this truck, ball joints were inspected on month prior to this incident. The ball joints were inspected with a pierce technician, it was found that two ball joints were just out of spec. The truck was left in service after discussing the findings with the pierce tech. He felt that it needs to be scheduled for replacement, but were not bad enough that the ball joint would fail and come apart. We already had two trucks out of service with failed ball joints. If we did not have the two trucks out of service, we would have started the repairs right away. This truck also went back to the dealer shortly after delivery in 2008. They replaced ball joints/components due to hard to drive complaints). 3/9/15 the ball joints were removed on this ill steering truck, we thought we were going to find excessive play between the ball and the socket of the ball joint. We also found that the passenger side lower ball joint was rotating inside the control arm, the upper ball joint thrush washer had the alignment dowels sheared and was rotating with the ball of the joint, and the passenger side lower ball joint shims were damaged, (possibly rotating). Pictures were attached of the upper thrust washer. Two control arms were not able to be reused, so we had to replace at least two control arms. Since we were going to have to replace two control arms that now come with the new style ball joint, we decided to replace all four control arms. This way they are the newest design ball joint. This is not just a ball joint failure. The control arms are also being damaged.
The driver of the fire truck reported that the truck was not steering correctly driving down the road. The truck was brought to martin county fire rescue fleet services shop. It was confirmed there was an issue with the tak4 steering system, ball joints. The ball joints were removed from the truck and found that the ball joint lube for life coating was breaking away from the ball joint caps, there was excessive play in the ball joint, gouges in the metal on the ball joint, and one ball joint was turning inside the control arm instead of its own cup. This truck had ball joint issues at the date of delivery and has had tire wear issues the entire time it has been is service. Multiple reports have been made to the pierce dealer and pierce fire truck corporation in reference to our four impel truck's tire wear and drivability. During a meeting at the pierce factory, pierce engineers reported to us that they would upgrade our tak4 ball joints with a new design and shim the camber angle to improve our drivability and tire wear. To date pierce has not followed through on their upgrade promise. At this point our shop has had to purchase and install the upgraded design ball joints and control arms in this truck. We have four other trucks with tak4 suspension that have these ball joints. Since the repair on this truck we have two more trucks with failed ball joints, they are in worse condition than the ball joints described above. We are aware of the current tak4 recall that involves 135 trucks and feel our trucks should be included. The tak4 front ball joints that do not have the upgraded ball joints should be recalled. We should not have been responsible for the cost of these repairs. I have contacted our neighboring county and they also have tak4 suspension with the same ball joint failures. [xxx], martin county fire rescue. Information redacted pursuant to the freedom of information act (foia), 5 u.s.c. 552(b)(6)
Compare the 2007 Pierce Impel
Other model years
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Questions about the 2007 Pierce Impel
Is the 2007 Pierce Impel reliable?
Owners have filed 3 complaints about the 2007 Pierce Impel, close to a typical Impel model year.
What is the most common problem with the 2007 Pierce Impel?
Steering, with 3 complaints. Next is suspension (3).
How many recalls does the 2007 Pierce Impel have?
12 recalls, covering electrical system, structure and suspension.
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