The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) has issued a safety recommendation that automatic slack adjusters on all heavy-duty vehicles should be inspected for fractured or disconnected arms. The recommendation comes after a review of a bus accident in which eight passengers were killed and 15 seriously injured in 1998.
In the recommendation for inspection, the NTSB specifically addressed Haldex Brake Products Corporation automatic brake adjusters with failed control arms. The control arm design is essentially unique to Haldex, according to NTSB.
The NTSB recommended that the American Trucking Associations, through The Maintenance Council, should urge member companies (and) to inspect all vehicles with automatic slack adjusters for fractured or disconnected control arms and inform them of the circumstances of the bus accident. The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration should advise all of its inspection personnel to pay particular attention to the automatic slack adjusters.
Officials with the Commercial Vehicle Safety Alliance report that the recommendation has been passed along to all state and local inspectors of commercial vehicles.