It could ruin your whole trip. Imagine looking in the rearview mirror and seeing your fifth-wheel way behind you. It’s a potential issue for owners of some Brinkley rigs, as their pin box fasteners could fall out, allowing the pin box to stay with the tow vehicle, while the trailer goes off on its own. Pin box detachment is no fun.
Brinkley RV (Brinkley) is recalling certain 2024-2025 Model Z Fifth Wheel trailers equipped with CURT Helux Pin Boxes. The pin box fasteners may have been improperly tightened. The fasteners can loosen and fall out, allowing the tow vehicle to detach from the pin box and increasing the risk of a crash.
Potentially 466 RVs are affected by the recall.
Pin box detachment remedy
Dealers will tighten the fasteners, free of charge. Owner notification letters are expected to be mailed in December 2024. Owners may contact Brinkley customer service at 1-574-501-4280. Brinkley’s number for this recall is REC-2405.
Notes
Owners may also contact the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration Vehicle Safety Hotline at 1-888-327-4236 (TTY 1-800-424-9153) or go to nhtsa.gov.
Background
On November 14, 2024, Brinkley RV (BRV) was notified by the chassis/pin box supplier of an open investigation regarding pin box torque. Material was put on hold and inspected/corrected as necessary.
The BRV Safety Committee met on November 18, 2024, and determined that if the Lippert investigation indicated the need for a voluntary recall, that BRV would issue a parallel recall for the affected population. If the Lippert investigation recommended any other course of action, further review would be necessary to determine direction.
On November 21, 2024, Lippert formally notified BRV that a voluntary recall was being issued. The corresponding BRV recall was initiated on November 22, 2024.
Brinkley’s report did not indicate that any pin boxes had actually detached. However, owners should be on the lookout for excessive noise from the pin box or erratic towability.
For other Brinkley recalls, click here.
##RVT1185b
Uh oh, the first bad press for Brinkley.
That’s why duct tape was invented.
Thank you, Russ and Tina! Just when I got the image of a loose Winnebago EKKO spare tire bouncing down a roadway like the Allstates Mayhem, here comes the image of an entire RV running rampant after freeing itself of the onerous task of always following the towing vehicle! Yikes! Well, welcome to the club, Brinkley! Wondered how long it might take you to figure out that quality is trumped by quantity in the RV-manufacturing game. 😉 Happy new year and safe travels!