Nationwide

Forest River Recalls 490 Starcraft, Glaval, and Other Buses That Can Lose Steering

Recall 26V-705 covers 490 Forest River buses from 2026 and 2027, such as the Glaval Universal and Starcraft Allstar. Ask Forest River about each VIN now.

Vehicles

A white cutaway shuttle bus with a boxy passenger body drives down a two-lane road under a traffic signal
Photo: “Ford Econoline cutaway - bus - Glaval Primetime” by Winnebaggo, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 4.0, cropped

On October 23, 2026, Forest River Bus filed NHTSA recall 26V-705 for 490 buses from model years 2026 and 2027, including the Starcraft Allstar, Glaval Universal, StarTrans Senator II, Champion, and ElDorado. The bolt that holds the front steering caster bushing may not have been tightened properly and can come loose. NHTSA says a loose bolt can cause a loss of steering and raise the risk of a crash. Dealers will inspect the bolt, put in a missing bushing or bolt, and tighten it as needed, free of charge.

What went wrong with the steering

Before shipping, Forest River sent some buses to an outside shop for a front-end alignment. That shop may not have tightened the caster bushing and its bolt to the right torque, and on some buses the bushing and bolt may be missing. Forest River learned of the problem on October 16, 2026, and voted to recall the buses on October 19.

The warning sign is severe shaking in the steering and the front of the bus. The filing does not tell owners to stop driving or to park the buses outside. Since the week of October 16, the shop has been checking every bus still in Forest River’s hands and fixing it as needed.

Which buses are included

Only buses that went to that alignment shop are recalled, so not every bus of these models is included. Their build dates run from May 6 to October 16, 2026, except the Senator II HD buses, built from May 2025 to August 2026. Not every model is recalled in both years. The 2027 Starcraft Allstar makes up 160 of the 490 buses.

Model 2026 buses 2027 buses
Starcraft Allstar 33 160
Starcraft Allstar XL 9 3
Starcraft Starlite 50 15
StarTrans Senator II 7 55
StarTrans Senator II HD 10 None
Glaval Universal 12 39
Glaval Entourage 18 2
Glaval Concorde II 1 6
Glaval Commute 3 1
Glaval Primetime None 6
Glaval Legacy None 3
Glaval Titan II 1 None
Champion 10 24
ElDorado 10 1
StarTrans P/S2 None 8
Elkhart Coach 2 None
StarTrans Candidate II 1 None

Forest River builds these bus bodies on chassis from Ford, GM, and other makers, the two-stage build described in what a cutaway bus is. Some of these models carry wheelchair lifts. Lift-equipped 2024 Glaval Universal and 2025 Starcraft Allstar and Senator II buses were in Forest River’s part of the Ricon wheelchair lift recall, a separate problem on older buses.

When the letters come

Forest River plans to notify its dealers and mail owner letters on December 21, 2026. You do not have to wait for the letter to ask about your buses.

If you already paid to fix this problem, an authorized Forest River dealer still has to inspect the bus. Forest River may refund what you paid for a repair within the scope of this recall. Send the service invoice to Starcraft Bus, 2367 Century Drive, Goshen, IN 46528.

What NEMT owners should do now

  1. List your 2026 and 2027 Forest River buses. Match each model and year against the table.
  2. Check each one with Forest River. Call customer service at 1-800-348-7440, give recall number 05-2110 and the VIN, and ask whether the bus is included and which authorized dealer can inspect it. A VIN search on NHTSA.gov is not enough: Forest River Bus is not on the list of makers whose recalls that search shows, so a clean result does not clear the bus. A search there by year, make (Forest River Bus), and model does show the recall.
  3. Brief your drivers. Severe shaking in the steering wheel or the front end means the driver pulls over where it is safe, stops, and calls dispatch. Use your breakdown plan to get riders to their appointments.
  4. Keep the paperwork. Write the recall number and inspection date in each bus’s maintenance log, and file the dealer’s repair order with your vehicle maintenance records for broker and state inspections.

NHTSA’s Vehicle Safety Hotline, 1-888-327-4236, also answers recall questions.

Sources

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