Recall Villa Seat recall

[Rustymayes]

I received a recall notice for my 2022 4081 DS this morning. The recall covers the stationary part of the pedestal swivel front seats. The pedestals are constructed of a square plate welded to either end of a round steel tube about 6 or 7 inches in diameter. There were some of these weld assemblies that left the factory and were subsequently installed in some of the Newmar coaches in Mid 2022.
The notice described the issue and the process to inspect for missing welds and of course to take the coach to the dealer for this inspection and correction if required. Since I am over 100 miles from the nearest dealership, I decided that I will do the inspection myself.
First I looked at the passenger side seat by reclining the seat, raising it as far as it will go and extended the foot rest. Before I got to inspecting the welds, I was a bit startled to find a sheared cotter pin on the swivel shaft of the seat!

I will need to dig into just why the nut is trying to turn on the bolt and shearing the pin. I assume it was improperly tightened or spaced or something.
I then inspected the welds and found that the passenger pedestal welds were present and intact.

I proceeded to inspect the drivers side and it appears that the lower weld is fine but there is no weld on the top plate.

The picture is out of focus but there is a clear weld on the top of the passenger side in the third picture. It looks like a weld in the fourth pic but that is a formed flange. the weld would be at the top of that lip to the vertical section.
I will call DeMartini and see if they will order me a replacement pedestal so I can change it out. If not, I will take it out and weld the damn thing myself before I go thru the hassle of a two hundred mile round trip for a simple part swap. I'll let you know what they say.
Word of advice. Occasionally get under there and vacuum or clean under the seats and shoot a little silicone spray on the mechanicals. It is amazing what kind of debris collects out of sight under there.
Cheers

 

[Sealyn]

For liability reasons, I'm sure Newmar requires recalls be done by a dealer.

 

[Texas Clodhopper]

If they are anything like the dealers I've dealt with, not only is it a 200-mile round trip, they will keep your coach for a month. Unfortunately, like already said, its a liability issue you doing the swap out.

 

[flyboy013]

First I looked at the passenger side seat by reclining the seat, raising it as far as it will go and extended the foot rest. Before I got to inspecting the welds, I was a bit startled to find a sheared cotter pin on the swivel shaft of the seat!
View attachment 22593

I found my drivers seat to be rocking a bit and when I went to investigate I found that the same cotter pin broken on my Villa seat. I tighten the nut and installed a new cotter pin. Not sure why it came loose. That was a year ago. Just checked. Still secure.

 

[Rustymayes]

The cotter pin that was in there was very light duty to be sure. I will use a Mil Spec cad plated pin from my aircraft hardware stash.
As to Liability, If they insist on doing it, they can drive the 200-mile round trip and do it in my barn. I did my own recent toilet water supply line recall and used parts of much higher quality than what Dometic was going to supply.

 

[Rustymayes]

I called Demartini RV in Grass Valley and the Service guy said that an authorized dealer would need to do the work for liability reasons which was not a surprise response. Since the recall came from Villa International I decided to go direct to them. I emailed Jim there and he got right back to me. I sent pictures which were as good as I could get quickly which I thought revealed the lack of a weld at the raised base plate on top of the driver pedestal. He asked for some better pictures to confirm because that is not the weld that is the subject of the recall. I took more time tonight to remove the plastic trim at the base of the pedestal which gave better access for the I phone to take a better shot of the joint and thankfully the joint is welded. For some reason the weld bead is slightly different than the passenger seat but it is definitely welded. I am relieved because now looking at what it takes to remove a seat, I am happy to avoid doing it. At least this gave me a good reason to really clean under the seats and put a dab of lube here and there on otherwise out of sight out of mind mechanicals.
I was able to get him to agree to ship me the parts to do the work myself though should I need them which was refreshening to hear.
One thing I would urge folks to do though is inspect the spindle nut for the seat swivel. I asked why the cotter pin might break. Jim said that the washer could have a burr on it and not allow for the plate to swivel freely. There should also be some grease under the washer and nut. Both of mine were bone dry and clearly not greased at assembly. The castle nut was trying to shear the cotter pin on the driver seat and the pin was sheared in two on the passenger seat. He said to inspect the washer and replace or file smooth if there is burr on it and then grease it and torque to 40 lbs. back off what ever is required to line up the hole for the cotter pin.