Interpretation ID: nht74-3.22

DATE: 10/07/74

FROM: AUTHOR UNAVAILABLE; R. B. Dyson; NHTSA

TO: Diamond Reo Trucks, Inc.

TITLE: FMVSS INTERPRETATION

TEXT: This responds to your August 13, 1974, question whether building a motor vehicle from a used power train (rear axle, suspension, drive line, and engine) and a new "glider kit" constitutes the manufacture of a new motor vehicle, subject to Federal motor vehicle safety standards, including Standard No. 121 after March 1, 1975. Typically, a "glider kit" is a truck chassis on which a cab and front axle system are mounted, which is purchased to permit the re-utilization of a power train from another vehicle.

Re-use of components from an existing vehicle in the construction of another vehicle may or may not result in the manufacture of a new vehicle. The NHTSA has established that the addition of new components (such as a truck body) to the chassis of a used vehicle does not constitute the manufacture of a new vehicle. Conversely, the addition of used components to a new chassis which has never been certified in a vehicle constitutes the manufacture of a new vehicle, subject to the safety standards in effect for that vehicle class on the date of manufacture. This criterion has been relied on in the area of chassis-cab multistage manufacture.

Since a glider kit typically incorporates a new chassis (as well as a new cab and front suspension), the NHTSA finds that the use of such a glider kit in the construction of a motor vehicle constitutes the manufacture of a new motor vehicle. To conclude otherwise would mean that a vehicle composed entirely of brand new components except the rear axle and perhaps the engine and transmission, would qualify as a used vehicle.

You noted that our decision could eliminate the use of glider kits because Standard No. 121 certification would prevent re-use of rear axles which do not meet 121-level performance requirements. We believe that our determination will contribute to motor vehicle safety by introducing more 121-type vehicles on the highway and will not interfere with the use of glider kits in the long term. Glider kits can be made to meet Standard No. 121 as soon as 121-type rear axles become available on the used market. Until that time, the rear axles of present vehicles may be utilized as replacement parts in used vehicles which are not required to meet Standard No. 121.