2022 Spartan Fire Gladiator problems, complaints & recalls
Safety recalls (12)
Seats:critical Fasteners 2024-05-10 · campaign 24V323000 · 100 vehicles
Defect: Spartan Fire, LLC (Spartan Fire) is recalling certain 2022-2024 Gladiator, Metro Star, and 2023-2024 FC-94 vehicles. The seat mount fastener may be undersized and could break. As such, these vehicles may fail to comply with the requirements of Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard (FMVSS) number 207, "Seating Systems."
Risk: A broken fastener can allow the seat to move, increasing the risk of injury during a crash.
Fix: Dealers will inspect and replace the fastener as necessary, free of charge. Owner notification letters were mailed June 27, 2024. Owners may contact Spartan Fire customer service at 1-517-543-6400. Spartan Fire's number for this recall is 24007.
Parking Brake 2023-11-07 · campaign 23V747000 · 10 vehicles
Defect: Custom Fire Apparatus, Inc (Custom Fire) is recalling certain 2021-2024 Spartan Gladiator, MetroStar, and FC-94 emergency vehicles. A defect in the inversion valve may delay the park brake setting after engagement, which could allow the vehicle to move unintentionally.
Risk: Unintentional vehicle movement can increase the risk of a crash or injury.
Fix: Custom Fire will inspect and replace the faulty inversion valve, if necessary, free of charge. Owner notification letters were mailed November 16, 2023. Owners may contact Custom Fire customer service at 1-715-294-2555. Custom Fire's number for this recall is 23V-631/TC 2023-512.
Parking Brake 2023-09-12 · campaign 23V631000 · 660 vehicles
Defect: Spartan Fire, LLC (Spartan Fire) is recalling certain 2021-2024 Gladiator, Metro Star, 2022-2024 FC-94, 2022-2023 KME Panther, and 2023 KME Predator emergency vehicles. A defect in the inversion valve may delay park brake engagement, which could allow the vehicle to move unintentionally. As such, these vehicles fail to comply with the requirements of Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard number 121, "Air Brake Systems."
Risk: Unintentional vehicle movement can increase the risk of a crash or injury.
Fix: Dealers will replace the inversion valve, free of charge. Owner notification letters were mailed November 2, 2023. Owners may contact Spartan Fire customer service at 1-800-867-6478. Spartan Fire's number for this recall is 23017.
Power Train:automatic Transmission:control Module (Tcm/Pcm/Tecm) 2023-03-23 · campaign 23V156000 · 166 vehicles
Defect: Spartan Fire LLC (Spartan Fire) is recalling certain 2022-2024 Gladiator, Metro Star, FC-94 and KME Panther firetrucks. After the vehicle is reversed, the transmission control module (TCM) may fail to achieve the 4th gear lockup needed to initiate the water pump.
Risk: A firetruck that is unable to pump water increases the risk of injury during a fire.
Fix: Dealers will update the TCM software, free of charge. Owner notification letters were mailed April 27, 2023. Owners may contact Spartan Fire customer service at 1-517-543-6400. Spartan Fire's number for this recall is 23007.
Steering:critical Fasteners 2023-03-23 · campaign 23V192000 · 12 vehicles
Defect: Spartan Fire, LLC (Spartan Fire) is recalling certain 2020, 2022 and 2023 Gladiator and 2023 MetroStar vehicles. The front-drive steer axle fasteners may loosen, resulting in a complete separation of the axle assembly joints.
Risk: Steer axle assembly separation can result in a loss of vehicle control, increasing the risk of a crash.
Fix: Dealers will inspect and replace the pro-torque nut keeper on the steer axle assembly, free of charge. Owner notification letters were mailed May 10, 2023. Owners may contact Spartan Fire customer service at 1-517-543-6400. Spartan Fire's number for this recall is 23009.
Steering:linkages:tie Rod Assembly 2022-11-23 · campaign 22V871000 · 6 vehicles
Defect: Marion Body Works Inc. (Marion) is recalling certain 2021-2023 Spartan Fire Gladiator, MetroStar, FC-94 and KME Panther fire trucks. The tie rod clamps may have been improperly heat-treated, causing them to fail and allowing the tie rods to separate.
Risk: Tie rod separation can result in a sudden loss of steering, increasing the risk of a crash.
Fix: Dealers will replace both tie rod clamps, free of charge. Owner notification letters were mailed on December 13, 2022. Owners may contact Marion's customer service at 1-715-754-5261. Marion's number for this recall is 22V-778.
Steering:linkages:tie Rod Assembly 2022-10-17 · campaign 22V778000 · 225 vehicles
Defect: Spartan Fire, LLC (Spartan Fire) is recalling certain 2021-2023 Gladiator, MetroStar, FC-94, and KME Panther emergency vehicles. The tie rod clamps may have been improperly heat-treated, causing them to fail and allowing the tie rods to separate.
Risk: Tie rod separation can result in a sudden loss of steering, increasing the risk of a crash.
Fix: Dealers will replace the tie rod clamps, free of charge. Owner notification letters were mailed on December 2, 2022. Owners may contact Spartan Fire's customer service at 1-517-543-6400. Spartan Fire's number for this recall is 22007.
Parking Brake 2022-09-12 · campaign 22V682000 · 8 vehicles
Defect: Spartan Fire, LLC (Spartan Fire) is recalling certain 2022 Gladiator and MetroStar fire trucks. The front wheel parking brake may not engage.
