My right wheel fell off...

Biff · #1 10-30-2003, 03:34 AM

I have a serious problem with my 2003 H2. My right front wheel and inner backing and axle came off. The lower flange broke away from the lower A-arm. This happened while I was driving on a paved road near my house. The A-arm hit the ground and spun the H2 off the road and into a tree. The right wheel's brake backing plate and axle came off all in one piece. Except for this one flange, the remainder of each front wheel is held in place by only ball joints. The upper flange is attached to a ball joint. The lower flange is a major structural component of the front end. There was no impact to any of the parts of the right wheel assenbly or axle even after I was thrown off the road. Obviously the brake line and ABS circuit was severed immediately. I had no brakes and little other control. After the H2 hit the tree, it came to a stop. The bottom of the tree stayed stationary, but the top of the tree broke off and came down (HARD) on the right windshield post, bending the post and shattering the windshield. With no front wheel, the H2 does not have any mobility except for skidding and sliding.

The front-end on a H2 is identical to Chevy and GM trucks. The new Chevy SS has the same front-end.

"Why is this?", I ask rhetorically.

GM says that the wheel broke off due to driver error or in-attention. They will not provide any letter stating anything. The dealer deferred to the GM Zone Manager, because I am a "good customer". I include quotes because that is how the dealership's General Manager introduced my case to the Zone Manager. The Zone Manager inspected the vehicle two days after the incident. It took him a month to call me. The vehicle has been there for two months. During this time I made an appeal to the GM Allegation Department. The Allegation Department called me after about a month they said that they have to concur with the Zone Manager because they don't disagree with Zone Managers. They made no inspection that I know of. They did, however, call the Hummer Technical rep at the dealership and asked him if the wheel came off before or after I went of the road. He said he didn't know.

The vehicle has about 2500 miles on iot and has spent over four of the five months that I have owned it at the dealer. First to go were the transfer gears. Apparently a re-design was being done at GM while the vehicle was down for this problem. GM shipped no parts until the re-design was done and the new parts manufactured. Apparently the shift mechanism was made out of plastic.

The only time I took the H2 off-road was to go to a Hummer rally sponsored by the dealership.

I feel that GM is acting in bad faith.

The dealership offered me a $35k Chrysler Crossfire in trade. I paid cash for the H2, an LL model that I paid $61k (cash) for. They have estimated that are $14k in damages to the vehicle from the tree damage and the right front axle and wheel damage. They presented this as the worst-case-scenario cost. I realize that it is a little high, probably twice the actual cost.

I'd appreciate some feedback. Pictures and videtape are available.

Biff
----
Biff.HATEs.his.Hummer@Biffs.Biz

[This message was edited by Biff on 10-29-03 at 09:51 PM.]

H2 Daddy · #2 10-30-2003, 04:04 AM

I would talk to a lawyer. Sounds like you have a lemon law case.

TJ · #3 10-30-2003, 05:16 AM

Here's the link to an article you may be interested in:

http://www.sacbee.com/content/busine...-6694625c.html

You may also want to check with the NHTSA. I believe that they have had reports of a couple of incidents which may be similar to yours:

http://www.nhtsa.dot.gov/

DRTYFN · #4 10-30-2003, 06:20 AM

Biff,
Is your zone manager's first name Kelly?

AL MOORE · #5 10-30-2003, 10:34 AM

I am thankful that you are able to share this event. How do you feel?

buddy · #6 10-30-2003, 10:41 AM

This happened in Jax early this year. Do a search for old thread of Jax incident.That Hummer was pulling out of parking lot in Lake City, 60 miles from Jax., and steering knuckle broke at ball joint. They said it was a probable casting flaw.

H2 Bill · #7 10-30-2003, 04:54 PM

TJ, now that's an interesting article....it would be interesting to see some close up pics of the malfunctioned parts.

2003 H2 Hummer, Yellow,Polished Whipple Supercharged, Edelbrock ceramics, catback,18" Ambush w/mudders,lots of goodies!
Y2K Corvette Millennium Yellow Convert/Blk/Blk, B&B headers, B&B Tri-Flo's, H-Tech MAG,GMS MAF, RM Racing TwinFlow.
1994 Chev 454 Suburban, Blown, Doug Thorley
1970 Trans Am, balanced, blue printed, Hooker ceramics

www.4swimwear.com

buddy · #8 10-30-2003, 06:02 PM

Here's a reply back from Mark Glover with the Sac Bee..

