Water Tank Strap May Detach From Vehicle

Affected vehicles (2)

Component / system

Defect

Alamo Group, Inc. (Alamo Group) is recalling certain 2014-2019 Super Products Camel and Mud Dog vehicles. The tie rod could disconnect from the water tank strap, allowing the water tank strap to detach from the top of the vehicle.

Risk / consequence

A water tank strap falling to the ground while in transit can become a road hazard and increase the risk of a crash.

Remedy

Dealers will inspect and replace the tank tie rods as necessary, free of charge. Owner notification letters were mailed June 2, 2023. Owners may contact Super Products customer service at 1-800-837-9711.

Chronology of events

1. May 2018

   In May 2018, Super Products was notified by a customer that a tank strap tie rod had disengaged from the top of a Mud Dog vehicle, and the water tank strap had fallen down. In July 2019, Super Products received a similar report from a customer for a Camel vehicle. The Mud Dog and the Camel are the only two Super Product models that use this tank tie rod part. Super Products instituted a design change on August 1, 2019, to increase rod penetration and weld size for the tank strap tie rod on both models. Between January 2020 and June 2022, Super Products learned of 4 more incidents of tank strap tie rod weld failures for the affected vehicle population. The last of these incidents occurred in May 2022 while the Camel vehicle was operating on a public road and the tank strap fell and came into contact with the back window of another vehicle. This caused property damage to the other vehicle, but no accident or injury. After the May 2022 incident, Super Products conducted metallurgical tests on the tank tie rod and the connected square tabbed washer to confirm the cause as insufficient rod penetration and weld size. Super Products then examined other Camel and Mud Dog vehicles that were manufactured around the same time period as the 6 reported cases. Super Products examined 129 additional tank tie rods on 32 vehicles. As a result of the investigation, one additional vehicle was identified on which the tank tie rod had been replaced with a threaded rod, but Super Products could not confirm if the original tank tie rod had disengaged before the repair with the threaded rod was made. Also, through the course of the investigation, Super Products discovered cracked welds on 9 tank tie rods, but none of the rods were disengaged. All 9 cracked tank tie rods were replaced. In October 2022, during the course of the investigation a customer reported another disengaged tank tie rod. On March 31, 2023, Alamo decided to declare a voluntary safety recall to remedy this issue.

Notification schedule

Dealer notification

JUN 06, 2023 - JUN 06, 2023

Owner notification

JUN 06, 2023 - JUN 06, 2023