2017 PETERBILT 579 Complaints

Unit 1 towing Unit 2 was traveling eastbound in the inside lane of IH-20. Unit 1 suffered a tire failure resulting in a blowout of the front left steering tire. Unit 1 towing Unit 2 steered towards the center median striking the guardrail and the concrete overpass barrier. Unit 1 and towed Unit 2 then rolled one-quarter roll right-over-left. Unit 1 and Unit 2 became engulfed in flames. Unit 1 came to rest in the center median, facing east, resting on the left/ driver side, with significant burn damage and not drivable. Unit 2 remained coupled to Unit 1 and came to rest in the center median, facing east, resting on the left side with significant burn damage and not towable. The driver of Unit 1 suffered severe, non-life-threatening injuries. Unit 1 Contributing Factor 98 (OTHER): Unit 1's leading contributing factor was found to be a tire blowout of the front left steering tire New Tire-61721-Jul25 Yokohama :RY617 Size:295/75R22.5 Ply:16 New Tire-51731-Jul25 Yokohama :TY517MC2 Size:295/75R22.5 Ply:16

Every 12-18 months I need to change something called a flexible pipe part# 1860417. A crack happens to form on the same end of the part. I asked Peterbilt worker about it and he said that they do see this part changed out a lot.

VEHICLE INVOLVED IN WHEEL END FIRE THAT DESTROYED THE ATTACHED TRAILER AND LOAD. DAMAGE TO TRACTOR WAS CONTAINED TO THE REAR CHASSIS AND BACKSIDE OF THE CAB. VEHICLE WAS IN MOTION ON INTERSTATE HIGHWAY WHEN THE DRIVER SAW SMOKE COMING FROM THE TRACTOR DRIVE WHEELS. TIRE BLEW SOON AFTER AND FIRE COULD NOT BE EXTINGUISHED BY ON BOARD FIRE EXTINGUISHER. THE FIRE PREVENTED ACCESS TO FIFTH WHEEL RELEASE. DRIVER WAS UNABLE TO SEPARATE TRAILER FROM TRACTOR TO PREVENT FURTHER DAMAGE AND LOAD LOSS. TOTAL DAMAGES IN EXCESS OF $250K FORMAL FIRE INVESTIGATION AT STORAGE LOT AND SUBSEQUENT LAB INSPECTIONS CONCLUDED THAT A HALDEX 3030 GOLDSEAL CHAMBER TO BE THE ROOT CAUSE. THE PARKING SPRING HAD FAILED AND PUNCTURED PARKING SIDE DIAPHRAGM. THE SUBSEQUENT LEAK CAUSED PARKING BRAKES TO PARTIALLY APPLY WHILE VEHICLE WAS MOVING. THE PRIVATE FIRE INVESTIGATION FIRM HIRED BY THE FLEET PROVIDED X-RAYS SHOWING THE SPRING FAILURE PRIOR TO DISASSEMBLY. THIS FLEET HAS DOCUMENTED NUMEROUS HALDEX GOLDSEAL 3030 CHAMBER FAILURES ON ITS OTHER SAME YEAR,MAKE MODEL TRACTORS. FAILURES ARE OCCURRING AT ABNORMALLY HIGH RATES AND WITHIN THE FIRST 2 YEARS FROM DATE OF IN-SERVICE.