Funny you should bring this up today. Had a chat with a GM official this morning about last year's wild ride. He said the automaker had nothing to report. Nobody locally or with GM has ever called me with an official cause or even what would amount to an educated guess...MARK
-----Original Message-----
From: Buddy [mailto:hzo61@comcast.net]
Sent: Thursday, October 30, 2003 11:05 AM
To: mglover@sacbee.com
Subject: Hummer

Mark,

Whatever happened to the H2? Did GM ever have an answer as to the cause of the wheel coming off?

A similiar incident in Jax, FL about the same time, was attributed to casting flaw in steering knukle, or that was the dealership's prognosis.

Have you heard of any other "wheel problems" with the H2.

I'm an active member of the H2 Forum and would like to pass on any further updates concerning your exciting ride.

Thanks,

Buddy,

Dan · #9 10-30-2003, 06:10 PM

Time to lay off the sauce!

- Dan

-------------------------------------------------
SUT on order 12/02. 10 months down, 8 to go!
-------------------------------------------------

Klaus · #10 10-30-2003, 06:11 PM

Why don't you send Mark Glover a link to this thread?

Klaus

"God made some men big and some men small, but Sam Colt made them all equal."

Biff · #11 10-30-2003, 08:44 PM

The Zone Manager's name is Bruce Allen. At one time he told me he would come and look at the scene. He said he would make a point of it the next time he was in Anchorage. I called him back after he didn't contact me during he monthly trip here. He said he had a lot more important things to worry about.

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><font size="-1">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by DRTYFN:
Biff,
Is your zone manager's first name Kelly?<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

Biff
----
I.HATE.my Hummer@Biffs.Biz

unaslob · #12 10-31-2003, 10:56 AM

find a lawyer friend... then call the local media outlets... ofcourse let hummer know you are doing this first...they will probably cave....una

DennisAJC · #14 10-31-2003, 01:14 PM

Biff,

Don't quit on these pricks. Be a really big pain in their ass and eventually they'll twitch.

You have to be prepared to play hard ball even to the point of picketting the dealership or parading your H2 on a flatdeck (if they haven't fixed it). These guys will move fast if there is any possibility their business could get hurt.

UNA has a great ideal, but a 1-2 day stint on the paper or 5 minutes on TV is recoverable and forgettable in a week.

Most of us here are H2 diehards and will defend it to it's end. But there are a few exceptions. It's clear GM is not interested in your problems now that they have your money.
Professional Grade My Ass. GM is giving Hummer a bad name.

TJ!

Any updates to your situation? Cripes! you're never around anymore!

1BADH2 · #15 10-31-2003, 04:38 PM

GM is the worst thing that happened to Hummer.

Buckeye Hummer · #16 10-31-2003, 05:22 PM

1badh2,

I disagree. GM has really brought the quality of the H1 up significantly as well as producing the H2 (a difficult task). The H2 is a wild success, needs some work, but a success.

No other company could have pulled this off!

OK, assuming this wheel did just fall off (it could happen), just sue them. If it really happened, sue. You're going to win even if it's GM, although it would never get that far. Just have your attorney write a letter and call it a day. GM will clean up your mess.

DRTYFN · #17 10-31-2003, 09:04 PM

What I'd like to know is why hasn't Uniblack jumped in with any words of wisdom on this subject?

unaslob · #19 11-01-2003, 10:02 PM

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><font size="-1">quote:</font><HR> If you have pictures of kids next to the wrecked H2, that will really help <HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

PhilD GREAT idea... why didnt i think of that... I would nail them to cross..(not the kids... gm that is...)

uniblack's silence is deafening... i did support him in the past...

you push hard enough... you will win... think of all the accessories you will be able to buy with the money you would be spending on fixing the damn thing... una

Biff · #20 11-03-2003, 02:34 AM

All of you are great. I never expected this much feedback. Personally, I'm not a GM fan, for a variety of reasons. Not the least of which is that they are so damn concerned about not spending money. For example, using the same front-end on every truck product they make, including the Hummer. They are the largest auto manufacturing corporation in the world, yet the best they can do as their premeire auto is the Corvette? What a joke.

Biff
-----------------------
GM.does.not.stand.behind.their.HUMMER@Biffs.biz

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