Important safety message for owners of used imported Fuso buses and trucks

11 June 2004

The LTSA is today notifying registered owners of 843 used imported vehicles manufactured by Mitsubishi Fuso Truck and Bus Corporation in Japan that they need to urgently undertake an independent vehicle inspection, after being advised that there is a design flaw in the vehicle’s wheel hub.

The flaw may cause the vehicle’s hub and wheel to detach from the vehicle. Mitsubishi Fuso Truck and Bus Corporation has reported more than 50 related incidents including an accident which resulted in one pedestrian fatality and two injuries in Japan.

After originally treating the incidents as caused by poor servicing, Mitsubishi Fuso Truck and Bus Corporation (MFTBCC) has recently concluded that the hub’s design was at fault and issued a formal recall on more than 110,000 vehicles with the affected hubs in Japan earlier this year. The LTSA has been working for the past week to identify the used imported vehicles in New Zealand that may be affected by this recall.

The problem affects used Mitsubishi Fuso trucks and buses manufactured between 1983 and1998 and imported independently into New Zealand. Most can be identified through a chassis number containing any of the following combinations:

Trucks: FN4, FP4, FR4, FS4, FT4, FW4, FU4, FV4 and K3, or KS3 (Fuso Kato mobile cranes).
Buses: MM1, MM5, MP2, MP5, MP6, MS7 or MU5.

Owners of these vehicles should:

1. cease operating the vehicle immediately
2. take it to an independent heavy motor vehicle maintenance service provider (a workshop not associated with the vehicle owner) to be checked according to the procedure supplied by MFTBC
3. if the vehicle is within the wear limits established by MFTBC, the vehicle is safe to drive until the new hubs become available, subject to the inspection process being repeated every six months. The Record of Vehicle Inspection form must be signed by the person who is in control of the workshop undertaking the inspection and returned to the LTSA by 2 July 2004.
4. if the vehicle is found to be unsafe, the workshop is being asked to notify the LTSA by fax.

This is an important safety issue. Therefore any vehicles which have not been inspected and confirmation sent to LTSA by 2 July 2004 will have their Certificate of Fitness revoked and will not be legally allowed to be driven on road until the hubs have been replaced.

Mitsubishi Fuso bus and truck owners who have not received notification from the LTSA but who are concerned about whether they own one or more of the affected vehicle(s), should check the list here for their chassis number.

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Page created: 16 February 2005