Coachmen Trailer Hitches

Coachmen is recalling about 1,953 vehicles over a problem with the trailer hitches. In the event of a trailer breaking loose from a tow vehicle, the malfunction of a breakaway switch could result in a vehicle crash, personal injury, property damage or both.

Campaign
00V265001
Manufacturer
COACHMEN INDUSTRIES, INC.
Reported
12 September 2000
Vehicles
1,953
Built between
Not published
Models
7
Recall type
Vehicle
Initiated by
Manufacturer
Owners notified
Not yet
Repaired
Not reported
Unrepaired
Not reported

Does this affect my vehicle?

The manufacturer did not publish a build-date range for this recall, so the model and year list below is the only way to tell whether your vehicle is covered.

  • 2000 Coachmen Catalina
  • 2000 Coachmen Futura
  • 2000 Coachmen Lite FW
  • 2000 Coachmen Lite TT
  • 2000 Coachmen Prospera
  • 2000 Coachmen Royal
  • 2000 Shasta Cadet

What the defect is

Vehicle description: travel trailers and fifth wheel vehicles equipped with tekonsha or bargman breakaway switch assemblies. The subject switches are base parts 2011 and 50-85-009, and are branded tekonsha (2011) and bargman (50-85-009). These may be packaged in kit numbers 1026, 1028, 2011-23, 2028-23, 2011P, 2011AP, 20005, 20010, 20015, 20020, 2026, 2026-LB, 2028, 1026-LB, 50-85-200, 50-85-201, 50-85-250, 5061404, 5061406, 5061407, 5061408, 5061410, 5061506, 5061507, 5061508, 5067406, 5067407, 5067408, 5067409, and 5067410. The internal switching mechanism may fail to make proper contact and provide electrical continuity when the breakaway pin is pulled. This condition may result in no electrical power to the trailer brakes in the event of a trailer breakaway situation and could occur without warning.

What could happen

In the event of a trailer breaking loose from a tow vehicle, the malfunction of a breakaway switch could result in a vehicle crash, personal injury, property damage or both.

What gets fixed

TEKONSHA IS NOTIFYING DISTRIBUTORS AND ORIGINAL EQUPIMENT MANUFACTURERS AND WILL REPLACE THE DEFECTIVE BREAKAWAY DEVICE WITH NEW BREAKAWAY KITS FREE OF CHARGE. ALSO, TEKONSHA WILL REIMBURSE FOR ALL FREIGHT CHARGES TO AND FROM ITS CUSTOMERS ON RECALLED PART NUMBER.

Timeline

  1. Recall reported to NHTSA12 September 2000

No owner-notification date has been published yet. Manufacturers normally write to registered owners within 60 days of reporting a recall.

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 12 September 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

Recalling manufacturer
COACHMEN INDUSTRIES, 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

Tekonsha started notifying owners during september 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 tekonsha towing systems at 1-800-325-5860 or coachmen at 1-219-825-5821.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