Risk: Failure of the parking brake can result in unintended vehicle movement, increasing the risk of a crash.
Fix: Dealers will repair the parking brake, free of charge. Owner notification letters were mailed on November 1, 2022. Owners may contact Spartan Fire's customer service at 1-517-543-6400. Spartan Fire's number for this recall is 22005.
Equipment:emergency:siren/Lighting/Strobes:wiring 2022-05-24 · campaign 22V373000 · 27 vehicles
Defect: Spartan Fire, LLC (Spartan Fire) is recalling certain 2021-2023 Gladiator, MetroStar, and 2022-2023 FC-94 fire trucks. An additional resistor was incorrectly installed on the printed circuit board, which can disrupt CAN network communication and cause vehicle lighting to fail.
Risk: Inoperable vehicle lighting can reduce visibility and increase the risk of a crash.
Fix: Dealers will replace the modules, free of charge. Owner notification letters were mailed on July 18, 2022. Owners may contact Spartan Fire's customer service at 1-800-543-6400. Spartan Fire's number for this recall is 22001.
Power Train:axle Assembly 2022-01-20 · campaign 22V019000 · 22 vehicles
Defect: Marion Body Works Inc. (Marion Body Works) is recalling certain 2021-2022 Spartan Gladiator, MetroStar, and MetroStar-RT vehicles equipped with Meritor 180 series drive pinions. The rear axle drive pinion may fracture.
Risk: A fractured drive pinion may contact the brake drop hose, and unintentionally engage the parking brake without detection, or without the brake lights activating, increasing the risk of a crash.
Fix: Meritor will inspect and replace the drive pinion, as necessary, free of charge. Owner notification letters were mailed January 28, 2022. Owners may contact Marion Body Works customer service at 1-715-754-5261. Marion Body Works number for this recall is 21V-899.
Fuel System, Diesel:fuel Injection System:fuel Rail 2021-12-13 · campaign 21V967000 · 114 vehicles
Defect: Spartan Fire, LLC is recalling certain 2019-2022 Gladiator and MetroStar vehicles. The fuel tubes between the fuel rail and the injectors for cylinders four, five, and six may fatigue and crack, which can result in a high pressure fuel leak.
Risk: A high pressure fuel leak in the presence of an ignition source can increase the risk of a fire.
Fix: On engines with 75 miles or less, dealers will install vibration isolators to the fuel tubes. Engines with more than 75 miles will receive new fuel tubes with vibration isolators. Repairs will be performed free of charge. Owner notification letters were mailed January 5, 2022. Owners may contact Spartan Fire customer service at 1-517-543-6400. Spartan Fire's number for this recall is 21017.
Power Train:axle Assembly 2021-11-18 · campaign 21V899000 · 260 vehicles
Defect: Spartan Fire, LLC (Spartan Fire) is recalling certain 2021-2022 Gladiator, MetroStar and FC-94 emergency vehicles. The rear axle drive pinion may fracture.
Risk: A fractured drive pinion may contact the brake drop hose, and unintentionally engage the parking brake or activate the brake lights, increasing the risk of a crash.
Fix: Meritor will inspect and replace the drive pinion, as necessary, free of charge. Owner notification letters were mailed January 3, 2022. Owners may contact Spartan Fire customer service at 1-517-543-6400. Spartan Fire's number for this recall is 21016.
Service bulletins (23)
Technical service bulletins are repair instructions manufacturers send dealers for known issues. Unlike recalls, the fix is not automatically free — but naming the bulletin at the service desk can save diagnosis time and support goodwill repairs.
Electrical System 2026-02-12 · TSB26-410-001 · Service Bulletin/Repair Instructions
this service bulletin is about certain vehicles equipped with zerorpm that may possess default settings that do not prioritize the charging of the chassis equipped lead acid batteries.
Unknown Or Other 2026-02-05 · TSB26-270-001 · Service Bulletin/Repair Instructions
this service bulletin is about certain vehicles that may incorrectly experience a low coolant level alarm and fault code when the coolant is full.
Unknown Or Other 2026-01-27 · TSB26-150-001 · Service Bulletin/Repair Instructions
this service bulletin is about certain vehicles that may experience leaks through the cab roof seams into the cab interior and instructions on how to repair the leak.
Unknown Or Other 2025-12-24 · TSB25-110-001 · Service Bulletin/Repair Instructions
this service bulletin is about certain vehicles with cab tilt crossbar tubes that may crack adjacent to the cab pivot mounts and instructions on how to remove and weld in a replacement tube.
Wheels 2025-11-21 · CSB25-370-001 · Service Bulletin/Repair Instructions
this service bulletin is about certain vehicles equipped with lower weight rated wheels than what the front gvw of the vehicles were rated for and instructions to replace the wheel assemblies.
Unknown Or Other 2025-03-27 · TSB25-210-001 · Service Bulletin/Repair Instructions
this service bulletin provides instructions to replace new crossmember gussets if the frame crossmember gussets used in roadmaxx rear suspension equipped vehicles may experience a crack due to a material deviation by the supplier.
Showing the 6 most recent of 23 bulletins. Search all of them free at nhtsa.gov.
What owners report
No detailed complaint narratives on file.
Excerpts of consumer complaints filed with NHTSA, lightly truncated. They are owner statements, not verified findings.