Gunite Slack Adjusters Breaking

On February 23, 2011, Accuride Corporation notified the NHTSA that it had decided certain Gunite branded automatic slack adjusters contain a safety related defect. Accuride stated that certain slack adjusters, manufactured between October 15, 2010, and January 31, 2011, contain inadequate structural integrity at the slack adjuster housing due to inadequate "knitting" of the iron at the time of casting. This inadequate structural integrity could cause the housing to break at the handle under normal operating loads. If the slack adjuster were to break, the wheel brake to which the slack adjuster is attached would no longer function, causing the vehicle to have reduced braking capacity and, if mounted on the steer axle, the vehicle could pull to one side, possibly resulting in a crash. This issue was assigned recall number 11E-008. Accuride's Defect Report also contained a purchaser list of vehicle manufacturers who were sold these slack adjusters. On August 4, 2011, NHTSA's Recall Management Division opened an equipment query (EQ) for this issue in order to write to these affected vehicle manufacturers. On September 8, 2011, RMD mailed information request (IR) letters to 15 manufacturers notifying them of the Accuride safety recall and requesting they conduct a safety recall for any new motor vehicles they manufactured with these slack adjusters. On November 3, 2011, RMD mailed a 2nd IR letter on November 3, 2011 to 5 manufacturers who did not respond to the first letter. Autocar Industries, Inc., Beall Transport of Montanna, and Kalmar Industries Corp., responded that their units were only sold into the aftermarket. These units would be covered under Accuride's safety recall. Manac Inc. and Polar Tank Trailer, LLC., responded that their only affected units were shipped to Canada and, thus, no U.S. safety recall is necessary. MAC Trailer Mfg., Inc. responded that the units they received did not fall within the production dates that Accuride recalled. Road Systems Inco