The Recall Desk
Our severity:SevereNHTSA·11V453000·Announced 2011-08-29

Utilmaster Truck Body Recall for Battery Separator Overheating

Spartan Chassis is recalling 2008-2011 Utilmaster truck bodies because a battery separator may overheat, causing smoke or fire.

What this means for you

Our assessment, not the agency’s: severity 4/5 (Severe).

The hazard poses a serious risk of illness, injury, or structural failure. Stop using the product immediately and contact the manufacturer for a refund or repair.

Our severity reasoning: The recall involves a vehicle electrical component that may overheat and cause a fire, which aligns with the rubric criterion for significant injury or property-damage reports (fire risk).

Plain-English summary

Spartan Chassis, Inc., the parent company of Utilmaster, is recalling certain model year 2008-2011 Utilmaster truck bodies. These vehicles were manufactured between January 25, 2008, and March 19, 2011, and are equipped with a Sure Power battery separator (part number 16511893 or 16512967). The recall involves 174 affected units.

The battery separators in these vehicles were installed on the inboard side of the curb side rail. In this configuration, the separators may overheat. Overheating can result in smoke and possibly a fire.

Utilmaster will notify owners and replace the battery separator free of charge. The safety recall began on October 16, 2011. Owners may contact Utilmaster at 1-800-582-3454 or the NHTSA Vehicle Safety Hotline at 1-888-327-4236.

The recalled product

Product
UTILMASTER TRUCK BODY
Brand
UTILMASTER
Manufacturer
SPARTAN CHASSIS, INC.
Category
Vehicle — Truck Body
Hazard
Affected units
174

Is your product affected?

Check your packaging against the codes below. If any of them match, the product is part of this recall.

Model numbers (1)

  • TRUCK BODY

Distribution

Distributed nationwide across the United States.

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