NHTSA recall 96V233003
Suspension › Rear
Freightliner Century and 4 more
The defect
Vehicle description: all vehicles equipped with eaton drive axles and axilok spindle nuts. the drive axle housings consist of a plate steel center section and two forged spindles, one of which IS welded to each end of the center section. each spindle contains a keyway slot in which the locking tab for the wheel bearing nut locking mechanism IS inserted. the length of the keyway slot may not be long enough to accommodate the tab causing the tab to be deformed or damaged during installation.
The risk
This locking tab prevents the wheel bearing nut from loosening during vehicle operation. if this tab IS deformed, the nut can loosen allowing the wheel to separate from the axle increasing the risk of a vehicle accident.
The remedy
Dealers will replace the drive axle housing nuts with a conventional wheel nut hardware system.