Blue Bird Steering: Connection

Blue Bird is recalling about 222 vehicles over a problem with the steering. Improperly torqued drag link castle nuts could cause excessive movement at the drag link to steering arm connection which could lead to potential separation of the drag link from the steering arm and loss of steering control, which may increase the risk of a crash.

Campaign
12V586000
Manufacturer
Blue Bird Body Company
Reported
13 December 2012
Vehicles
222
Built between
Aug 2012 – Nov 2012
Models
1
Recall type
Vehicle
Initiated by
Manufacturer
Owners notified
28 December 2012
Repaired
Not reported
Unrepaired
Not reported

Does this affect my vehicle?

This recall covers vehicles built between August 2012 and November 2012. If yours was built outside that window, it is not part of this recall.

  • 2013 Blue Bird VisionBuilt August 2012 to November 2012

What the defect is

Blue Bird is recalling certain 2013 model year Vision conventional school buses manufactured from August 27, 2012, to November 06, 2012. The castle nut that attaches the drag link to the steering arm may not have been torqued to the proper specifications.

What could happen

Improperly torqued drag link castle nuts could cause excessive movement at the drag link to steering arm connection which could lead to potential separation of the drag link from the steering arm and loss of steering control, which may increase the risk of a crash.

What gets fixed

Blue Bird will notify owners, and dealers will check the torque on the drag link castle nuts. Any vehicle where the castle nuts are found to be loose will also have its steering arm inspected for wear. The recall began on December 28, 2012.

Timeline

  1. Vehicles builtAugust 2012 to November 2012
  2. Recall reported to NHTSA13 December 2012
  3. Owners notified28 December 2012

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 13 December 2012.

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.

Manufacturer contact

Owners may contact Blue Bird at 1-478-822-2242.

Official source

Manufacturer's recall number
R12VT
Recalling manufacturer
Blue Bird Body Company
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

Blue Bird's recall campaign number is R12VT.Owners may also contact the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration Vehicle Safety Hotline at 1-888-327-4236 (TTY 1-800-424-9153), or go to www.safercar.gov.

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