Investigations
OEM HITCH RECEIVER PLATFORM CRACKING
NHTSA Defect Petition DP00001 - closed, opened 2000-01-31.
NHTSA investigation DP00001 is a Defect Petition opened on 2000-01-31 and currently closed. The subject is tracked inside the Office of Defects Investigation queue. Latest activity on this investigation was logged on 2000-09-25 - NHTSA updates that field whenever an Information Request goes out, a supplement is filed, or a status change is recorded in the public docket.
A Defect Petition like DP00001 starts when a person or group formally asks NHTSA to investigate a specific alleged defect. Petitioners submit evidence, NHTSA reviews it within 120 days, and either grants the petition (opening a PE) or denies it with a written explanation in the Federal Register.
Investigators summarized the matter as follows: "THE NATIONAL HIGHWAY TRAFFIC SAFETY ADMINISTRATION WAS PETITIONED TO COMMENCE A DEFECT INVESTIGATION BY A RECREATION VEHICLE (RV) CLUB SAFETY COMMITTEE MEMBER IN A LETTER SIGNED BY DAVE BLUM AND DATED 7-JAN-00. THE PETIT..." Investigations are the early-warning layer of the federal auto-safety system, sitting upstream of formal recalls and defect orders. Whether this one closes without action or escalates into an Engineering Analysis, the full history stays in the ODI archive so researchers, litigators, and buyers can pull the paper trail at any time.
Investigation Summary
THE NATIONAL HIGHWAY TRAFFIC SAFETY ADMINISTRATION WAS PETITIONED TO COMMENCE A DEFECT INVESTIGATION BY A RECREATION VEHICLE (RV) CLUB SAFETY COMMITTEE MEMBER IN A LETTER SIGNED BY DAVE BLUM AND DATED 7-JAN-00. THE PETITION ALLEGES THAT SOME OF THE HITCH PLATFORM AND RELATED TOWING EQUIPMENT MAY NOT MEET NATIONAL HIGHWAY SAFETY STANDARDS FOR MATERIAL AND CONSTRUCTION SPECIFICATION. SPECIFICALLY, CRACKS WERE FOUND IN THE CLASS IV TYPE HITCH RECEIVER PLATFORMS (CAPABLE OF 10,000 LBS. TOWING WEIGHT WHEN USED WITH A WEIGHT DISTRIBUTING HITCH SYSTEM) ON SOME OF THE CLUB MEMBERS' VEHICLES WHEN TOWING AN AIRSTREAM TRAVEL TRAILER. PE95-036 WAS OPENED AS A RESULT OF FOUR COMPLAINTS ON MY 1992-1995 GM-BASES SUVS AND CLOSED IN 10/95 WITH FOUR MORE COMPLAINTS (1 FROM ODI & 3 FROM GM) WITH NO FURTHER ACTIONS TAKEN. BASED ON THE INFORMATION PROVIDED BY THE PETITIONER AND COMPLAINTS IN THE ODI DATABASE CONCERNING HITCH RECEIVER PLATFORM CRACKING, THIS PETITION ANALYSIS WILL INVOLVE 1993-1997 GM SUBURBAN VEHICLES.
About This Investigation Type
A Defect Petition (DP) is initiated when an individual or organization formally petitions NHTSA to investigate a potential safety defect. NHTSA reviews the petition and decides whether to open an investigation.
Data from NHTSA Office of Defects Investigation. Cross-references: NHTSA recall campaign API and NHTSA FARS where fatality records overlap. PlainCars does not rate or recommend vehicles. about how PlainCars sources NHTSA data.
Read our methodology - how this data is sourced, computed, and verified.