[Federal Register Volume 64, Number 177 (Tuesday, September 14, 1999)]
[Notices]
[Pages 49836-49837]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 99-23906]


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DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

National Highway Traffic Safety Administration
[Docket No. NHTSA-99-6021; Notice 1]


Explorer Van Company, Receipt of Application for Decision of 
Inconsequential Noncompliance and Safety-Related Defect

    Explorer Van Company (Explorer), a division of the Bodor 
Corporation, is a corporation organized under the laws of the State of 
Indiana and is located in Warsaw, Indiana. Explorer has determined that 
it manufactured conversion vans that are in noncompliance with the 
agency's Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard (FMVSS) No. 120, Tire 
selection and rims for motor vehicles other than passenger cars, and 49 
CFR Part 567, Certification, and has filed an appropriate report 
pursuant to 49 CFR Part 573, ``Defect and Noncompliance Reports.'' 
Explorer has also applied to be exempted from the notification and 
remedy requirements of 49 U.S.C. Chapter 301--``Motor Vehicle Safety'' 
on the basis that the noncompliance and defect are inconsequential to 
motor vehicle safety.
    This notice of receipt of an application is published under 49 
U.S.C. 30118 and 30120 and does not represent any agency decision or 
other exercise of judgment concerning the merits of the application.
    First, from February 1, 1998 to May 31, 1998, Explorer manufactured 
approximately 2,416 conversion vans that do not meet the requirements 
stated in FMVSS No. 120, ``Tire selection and rims for vehicles other 
than passenger cars.'' The certification label affixed to these 
Explorer's units pursuant to 49 CFR part 567 failed to comply with S5.3 
of FMVSS No. 120 because of the omission of metric measurements, and 
the failure of Explorer to separately provide the metric measurements 
on another label, an alternative allowed by FMVSS No. 120.
    Second, from January 1998 to August 1998, Explorer manufactured 
approximately 187 conversion vans that do not meet the requirements 
stated in FMVSS No. 120. On the vehicles' certification labels provided 
by Explorer, the tires on the rear axle have a specified inflation 
pressure of 41 psi, while the maximum inflation pressure indicated on 
the tires is 35 psi. Therefore, the maximum inflation pressure 
specified on the certification label exceeds the inflation pressure 
molded on the sidewall of the standard load tires. Per the safety 
standard, a vehicle manufacturer must not specify a higher inflation 
pressure for a tire than the maximum inflation pressure molded on that 
tire. This problem occurred because these vans were equipped with the 
wrong tires. To properly accommodate the weight of the conversion van, 
the vans were supposed to be equipped with extra load rated tires; 
however, they were equipped with standard load tires. Hence, each van 
has an inflation pressure specified on its certification label for 
extra load tires, but not for the standard load tires that are actually 
on it.
    Third, from 1997 to 1999, Explorer manufactured approximately 68 
conversion vans that do not meet the requirements stated in 49 CFR Part 
567. On the vehicles' certification label, the GVWR of the vehicle was 
indicated to be 7,000 pounds; however, the vehicles' actual GVWR was 
found to be 7,214 pounds, which exceeds the specified GVWR by 214 
pounds. Failure to provide a proper GVWR may constitute a safety-
related defect.
    Explorer supports its application for inconsequential noncompliance 
with the following statements:
    1. METRIC AND ENGLISH INFORMATION: ``All certification labels now 
in use by Bodor Corporation's Explorer Vans correctly specify the 
weights and pressures in metric and English, as required. There were a 
small number of ``old style'' labels remaining in inventory which were 
to have been destroyed and were inadvertently used by the production 
staff during a short period when the error was discovered .  .  . the

[[Page 49837]]

language is inconsequential to motor vehicle safety and should be 
exempted.''
    2. TIRE PRESSURE INFORMATION: ``Due to a programming error, not 
more than 187 vehicles may potentially have incorrect tire pressure.'' 
``The tires are each individually clearly marked with the tire pressure 
information.''
    3. GVWR LABELING: ``Bodor Corporation undertook a materials weight 
reduction program, and, further, no longer utilizes the [Ford] E-150 
chassis for high-top conversions, favoring instead the E-250 model with 
an initial higher weight GVWR. The E-250 was previously not made 
available in [a] large enough quantity by Ford Motor Company for 
conversion purposes.''
    Interested persons are invited to submit written data, views, and 
arguments on the application described above. Comments should refer to 
the docket number and be submitted to: U.S. Department of 
Transportation, Docket Management, Room PL-401, 400 Seventh Street, 
S.W., Washington, D.C., 20590. It is requested that two copies be 
submitted.
    All comments received before the close of business on the closing 
date indicated below will be considered. The application and supporting 
materials, and all comments received after the closing date, will also 
be filed and will be considered to the extent possible. When the 
application is granted or denied, the notice will be published in the 
Federal Register pursuant to the authority indicated below.
    Comment closing date: October 14, 1999.

(49 U.S.C. 30118, 30120; delegations of authority at 49 CFR 1.50 and 
501.8)

    Issued on: September 8, 1999.
L. Robert Shelton,
Associate Administrator for Safety Performance Standards.
[FR Doc. 99-23906 Filed 9-13-99; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4910-59-P