Some would say the wheels have come off at GM. With the infamous multi-billion dollar loss posted last year, sequential multi-billion dollar losses after each quarter of 2006, and a potential Delphi strike looming large on the horizon, the euphemism certainly seems appropriate, and with recent news of Hummer H2s abandoning their front wheels as a result of failed steering knuckles, it’s now downright literal.
According to an investigation by the Sacramento Bee newspaper and the NHTSA, the behemoths seem to have an Achilles heel: their steering knuckles.
The cast suspension piece that mounts the wheel to the control arms, it’s an integral part of the suspension, and those H2s that have suffered steering knuckle failures have all done so with catastrophic results. U.S. federal highway safety investigators are looking into the case, which has seen 25 complainants have one of their front wheels literally fall off.
Also supporting the NHTSA’s investigation is the fact that investigators have unearthed an additional 61 claims made by owners of Suburbans and Avalanches that have experienced similar failures, as well as GM’s own admission that they changed the part’s design in 2003 to "improve [their] products." In their defense, GM claims the H2’s exposed wide tires, necessary for the SUV’s off-road performance, are to blame, placing a greater load on the knuckle due to the added leverage the wider tire can exert.
As such, the mere threat of a lawsuit was enough to convince GM to take one unhappy victim’s three-wheeled H2 back for a full refund (minus the insurance claim coverage), as well as refund the full purchase price of a second H2 the owner also bought.
GM Product Safety Spokesman Alan Adler maintains that while the H2 may bear the Hummer name, "we have never claimed it is invincible."
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-Rita Mae Brown-
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Originally Posted by carsnut
