Daimler recalls newer Freightliner trucks for steering box and brake caliper issues

Daimler Trucks North America has recently announced two separate recalls for model year 2018-19 Freightliner trucks, according to National Highway Traffic Safety Administration documents. One recall deals with the brake caliper on various models of Freightliners. Another recall affects Cascadia trucks with an issue with the steering box.

The larger of the two recalls affects more than 4,000 Freightliner trucks. In affected trucks, the brake caliper mounting bolts may have been insufficiently tightened during manufacturing. Loose brake caliper mounting bolts can reduce brake effectiveness.

Affected Freightliner trucks include (all model year 2018-19):

• 108SD
• 114SD
• 122SD
• Business Class M2
• Cascadia
• Columbia
• Coronado

Owners will be notified and dealers will tighten the brake caliper mounting bolts for free. Recalls are slated for Oct. 6. For questions, call DTNA’s customer service at 800-547-0712 with recall number FL-783. NHTSA’s recall number is 18V-525.

In July, DTNA recalled more than 18,000 Cascadia trucks model year 2018-19 for the same issue. Last December, Daimler recalled more than 3,000 model year 2018 Freightliner and Western Star trucks for similar issues.

The second recall affects more than 100 Cascadia trucks model year 2018-19. Affected trucks have pitman arms that may crack and fracture over time. If the pitman arm fractures, there would be a loss of steering control.

DTNA will have dealers replace the pitman arms for free. This recall is also scheduled for Oct. 6. Questions can be directed to DTNA’s customer service phone number mentioned above with recall number FL-784. NHTSA’s number for the pitman arms recall is 18V-522.