Spartan Suspension: Air Suspension System

Spartan is recalling about 100 vehicles over a problem with the suspension. This could affect the directional control of the vehicle.

Campaign
00V216000
Manufacturer
SPARTAN MOTORS, INC.
Reported
7 August 2000
Vehicles
100
Built between
May 1997 – Jul 1998
Models
1
Recall type
Vehicle
Initiated by
Manufacturer
Owners notified
28 August 2000
Repaired
Not reported
Unrepaired
Not reported

Does this affect my vehicle?

This recall covers vehicles built between May 1997 and July 1998. If yours was built outside that window, it is not part of this recall.

  • 1997-1998 Spartan SB2142Built May 1997 to July 1998

What the defect is

Vehicle description: front engine carpenter school buses with front air suspensions. Due to frame flexing, both the track bar mount, mounting bolts, and the steering box mounting bolts could loosen which could allow subsequent fracture or torque loss of these bolts. The spring beam could also fracture.

What could happen

This could affect the directional control of the vehicle.

What gets fixed

DEALERS WILL INSTALL THREE STRUCTURAL, WELDED CROSS-MEMBERS TO TIE TOGETHER THE RIGHT AND LEFT FRAME RAILS, ALL LOCATED FORWARD OF THE FRONT AXLE. STIFFENING GUSSETS HAVE BEEN ADDED TO EXISTING FRAME CROSS-MEMBERS AND THE TO STEERING GEAR BOX MOUNTING BRACKET.

Timeline

  1. Vehicles builtMay 1997 to July 1998
  2. Recall reported to NHTSA7 August 2000
  3. Owners notified28 August 2000

Your rights

A safety recall repair is free. Under US federal law the manufacturer must fix a safety defect at no cost to you — no charge for parts, labor or diagnosis — whether or not you are the original owner. A dealer cannot charge you for recall work, and cannot require you to have bought the vehicle from them.

That entitlement is not unlimited. It applies where the vehicle was first sold less than 15 years before the recall was announced — 5 years for tires. Past that a manufacturer may still do the repair free of charge, and many do, but they are no longer obliged to. This recall was reported on 7 August 2000.

To arrange the repair, contact any franchised dealer for the brand. If a dealer refuses the work or tries to charge for it, you can report that to NHTSA at nhtsa.gov/recalls or on 1-888-327-4236.

Official source

Manufacturer's recall number
SPEC 00003
Recalling manufacturer
SPARTAN MOTORS, INC.
Recall initiated by
MFR

Everything on this page — the models listed, the build dates and the repair figures — comes from the manufacturer's filing to NHTSA and describes the vehicle line as a whole, not any individual car. Only the manufacturer can confirm whether a specific vehicle is affected, and whether its recall work has already been carried out. Check yours by VIN and read the official notice at nhtsa.gov/recalls.

Additional notes

Owner notification is expected to begin during august 2000. Owners who take their vehicles to an authorized dealer on an agreed upon service date and do not receive the free remedy within a reasonable time should contact spartan at 1-517-543-6400.ALSO contact the national highway traffic safety administration's auto safety hotline at 1-888-DASH-2-DOT (1-888-327-4236).

Check your own vehicle

This page describes the recall, not any one car. To see which recalls cover a specific vehicle, search by make, model and year.

A VIN lookup here identifies your vehicle and shows recalls issued for that make, model and year. It cannot tell you what is still open on your individual car - only the manufacturer knows that. Search by VIN instead, or check your VIN at nhtsa.gov for whether a recall is still open on your individual car.

Same component

Same brand