Are these trucks ticking financial bombs?

[carl B]

I just had the spare tire cable snap on my 01 Denali and drop the spare without any warning. Thank god this happened in a parking lot and not on the highway. I've never used my spare, there was never any damage to the hoist mechanism. Apparently the cable just gave in due to rust and constant stress. It's a poor design and the liability in the case of failure falls squarely on the vehicle owner. I suspect they will all eventually fail; I hope everyone else is as lucky as I was and nobody gets hurt.

I'm looking for an alternate method to resecure the spare. I have some ideas but if anybody here knows of an aftermarket solution, let me know at carl(at)ball(dot)net. I don't care if I have to craw under the vehicle to release/unlock the spare in case of a flat, I just don't ever want to see it appear in my rear view mirror again.

 

[DofD]

I would suggest replacing the cable with a better quality and stronger cable.

 

[Gambler]

I don't think I'd be worried about my truck becoming a ticking financial bomb after having one part fail. I've never heard of it happening before. There was probably a defect or unnoticed damage in your cable. Just replace it, or go without a spare.

 

[06Evolved]

I had the tailgate cable snap on my 99 Silverado a couple years ago. My brother and I were actually loading my motorcycle into the bed and just as soon as we were done, the cable snapped and we both fell straight to the ground. It dented my tailgate against the bumper and all sorts of fun stuff.

 

[Nnaboy]

That sucks, and I can see how it can turn into a serious and expensive problem, but like Gambler said, its too little to write-off our trucks for. Very rare problem too!

 

[sasquatch094]

never heard of that happening either.. Maybe you could just use a tow strap if you dont feel like making something crazy and just to noose it up there.. I took my tire out of there a while ago bcuz of my rollpan, and the cable seemed fine. im not sure how yours in an 01 and rusted apart??

 

[carl B]

"I don't think I'd be worried about my truck becoming a ticking financial bomb after having one part fail. I've never heard of it happening before. There was probably a defect or unnoticed damage in your cable. Just replace it, or go without a spare."

Ah, a true gambler. With cell phones and AAA, maybe no spare is the way to go but that wasn't my point at all. The ticking part is that I believe they will all eventually fail. The financial bomb part is not the trivial cost of parts or even the cost of the truck, it is the potential for a lawsuit from an accident that could result from dropping a tire on the highway. You are liable for anything falling off of your car, whether you knew of the defect or not. A resulting crash involving multiple cars would be 100% the fault of the driver that dropped the tire. That could easily exhaust your auto insurance limits, umbrella policy, equity in your home, whatever is left in 401k accounts and attach you and/or your spouse's wages for the rest of your working lives. All from a crappy designed spare tire hoist cable.

Never heard of one failing? Go ask your dealer. Mine confirmed he's fixed several. BTW, there was no damage to the cable other than rust according to the same mechanic. IMO, replacing it with another crappy hoist cable is too risky. I couldn't live with myself if/when it failed again. Rebuilding the hoist with a stronger cable may work but it if fails and that results in an accident you could be found not only liable but negligent too.

I plan to replace the cable but I want a second redundant mechanism that will guarantee that my tire can not hit the ground. Think if it like a hood release that has a primary release inside then a second release outside. Like I said, I don't mind climbing under the car, I just want to be sure that it can't fall off again.

 

[notch8]

My spare tire dropped and I ran over it in my neighborhood. Haha I looked in the rear view mirror after hearing a boom and thought man theres no way I just ran over a tire, I know that wasn't there and sure enough got to the driveway and it was mine.

As for solutions I just left the tire off and in the garage since I get free towing with my insurance company. I didn't feel like rigging it back up or messing with it.

 

[carl B]

That's exactly what I said to myself. Heard a bang and looked in the mirror to see what I might have hit, saw the tire and said, there's no way I didn't see that before hitting it. It had to be mine.

 

[macgyver]

I have heard of this happening after an attempted theft of the spare.

 

[02Lightning]

Replace the cable with a new one and then install a cable loop of some kind. The loop with catch it if it falls again.

 

[carl B]

Yep, we looked for that. No signs of any such attempt. It would be difficult to reach the part that broke with any tool because the plate and rim block access to it. It broke about 1/2 inch from the end, inside the spring. The spring itself looks rusty, no signs of cutting. I wonder how many people left their spare tires in ditches and reported them stolen a week later?

 

[carl B]

yes, the idea I'm working on would involve 4 eyebolts and a long cable crisscrossing the spare. I can use the hitch bolts for two of them but the other two will probably have to be welded on. If the spare falls it can't touch the ground at all or I'd probably send my own vehicle in to a wreck.

 

[Gambler]

You'd have to be REALLY REALLY REALLY unlucky for you to cause an accident with a spare tire severe enough to drain all of the insurances you mentioned. Even then, if your claim that they will all go bad eventually is true, you'd have GM to sue. I don't think that this is that COMMON a problem. The fact that I hadn't heard of it before was my way of explaining that, I never claimed it had never happened before. Seriously, if you are that worried about your spare falling off, just don't reattach it...the new hybrids don't even come with a spare. I'd be willing to wager you have AAA or OnStar anyway.

 

[fco_gonzo]

get rid of your suv and get a sedan they have the spare in the trunk.

 

[carl B]

My Lexus SUV has the spare in a steel pan below the floor at the same location where GM hangs theirs with a thread. My BMW doesn't have a spare, no room for it but they give you lifetime roadside assistance when you buy it.

 

[boostaholic]

Same design as my 89 1500 truck and I've never had a failure in any of the dozens of gm trucks I've owned. This is a rather implausible situation, one could argue a failed fuel pump could kill the entire family or a sticking brake rotor could start half of california on fire during a family vacation. One risks these possible issues driving any vehicle, it's a risk I'll make since these trucks have never let me down.

 

[Fyrcaptain]

No more than any other car / truck out there......I looked outside the sky is not falling

 

[sasquatch094]

get rid of your suv and get a sedan they have the spare in the trunk.

That always works...

 

[Nnaboy]

Or you can go get another brand new cable and coat it with Por15 anti-rust paint and never have to worry about rust weakening the cable.
www.por15.com