Entry Steps Recall – Build Date (From Old Forum)

I received a fat packet of information yesterday containing a 2-page letter from Evergreen and 11 pages from HSM detail a potential safety recall on the entry steps. The steps subject to the recall were shipped between October 18, 2012 and January 9, 2015. I am sure everybody else affected has received the same packet, or will receive it very soon.

My question is this – how does Lifestyle determine the ‘Build Date’ on the label? Is it the day the entire coach is completed and ready to ship, or does it represent the day assembly began, or some milestone day during construction? The build date on our 2013 LS37RESL is July 31, 2012 – which I am thinking makes it one of the first, if not a prototype. If the build date is the date of final construction, I am not affected by the recall (which is obviously what I am hoping for).

I have to confess I have fallen down the steps – though this fall was not a failure of the steps, but rather of the owner of the steps. And no, alcohol was not involved. It did require copious amounts of alcohol to recover from the fall, however.

Thanks in advance for any insights.

– Rick Jones
Rochester Hills, Michigan

Rick,

I’m not sure with Lifestyle, but with our Carriage I was advised the build date was the date of completion. We had ours built so that follows reasonably based on the date we received the unit.

It’s a bit surprising that for a recall they’re using a ‘build date’ and not a VIN. They should have records as to what items were installed in a specific coach. It’s also surprising they would send you the packet if your unit is not involved in the recall.

I have not gotten any information sent to me.

Can you share any info as to what might be the problem with the steps?

jdpm,

Your link didn’t work for me. Is it just the 4 step units? We replaced our 3 step with another HSM 3 step but would have to check the date.

Comeupwithsomething wrote:jdpm,

Your link didn’t work for me. Is it just the 4 step units? We replaced our 3 step with another HSM 3 step but would have to check the date.

Not sure and sorry the link didn’t work out. I have replaced it with a summary of the recall.

Comeupwithsomething wrote:It’s a bit surprising that for a recall they’re using a ‘build date’ and not a VIN. They should have records as to what items were installed in a specific coach. It’s also surprising they would send you the packet if your unit is not involved in the recall.

They are not using the ‘build date’. I was referring to my build date to see if it was before or after the date when the questionable steps were being shipped. JDPM posted most of the recall information – the steps in question were shipped by HSM from October 14, 2012 through january 2015. My build date is July 31, 2012, so I am thinking mine was out the door before the bad steps were shipped to the factory (despite the fact I received the notification).

I received my notice today but I am missing half of the pages. The Service Repair Procedure only contains the odd number pages – 1, 3, 5, 7, 9, 11 and 13. Even numbered pages not included! I will be calling Lifetsyle tomorrow if I have time and will ask for a pdf version. If I get it I will post it here (or elsewhere if BW likes).

I called Lifestyle and they sent out what they received from Hickory Springs – the odd number pages. I will contact them to see if there are additional pages.

jdpm wrote:FYI I went and checked my steps today. Based on what I could see, which was nothing but a plastic fastener cover with a logo and the name “PRABHA” on it in various places, I do not have the recalled steps.
I am going to call them tomorrow to verify this.
http://www.indiamart.com/prabha-enginee … steps.html

I called HSM Solutions and they sent me the full document. I spoke to Darrell LaRue – it is his name on the letter from HSM – and he was very nice. It was a double-sided document that was sent out to all RV manufacturers but Evergreen/Lifestyle missed this and only sent out one side. When I called Lifestyle they told me they sent out what they received.

Thanks for the document. It looks like I am affected. I have the 80 rivets. I will add that to the list for the factory visit in the spring.

Mark

jdpm wrote:FYI I went and checked my steps today. Based on what I could see, which was nothing but a plastic fastener cover with a logo and the name “PRABHA” on it in various places, I do not have the recalled steps.
I am going to call them tomorrow to verify this.
http://www.indiamart.com/prabha-enginee … steps.html

The plastic caps you are seeing are not the rivets that are subject to fail. The rivets in question are on the 2nd & 3rd steps from the ground.
These rivets may be stamped with the numbers “8” or “80” or possibly “55”. THE RIVETS ON MY STEPS ARE NOT STAMPED WITH ANY NUMBERS AT ALL. I called the number on the recall letter yesterday & mentioned this to Mr. LaRue. He told me that some rivets may not be stamped (like mine), but the steps still come under the recall.
BOTTOM LINE: if your steps have rivets they are subject to failure due to shear. If your steps are assembled with shoulder bolts (‘probably not) then they are OK.
My dealer has ordered the recall repair part kit & I will have the work done soon.

Mudfat wrote:

jdpm wrote:FYI I went and checked my steps today. Based on what I could see, which was nothing but a plastic fastener cover with a logo and the name “PRABHA” on it in various places, I do not have the recalled steps.
I am going to call them tomorrow to verify this.
http://www.indiamart.com/prabha-enginee … steps.html

The plastic caps you are seeing are not the rivets that are subject to fail. The rivets in question are on the 2nd & 3rd steps from the ground.
These rivets may be stamped with the numbers “8” or “80” or possibly “55”. THE RIVETS ON MY STEPS ARE NOT STAMPED WITH ANY NUMBERS AT ALL. I called the number on the recall letter yesterday & mentioned this to Mr. LaRue. He told me that some rivets may not be stamped (like mine), but the steps still come under the recall.
BOTTOM LINE: if your steps have rivets they are subject to failure due to shear. If your steps are assembled with shoulder bolts (‘probably not) then they are OK.
My dealer has ordered the recall repair part kit & I will have the work done soon.

I realize that the plastic caps are not rivets nor never suggested they were. To clarify, I simply stated that no numbers are present and that the step has the plastic “PRAHBA” caps. Prahba is a company in India not associated with Lippert, however, they may manufacture/sell items to Lippert.
Now, to further complicate maters: I phoned Darrell LaRue this morning about the recalled steps and told him about mine. He asked that I send photos of the steps to him. I sent several to him and within a few hours he responded that my steps are NOT part of the recall. So there you have it.

My coach was built during the time period of the recall but no numbers were present on the rivets. I also talked to Darrell LaRue at Hickory and he told me that some of the units the numbers might not be present but that they should be changed for safety reasons. He emailed me the correct documents. I then talked to Evergreen (Dan Trachsel) and he sent me the repair kit with the correct instructions. The repair took me about 1 hour to complete. I felt it was easier for me to do the repair then to hook up and take the 5th wheel somewhere to have it repaired.

Randy

This is becoming a pain. I talked to Scott Armold at Evergreen, who sounds like he is in charge of the recall, and he told me that they cannot send the repait kit to me directly since it is a national recall and that the repair needed to be done by my dealer. I bought the unit from Tiara RV in Elkart, IN and I live in Texas. 1200 miles away. I told him that I live hours away from a dealer and wanted to perform the repair myself. I told him I would sign a document releasing anyone from liability if he would send it to me. He refused and told me to contact the dealer since they had sent out 500 repair kits to the dealers and they they could send me a repair kit. To this point Tiara has not agreed to send me the kit and the parts person there is attempting to get approval from some one in Tiara mgmt to allow the kit to be sent to me.

To this point I have not made any progress as the parts person from Tiara tells me that she has not been able to get approval. I will keep calling.