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NEWS
G&S recalls Control Rider suspension
Trailing arm fault could affect 15 to 20 local caravan brandsDozens of caravans built by up to 20 different local manufacturers may need modification to avoid potential suspension failure following the discovery of a manufacturing fault by one of Australia’s biggest chassis manufacturers, G&S Chassis of Melbourne.
G&S, which is currently celebrating 40 years in the industry, currently supplies about 25 per cent of the ‘non-Jayco’ Australian chassis market and its Control Rider TS trailing arm independent off-road suspension is a popular choice by a large number of local caravan manufacturers for their off-road models.
The company was initially alerted prior to Christmas to a potential fatigue problem in the elbow of its popular Control Rider TS trailing arm independent off-road suspension and took swift action when the numbers of caravans affected approached double digits early in the New Year.
Joe Inturrisi, who heads the family owned and operated business, said he issued an immediate recall of all potentially-affected chassis before any suffered a serious failure.
“We have been in this business for a long time and our customers have built this business to where is today,” he said. “I couldn’t sleep at night worrying what might happen.”
He said to date nearly 400 owners of caravans built with the suspension between May 2015 and June 2016 had been contacted, although the company’s records indicated that only a maximum of 370 chassis could potentially have been affected.
“We have contacted every owner and we have talked to many of them on their phone while they looked at the potentially affected area,” he said.
“Where possible, we have recommended that they stop towing their caravan and have then directed them to go to their nearest repair centre to have the problem fixed”.
G&S has developed a simple repair kit to strengthen the affected arm that can be fitted by any qualified workshop without dismantling the caravan. As the suspension arm is painted, not galvanised, the repair with a strengthened plate can be concealed with paint supplied in the kit by G&S.
“It’s a permanent ssolution, not a patch,” said Inturrisi.
While recalls are a daily fact of life in the automotive industry, caravan manufacturers have traditionally been reluctant to advertise any problems, fearing adverse customer reaction.
However, the Caravan Trade Industry Association Victoria was quick to praise G&S for being so pro-active in its voluntary product safety recall.
“The fact that a long-established and highly-respected manufacturer like G&S is primarily concerned about the safety of its end users says volumes about the integrity of our industry,” said CTIA CEO Rob Lucas.
“The way they have approached this issue is exemplary. Rather than waiting to be ‘found out’ by a failure, they have tackled the problem on the front foot.
“Everyone who has a G&S-built chassis under their caravan, which is a lot of Australians given that they manufacture more than 4500 chassis per year, should feel very confident by their approach.
“It is their uncompromising commitment to the quality of their product and customer safety that guided them to commence the voluntary safety recall.
“The Association has been advised of no instance of accident or injury relating to this product thanks to G&S complying with their legal obligations.”
Customers who have a caravan built with a chassis manufactured between May 2015 and June 2016 are asked to contact G&S on (03) 9357 0227 or email the company at recall@gnschassis.com.au, quoting the G&S Technical Service Inspection No 17.
In the interim, G & S recommends that customers of any potentially affect models immediately stop towing their caravan.
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Written byMichael Browning
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