WHOA - MASSIVE GM Recall - 4,000,000 trucks!

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GeekDrew

Diamond Member
Jun 7, 2000
9,100
13
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Originally posted by: Viper GTS
I was under the impression that it was common sense to avoid putting excess weight on the tailgate. My grandparents have owned trucks the entire time I've been alive, & we were never allowed to sit on them/put any undue weight on them.

Also, according to the article on CNN, the tailgate would still be stopped by the rear bumper. It would only drop 10°.

Does it need to be addressed? Sure, but it's just not that big of a deal.

Viper GTS

I come from a farm family, and we've been die-hard Ford fans until this year. We've *always* had F-250 trucks. My dad is currently driving an 89 F-250, and it runs excellently and there is not one problem with it.

We do sit on the tailgates, sometimes, if we are chatting, or just waiting around, or whatever. We don't, however, place anything on the tailgates that would endanger someone's life, especially if the vehicle is in motion. Furthermore... we routinely inspect the cables that hold the tailgate up. We've placed hay bales on them, stood on them, sat on them, etc... and we have NEVER had one give out or be damaged yet (from something like that).

One day I was loading a diesel fuel tank onto one of the trucks... it's a huge diesel tank, can't remember how many gallons. Anyway, I have to use a tractor and loader to move the tank... which is connected via hook and chain to the front end. Approaching from the back end of the truck, I raise the tank up above the truck bed, and start creeping forward (so that I can put the tank toward the center of the truck, rather close to the cabin. Well... my genious boy brother decided to start running toward the tractor... he intended to run past the tractor. We were in some fairly tall grass, and he didn't see the arm mower attached to the back end of the tractor, that sticks out to the side and rear of it. He was headed right for it. He saw me wave my arm to stop, but decided to keep running anyway. The only way I could make sure he didn't get caught in the mower was to throw it in gear and raise it up out of the way... but because I had such a heavy tank on the front end, I didn't have enough hydraulic pressure to do it. I very quickly decided to sacrifice the truck instead of my brother, and I switched on the pressure release valve for the front end loader... which gave full power to the back, and the mower engaged and came right up out of the grass and away from the area where my brother would have passed just seconds later had he not seen me start to raise the mower. Throwing that pressure release obviously caused the front end hydraulics to lose pressure... which is what was holding the diesel fuel tank in the air. It was only about 1 foot off of the truck bed, but that much weight coming down on the tailgate and the end of the truck bed generally isn't a good idea. The tailgate bent from that much weight on it... but the straps that hold the tailgate up remained securely in place.

Obviously I would never place that much weight on a tailgate, and while they are not designed to hold much weight, most of them - at least the old F-250s - can hold at least 3 large people.
 

Vic

Elite Member
Jun 12, 2001
50,415
14,303
136
Originally posted by: DrPizza
I think the real issue is the quality of a company that designs a product with umpteen moving parts, and they can't even get a "fuggin cable" right the first time.
The likelihood that GM actually designed and built this cable is slim-to-none. All manufacturers use contractors for things like this. Most likely, GM took bids from contractors that they needed a cable for a certain purpose, a certain length, a certain strength, etc. As in ALL things, the lowest bidder who could meet the production needs was selected. In this case, chances are that it was the contractors fault, that they probably didn't manufacture the cable to the strength that GM had instructed, and that the contractor is the one who will get burned here.

A lot of you trolls should look at posting the same way you would as talking, i.e. "Better to keep your mouth shut and be thought a fool than to open it and remove all doubt."
 

LAUST

Diamond Member
Sep 13, 2000
8,957
1
81
Oh man you really made me feel silly
rolleye.gif
 
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LAUST

Diamond Member
Sep 13, 2000
8,957
1
81
Ever think they might lease? wait.... I said think, nevermind.
 
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Eli

Super Moderator | Elite Member
Oct 9, 1999
50,422
8
81
Originally posted by: Viper GTS
Tailgate support cables?

That's pretty minor...

