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Steering

Peterbilt 389 Steering problems by year

2 complaints filed with NHTSA about the Peterbilt 389's steering. Loss of power steering, stiff or loose steering, wandering, column and rack problems.

Steering complaints by model year

YearSteering complaintsCrashesInjuriesRecalls
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20191001
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Steering recalls

Steering

14V73100035 vehicles affected

PACCAR Incorporated (PACCAR) is recalling certain model year 2015 Peterbilt 389 "Pride and Class" edition trucks manufactured September 30, 2014, to November 3, 2014. In the affected vehicles, the steering wheel may have been installed with an incorrect...

Latest 389 steering complaints

2022 Peterbilt 389SteeringSuspension

Whenever the truck goes over mildly rough road the steering wheel shakes and the tires follow the ruts of the road . When this happens steering wheel jerks out of hand and have to be overcorrected to keep in lane . With the shaking of steering wheel the steering wheel itself came loose one time and was repaired by peterbilt by applying locktite to the bolt.truck have been to peterbilt dealership 4 time and the problem still persists. According to them its normal for a class 8 truck to do this. This is a big safety...

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issue as the truck can loose control really easily Truck was brought brand new and the issue showed up at 10,000 miles. I have video of the issue that i can share which was recorded after peterbilt failed to repair it 4 times and called it a normal steering of a class 8 truck.

Filed Incident Steering · SuspensionNHTSA 11512083
2019 Peterbilt 389Steering

- The steering arm on the driver side of the Dana D-Series axle that was installed from the Peterbilt factory on a new 2019 Peterbilt 389 that was purchased new by Acord Transportation, Inc. is what failed. The steering arm on the D-Series axle bolts to the steering knuckle with two bolts as opposed to being one solid cast piece as in other families of Dana axles - such as the E-Series. When backing into a parking space the two bolts holding the steering arm to the steering knuckle broke, causing the steering arm...

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to come free from the steering knuckle - ultimately causing a catastrophic failure and a complete loss of steering. Peterbilt took the steering arm for inspection following the failure, but did not return it to us. - Had this incident occurred while traveling on a public roadway, the driver would have lost all ability to steer the commercial vehicle (which could potentially be weighing 80,000 lbs and transporting hazardous materials) and would have no control over where the unit went. It could have resulted in an auto or property collision - potentially causing multiple injuries or fatalities. - We know of another company that has had two failures identical to this one. Allegedly, Dana Spicer admitted to our Peterbilt dealer that they knew of 12 other failures such as this. - The truck that experienced the failure was taken to the dealership where it was purchased. It was repaired by retrofitting the axle to the E-Series components. As mentioned, they kept the steering arm/bolts that failed. - There was no warning, nor is there potential to be any warning. If this happens, it will happen immediately and all control of the vehicle by the driver will be lost. The bolts that failed appeared to have been corroding for a period of time prior to the failure. However, there is no way to visually inspect the condition of the bolts without removing several components on the tire/wheel, hub and brake assembly and completely removing the bolts.

Filed Incident SteeringNHTSA 11455852

Source: U.S. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) complaints and recalls, checked daily. Complaints are owners' own reports and are not verified. How we use the data

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