Winnebago, a renowned RV manufacturer, informed the NHTSA that about 4500 Revel camper vans were suffering from an odd issue.
This can cause the awning to stretch unintentionally even when the motorhome is moving, which could create a safety risk for the owner and the other motorists.
Earlier this year, Winnebago popped the champagne to celebrate the half-million RV built at its manufacturing factory in Iowa. It was a turning point for a business that experienced a record-breaking boom during the pandemic, according to a report by Auto Revolution.
Unsurprisingly, the RV awarded the 500,000 milestone decals was a Winnebago Revel, an RV of Class B that was extremely well-liked by the camper population. The company, Winnebago, was the first company to have sold this many RVs.
As production increased to meet demands, quality dropped. However, this isn’t entirely at the fault of Winnebago. In the early months of October, one customer reported that their awning for the Winnebago Revel deployed unexpectedly while the motorhome was moving.
Others were following. Winnebago initiated an investigation and found that the company that made the awnings, Carefree of Colorado, was responsible for defective awnings.
In particular, Carefree found out that the gearbox housing of their awnings needed to be fixed. Notably, the awnings gearbox housing could be damaged, and if this occurs, the brake may be released, which causes the awning to open.
Since the issue could become an obstruction and create a danger to the roadway, and increase the chance of a crash. Winnebago decided to inform NHTSA and began looking for an answer. To be certain, Carefree was aware of the issue since the company issued a recall on its own on the 7th of November in the same manner for a similar problem.
According to the notice issued by Winnebago to the NHTSA, the Revel RVs of 4,521 affected by the issue were built between June 4, 2020, and November 18, 2022. The last recall notice issued by Carefree indicates the existence of 8,000 retractable awnings that have been affected, and other manufacturers of RVs that use this component could be able to issue a recall as well.
The exact solution to this issue has yet to be discovered. The owners of the affected vehicles are still waiting to be informed. Based on the NHTSA filing, the procedure will be carried out through a letter scheduled to be sent out on January 6 to dealers and owners of affected vehicles.
Can you believe the deal with those Winnebago Revel RVs? Over 4,000 of them have wonky awnings that stretch out unexpectedly. It’s wild to think about the safety risks!