Oshkosh Recalls Its Controversial New Mail Carrier Van Because Its Rear Wheels Might Fall Off
American industrial and military vehicle manufacturing giant Oshkosh is recalling 40 of its controversial Next Generation Delivery Vehicles (NGDVs) because their rear wheels might fall off due to a manufacturing issue. The recall includes 10 electric NGDVs and 30 gas-powered NGDVs.
After investigation of two field cases where rear wheels fell off, Oshkosh determined the cause of the fault to be a double-torqued hub fastener that may come loose over time and allow the brake rotor to separate from the rear axle hub. Regardless of their fuel type, affected NGDVs were produced between March 28 and July 16 last year, and the only potential warning of the fault and possible wheel loss is an audible noise as contact is made between the brake rotor and rear axle hub.
According to the NHTSA recall report, Oshkosh will provide a procedure to affected customers for the replacement and torquing of new rear axle hub fasteners, and since all NGDVs involved in the recall are still under their new vehicle warranty, owners won't need to be reimbursed for the repairs.
This is a unique recall since NGDVs are not sold to the public
Oshkosh is a giant in the vehicular manufacturing industry, with multiple different branches and sub brands that make specialized vehicles. They range from Oshkosh Defense, which is the sole supplier of medium and heavy tactical trucks to the U.S. Army and Marines, to McNeilus refuse collection vehicles and Pierce firetrucks.
Given the company's extensive experience building tough machines that face harsh conditions on a daily basis, you'd think they would know how to avoid issues like this, but nobody's perfect. The number of affected vehicles is small, and the cause of the recall comes down to an extremely small part of the manufacturing process that has been addressed.
Since there are no Oshkosh dealers, there is no dealer notification date for the recall, but owners should already be notified of the recall as of January 30. The recall notice does not show any date for when VINs will be searchable, so it's possible that they will not ever be, which makes some sense given that the NGDV is designed solely for the USPS and is not available for civilian purchase.