Thomas Built Buses Recall Wheelchair Lifts Due to Bearing Defect
Daimler Trucks North America is recalling 2015-2017 Thomas Built Buses equipped with specific Ricon wheelchair lifts. Defective pivot holes may allow bearings to move, causing the lift platform to fall and injure the operator.
What this means for you
Our assessment, not the agency’s: severity 3/5 (High).
Real risk of harm even if no illness or injury has been reported yet. Stop using the product and follow the agency's guidance.
Our severity reasoning: The recall involves a structural defect in a vehicle component that poses a risk of injury to the lift operator, but the source text does not report any actual injuries or fatalities, fitting the 'High' severity criteria for risk-of-harm products where injury has not yet been reported.
Plain-English summary
Daimler Trucks North America LLC (DTNA) is recalling certain model year 2015-2017 Thomas Built Buses Safe-T-Liner C2, Saf-T-Liner HDX, Saf-T-Liner EFX, and Minotour DRW school buses. These vehicles were manufactured between July 15, 2014, and July 21, 2016, and are equipped with certain Ricon wheelchair lifts (models S2005, S2010, S5005, S5010, S5505, and S5510). The recall affects 958 vehicles.
The affected lifts have folding link arms with pivot holes that may be too large, allowing the bearings to move out of position. If this occurs, the stowed platform may move excessively, leading to failure of the platform mounting. This failure could cause the wheelchair lift platform to fall out of the vehicle when the doors are opened, increasing the risk of injury to the lift operator.
DTNA will notify owners, and Ricon dealers will inspect the link arms for damage or displaced bearings and the platform for cracks. Any damaged parts will be replaced free of charge. The recall began on October 10, 2016. Owners may contact DTNA customer service at 1-800-547-0712 or Ricon customer service at 1-800-322-2884.
The recalled product
- Product
- THOMAS BUILT BUSES SAF-T-LINER HDX, SAF-T-LINER EFX, MINOTOUR, SAF-T-LINER C2
- Brand
- THOMAS BUILT BUSES
- Manufacturer
- Daimler Trucks North America LLC
- Category
- Vehicle — School Bus
- Affected units
- 958
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 (4)
- SAF-T-LINER HDX
- SAF-T-LINER EFX
- MINOTOUR
- SAF-T-LINER C2
Distribution
Distributed nationwide across the United States.
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