Freightliner stepping away from cracked frame rail.

I bought a 2007 Freightliner Century last July out of Medford OR.

What I have learned talking with Mike Eldridge, District Service Manager from Freightliner, they will not be warranting the rail.

His explanation.

The date of service entry was 11/13/06. That is now past the 72 month window.

Because the truck has 759236 miles on it, it is past the 750,000 mile window.

He says there is no way to know the history of the truck, repairs or it's been in a major accident and repairs done to the frame.

It was originally purchased by Pride, http://pridetransport.com/, then owned by Cross Creek, who is now out of business, and then purchased by me. All OTR trucks. Not used off road.

I think the pictures speak for themselves.















You can find other issues with freightliner here.
https://www-odi.nhtsa.dot.gov/ivoq/

I filed a complaint with the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration today on this.

Failure at that location would have resulted in complete loss of control of the vehicle. It is directly behind the left cab mount, in front of the steering left rear spring mount.

 

there is no bend, there is no weld.

There is a thin dishing in the flange the crack is in the very middle of.

Seriously?

Pacific Power Products in Ridgefield WA did a DOT inspection on it prior to my purchase.

I did a 1 hour crawl around on that truck prior to signing the documents.

My mechanic at home did a complete MN DOT state safety inspection on it when I got it home the first weekend.

The backup shop where I had all my alignment and engine work on it did a second MN DOT safety inspection on it.

It's been inspected the same way every 5-7000 miles to lube it by 3 (my regular, engine and aligment mechanics) different mechanics.

My regular mechanic does a similar inspection every oil change. He's also the same one who found this crack last friday during the semi-annual/50,000 mile crack.

How many more DOT level inspection does it need?

 

That's in the paint, Not in the metal.