recall was material only....specifically weld related as far as I know. Nothing to do with design. Dahon replaced a lot of stems on several models which were produced during the questionable suppliers delivery time. Meaning they replaced a lot of perfectly alright stems just to make sure that nobody had a potentially defective one.
Most of the "problems" with stems come from overzealous adjustment freaks, who cannot leave good alone and have the urge to optimize beyond their abilities. I have seen delrin blocks explode, due to way overtightened adjustment bolts, they will also show excessive wear , if they are overtightened.... plus they will need more frequent adjustment as well.
I have seen tightened down guide bolts ( for the plate, who needs to move freely ) making a folding stem a more or less solid one, without been able to fold.... and if than the lips are rounded off...due to not opening jaws for lack of the better word ....
grinding away with every fold..... people who open the handle just half and force the stem to close ... and and and
yes I like the tern hinge better as well.... but with millions of dahon latches around, they seem to be working for 99.9999999 % without any problems ...
thor
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