2003 MACK CV — Complaint #555209
Open-data reference.
NHTSA Complaint about SERVICE BRAKES, AIR:DISC:CHAMBER filed September 20, 2005
NHTSA complaint #555209 (ODI reference 10137097) concerns a 2003 MACK CV and was filed on September 20, 2005. The owner reports the failure occurred on July 26, 2005. The report was geocoded to Florida based on the filer's self-reported location. The affected component is categorized as service brakes, air:disc:chamber, one of NHTSA's standardized taxonomy codes used to group defect patterns across make, model, and year.
The filer flagged the following severity indicators: crash: no, fire: yes, injuries: 0, fatalities: 0. A complaint that flags a crash, fire, or fatality is escalated on NHTSA's internal review queue and factors more heavily into any Preliminary Evaluation decision on this make and model. Because a VIN was supplied, this complaint is tied to a specific vehicle and not just a model-year cohort.
Individual complaints are consumer-submitted and unverified by NHTSA engineers — the agency's role at this stage is to collect, index, and make them searchable. What matters for federal action is the pattern: when many owners of the same MACK CV cohort independently describe similar service brakes, air:disc:chamber failures, defect investigators have grounds to open a PE and request manufacturer data. Related filings for the same vehicle and component appear below, and the detail page for the full 2003 MACK CV shows the complete component-level complaint distribution alongside any active investigations or recalls.
Complaint Description
THIS VEHICLE IS A 2003 MACK TRUCK MODEL CV AND IS A STRAIGHT FRAME DUMP TRUCK WITH THREE REAR TANDEM AXLES. STOPPING IS ACHIEVED THROUGH A STANDARD AIR BRAKE SYSTEM WHERE COMPRESSED AIR IS USED AS THE ENERGY MEDIUM. THE BRAKE PEDAL EFFORT OF THE OPERATOR IS USED ONLY TO MODULATE THE AIR PRESSURE APPLIED TO THE BRAKE CHAMBERS. THIS TRUCK CONFORMS TO THE DUAL BRAKE SYSTEM. ALTHOUGH THE ENERGY SOURCE IS COMPRESSED AIR, THE TRANSMISSION OF ENERGY FROM THE BRAKE CHAMBER TO THE FRICTION SURFACES INVOLVES LEVER ARMS AND CAMS. THE COMPRESSED AIR IN THE SPRING BRAKE CHAMBER MAINTAINS PRESSURE ON THE SPRING DURING NORMAL OPERATION. WHEN THE BRAKES ARE ACTIVATED, THE AIR IS RELIEVED ALLOWING THE SPRING TO DECOMPRESS AND APPLY THE FRICTION SURFACES TO THE DRUMS THROUGH THE MECHANICAL LINKAGE. THE FIRE PATTERNS INDICATE THAT THE FIRE WAS LOCALIZED AND ORIGINATED FROM FRICTION PRODUCED BY THE BRAKE PADS AGAINST THE DRUM ON THE CENTER RIGHT REAR TANDEM WHEELS. THE FRICTION PRODUCED TEMPERATURES IN EX
Complaint Details
| NHTSA Complaint ID | 555209 |
| ODI Number | 10137097 |
| Date Filed | September 20, 2005 |
| Failure Date | July 26, 2005 |
| VIN | 1M2AG11C03M |
Source: NHTSA Vehicle Complaints Database. Component taxonomy and severity codes are standardized by NHTSA Office of Defects Investigation.
Read our methodology — how this data is sourced, computed, and verified.