Knapheide Equipment: Winch

Knapheide is recalling about 38 vehicles over a problem with the equipment. A winch that operates unintentionally increases the risk of injury.

Campaign
23V381000
Manufacturer
Knapheide Manufacturing Company
Reported
26 May 2023
Vehicles
38
Built between
Not published
Models
6
Recall type
Vehicle
Initiated by
Manufacturer
Owners notified
13 October 2023
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.

  • 2022 Knapheide Ford F-250
  • 2022 Knapheide Ford F-350
  • 2022 Knapheide Ford F-550
  • 2022-2023 Knapheide GM 2500HD
  • 2023 Knapheide GM 3500
  • 2022 Knapheide RAM 3500

What the defect is

Knapheide Manufacturing Company (KMC) is recalling certain 2022-2023 GM 2500HD, 2022 RAM 3500, Ford F-250, F-350, F-550, and 2023 GM 3500 vehicles equipped with certain Warn Industries VR EVO winches with a wireless handheld remote. Water may enter the handheld remote control for the winch and cause circuit board corrosion, which can allow the winch to operate unintentionally.

What could happen

A winch that operates unintentionally increases the risk of injury.

What gets fixed

KMC will work with Warn Industries, Inc. to provide owners instructions on how to inspect the remote for corrosion and disable the wireless function by removing the battery pack from the remote.

Parts involved

  • VR EVO Winch 103251104218 - S/P Remote & Control Module8,000 lb. winch remote control
  • VR EVO Winch 103253104218-S/P Remote & Control Module10,000 lb. winch remote control
  • VR EVO Winch 103254104218-S/P Remote & Control Module12,000 lb. winch remote control
  • VR EVO Winch 103255104218-S/P Remote & Control Module12,000 lb. winch remote control

Part numbers are as filed by the manufacturer and are listed for reference. Your dealer will confirm the correct part for your vehicle.

Timeline

  1. Recall reported to NHTSA26 May 2023
  2. Owners notified13 October 2023

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 26 May 2023.

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

If corrosion or water intrusion is found when removing the battery pack owners should stop using the remote and contact WARN customer service for a replacement remote, free of charge. Once new parts are available, WARN will make a replacement water resistant remote available, free of charge. Owner notification letters were mailed October 13, 2023. Owners may contact KMC customer service at 217-222-7131.

Official source

Recalling manufacturer
Knapheide Manufacturing 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

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.nhtsa.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