Viper GTS
My thoughts exactly. This is almost something you want to give them props for bothering to recall it at all. It's definately something they could've just swept under the carpet if they wanted to.
 

bernse

Diamond Member
Aug 29, 2000
3,229
0
0
Originally posted by: Eli
My thoughts exactly. This is almost something you want to give them props for bothering to recall it at all. It's definately something they could've just swept under the carpet if they wanted to.[/quote]

Very doubtful - from the link
GM has reported 430 complaints of one or both of the tailgate support cables breaking on the trucks, which became the target of an upgraded investigation by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (news - web sites) late last month.

They would have likely been forced to and that would have looked worse. It's the least bitter of two pills and it worked. Look at this thread - we actually have people giving them a pat on the back for having this recall.
 

Shockwave

Banned
Sep 16, 2000
9,059
0
0
GeekDrew, what the heck kinda crappy tractor were you using?? One of those garden tractor things?!

Anyways, we use Ford truck for our farm as well. And the tailgate is just an extension of the bed for us. People, part you name it its been on there. And its held up well enough thus far.
 

GeekDrew

Diamond Member
Jun 7, 2000
9,100
13
81
Originally posted by: Shockwave
GeekDrew, what the heck kinda crappy tractor were you using?? One of those garden tractor things?!

Anyways, we use Ford truck for our farm as well. And the tailgate is just an extension of the bed for us. People, part you name it its been on there. And its held up well enough thus far.

It was a John Deere 1530 - that tractor just happened to be having a hydraulic problem at the moment... under normal circumstances it would have been able to do that and more at idle.

Yep... while we don't abuse our tailgates, it's like an extension of the bed for us too.
 
Aug 23, 2000
15,511
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Originally posted by: Viper GTS
I was under the impression that it was common sense to avoid putting excess weight on the tailgate. My grandparents have owned trucks the entire time I've been alive, & we were never allowed to sit on them/put any undue weight on them.

Also, according to the article on CNN, the tailgate would still be stopped by the rear bumper. It would only drop 10°.

Does it need to be addressed? Sure, but it's just not that big of a deal.

Viper GTS

Tailgates are designed to take weight on them. if you have a short bed and you put a motorcycle in it, the back tire of the bike will be on the tailgate.

 

Sluggo

Lifer
Jun 12, 2000
15,488
5
81
I had to replace these cable on the 88 Silverado I owned years ago. The cables were a whopping $11.50 each, retail at the Chevrolet parts counter.

This is such a minor deal.
 

Eli

Super Moderator | Elite Member
Oct 9, 1999
50,422
8
81
Originally posted by: bernse
Originally posted by: Eli
My thoughts exactly. This is almost something you want to give them props for bothering to recall it at all. It's definately something they could've just swept under the carpet if they wanted to.

Very doubtful - from the link
GM has reported 430 complaints of one or both of the tailgate support cables breaking on the trucks, which became the target of an upgraded investigation by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (news - web sites) late last month.

They would have likely been forced to and that would have looked worse. It's the least bitter of two pills and it worked. Look at this thread - we actually have people giving them a pat on the back for having this recall.[/quote]Ah. Should've read the article I guess.
 

adlep

Diamond Member
Mar 25, 2001
5,287
6
81
...I work for GM...
And judging by the way our IT departament works....
THEY MAKE STINKY CARS.....

 

Squisher

Lifer
Aug 17, 2000
21,207
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I'm sure the cable was tested. But suppliers start slipping inferior products past the car makers all the time. All it takes is for some idiot on the line to start crimping a cable the wrong way for one day and if you don't have anyway to track the part in a bin then you have to assume all the parts in the bins are bad.

Likely it is the fact that the part is incredible small and cannot include a set # that precludes the ability to track the defective parts. If you were to stamp a set # on the cable rings you would weaken the rings.

GM actually leads domestics in quality and is in the middle of the pack with Nissan.

Only Honda and Toyota have a slight lead on the other manufacturers.