2011 Pierce Arrow XT Recalls

This Preliminary Evaluation (PE) was opened August 21, 2018 based on 5 consumer complaints for unintended aerial platform movement on the subject vehicles. ODI complaint numbers 11101301, 11101303, 11101304, 11101305 and 11105134 allege there is a defect with the aerial ladder control mechanism that resulted unintended movement.ODI conducted several field inspections, meeting with local fire houses and municipalities to better understand and witness the alleged defect. In addition, ODI met with Pierce and the Fleet Operations Manager of the Montgomery County Fire and Rescue Service?s Central Fleet to discuss the known complaints, possible attributing factors and vehicles to be tested/instrumented.On November 30, 2018 Pierce met with ODI staff at DOT headquarters and agreed that a safety defect existed on their vehicle aerial devices. The subject vehicles may unintentionally rotate right when a command to extend the aerial ladder is given. This unintentional movement is the result of faulty Random Access Memory (RAM) chip configuration on the aerial ladder controller. If the aerial device is operated in this manner it may contract an obstruction, potentially causing property damage or injury. In addition, it may hinder the ability to perform emergency functions as intended. The effected population includes 886 2004?2018 model year Pierce Arrow XT, Dash, Enforcer, Impel, Quantum and Velocity fire trucks.This Preliminary Evaluation is closed with Safety Recall 19V-022.

On February 27th 2015, the Office of Defects Investigations (ODI) opened Preliminary Evaluation PE15-008 to investigate front steer wheel separations on 2004 model year Pierce fire trucks (manufactured with TAK-4 independent front suspensions ) caused byball joint failures.The investigation was based on one steering related consumer complaint, three media reports alleging front steer wheel separation incidents, and a service bulletin outlining the maintenance requirements for the ball joints used in the TAK4 suspension.The consumer complaint (ODI #10671053), received on January 8th 2015, alleged a 2007 Pierce TAK-4 equipped fire truck was not steering correctly.The three media reports of Pierce TAK-4 equipped fire trucks that experienced front steer wheel separation events included two in Baltimore, MD (July and August 2014) and a third in Anne Arundel County, MD (December 2014).The technical service bulletin (#355 issued 12/15/2014) was intended to be a reminder for subject vehicle owners to inspect their TAK-4 suspension and ball joints pursuant to Pierce?s published maintenance schedule.The bulletin outlined how improperly maintained subject ball joints could wear or become damaged during normal use and then potentially separate.A diagram of the TAK-4 front suspension (Figure 1) illustrates the location of both ball-joint assemblies on the suspension that connect the wheel spindles to the A-arm assemblies.(Continued on page 2)

On March 26, 2014 the Office of Defects Investigations (ODI) opened a Preliminary Evaluation (PE14-009) to investigate alleged wheel separation events on model year (MY)2010 thru MY 2011 Pierce Arrow Fire Trucks equipped with TAK-4 Front Suspensions.ODI discovered media reports regarding the loss of left front wheels on two aerial fire trucks responding to emergency calls.The failures occurred in Edmonds, Oklahoma and Portland, Oregon.Pierce took possession of the two failed lower control arms in an effort to better understand the failure mechanism.During the course of the investigation Pierce made ODI aware of a third failure that occurred in Milwaukee, WI on the passenger side of a MY 2011 subject vehicle.Pierce was also in possession of the third failed control arm.During the course of the investigation, ODI interviewed drivers, fire fighters and deputy chiefs to better understand the details surrounding the failure mechanism and its severity.The personnel interviewed indicated that they had driven over what should have been normal bumps for a fire truck and the truck suddenly dropped, losing steering control.This failure resulted in the front end impacting with the road and the wheel separating from the vehicle. ODI met with Pierce on August 12, 2014 to discuss details concerning testing they were conducting to determine if they had a defect in the control arm design of the subject vehicles.During this meeting Pierce outlined the testing they had conducted to date and the plans for future testing.After contracting with an expert metallurgist and conducting additional testing, Pierce was able to identify a defect in the lower control arms that had occurred at the time of production.Once the defect was identified, Pierce was able to determine and identify the effected population as production from November 18, 2009 - May 11, 2011 involving 135 vehicles.Of the vehicle affected by the issue, 105 of them were MY 2010 - MY 2011 vehicles and were subject of this investigation.A recall (14V-660) was announced by Pierce on 10/21/2014 stating that they would inspect the lower control arms on each of the 135 suspect vehicles and replace any that were found to contain the potential defect.Based on the recall action taken by Pierce, this investigation is closed.