Paccar is recalling over 47,000 trucks due to an issue that could potentially leave drivers without control of the vehicles.
Over a dozen 2024-2025 Kenworth and Peterbilt models are possibly affected because of an assembly issue, according to a January 30 recall letter.
The Peterbilt models include on-highway truck models 389, 579 and 589; medium-duty truck models 535, 536, 537 and 548; and vocational truck models 520 and 567.
The Kenworth recall involves on-highway truck models T680, L770 and W990; medium-duty truck model T280; and vocational truck models T380, T480 and T880.
“Certain steering gears may have been assembled with fewer than the required number of recirculating balls which can lead to a fracture in the steering gear worm-shaft and loss of vehicle steering,” a recall report said.
The issue came after component manufacturer R.H. Sheppard, of Hanover, Pennsylvania, noted in a December recall that its steering gears could have problems.
“An error of the steering gear recirculating ball insertion process occurred during assembly,” a recall report for Sheppard said. “A gap in the rework process allowed for potentially less than the required number of balls to be installed into the gear without detection.”
The OEM plans to mail letters to owners on March 25. Repairs, if needed, will be done free of charge.
