Colorado / Canyon bent frame

[ChasingOurTrunks]

I feel for the guy. If it had happened to me I'd be furious too. We had been considering a Colorado and now, we aren't.

So, the fellow was pulling a 2100 lbs. trailer with nearly 400 lbs. of tongue weight (if I recall correctly). Doesn't that seem like a lot of tongue weight? I would have tried like hell to get the tongue down to 10% of total weight. Do yall think that had anything to do with the frame failure?

I haven't towed anything with that much tongue weight in any rig and am genuinely curious.

I feel terrible for this guy too. But, there are only two explanations for that photo: Either the specific truck he had was a lemon, or there's more to the story than what we know. I wouldn't let this one incident rule out the platform if you are shopping for a rig; there are tens of thousands of these on the road in North America, and thousands more elsewhere, that have never had this problem or anything remotely like it. It's akin to swearing off buying lottery tickets because one winner got struck by lightening, and there's no evidence to suggest the platform is fundamentally flawed in its design.

If we see reports of this happening more than this one time, that could change things.

I do however gotta say...C'mon GM. This would be pocket change for you to fix, even if it was the guy's own fault, but you are choosing not to fix it and letting pennies get in the way of dollars as this photo spreads like wildfire and turns people against your brand and platform. Just like Toyota's response to the poor guy whose engine blew up on the slope a few weeks back, or Chrysler's response to my transmission issues back in the day, I think the big lesson here is if you are an off road enthusiast, consider your warranty the same as you would a a round of roulette. It might go your way, but there's a chance you'll bust out.

 

[shade]

Many regards, Thats poor comparasin. Rusting frame is easily noticed over time and gives plenty of fair warning. This example of bending is sudden unpected disaster.

No, it's actually on point. The Toyota frame issue potentially affected hundreds of thousands of vehicles produced over many years, even over two generations of production, and across models. It led to catastrophic failures, and billions of dollars in payouts from Toyota.

And those Toyotas models still sell well new, with relatively high resale value for those in the affected range. No dogs or cats cohabitated as a result of a rusty Toyota frame.

No one outside of GM knows how many failures have occurred, but as far as has been seen here, it's a very small number. It has the potential to be a big problem, but that's far from certain. All I said is it's not the End Times some are making it out to be.

 

[shade]

there are only two explanations for that photo: Either the specific truck he had was a lemon, or there's more to the story than what we know.

I suppose a design fault could be considered "more to the story than we know". Less likely, but possible.

 

[rkj__]

Something is wrong with the truck for sure, this is the 5th ZR2 I've seen with a bent frame this month.

Really? I can't say I've been following Colorado news as closely as I used to, but this is the first I've heard of bent frames on Colorados.

 

[ChasingOurTrunks]

I suppose a design fault could be considered "more to the story than we know". Less likely, but possible.

Absolutely. I just read the other thread and then re-read my post, and to be clear I did not mean to seem like I was throwing the original owner of the truck under the bus or accusing him of not being truthful. I just meant that there must be some variable there that will explain this. It doesn't make sense for his frame to have bent that way in the conditions he described. It would make sense if the frame was poorly designed, but then there should be a lot more of these trucks bent that way. More to the story could also mean a defect in the steel this particular frame was made from, it could mean that the frame and shock combination messed it up, or it could just be bad luck. The truck looks remarkably similar to trucks I've seen that are rear-ended violently, so perhaps there's something about the weight of the trailer, the bump, and a crumple zone where this was the 'perfect storm' that resulted in this. Either way, me stating there was 'more the the story' was intended as a call for a full investigation into this kind of thing, not to question the integrity of the owner. The only things we know for sure is that the dude's truck bent, he thinks it shouldn't have, and GM isn't responding positively.

Either way I don't think it's a platform-ending flaw. I do think that publicity of this (and other) rigs that are damaged can force GM to look at the issue, so I'm in favour of airing the grievance and letting people know about it.

Not directed at you, Shade, but a general observation for those reading: I do think as customers we really should all pull together when a truck is 'bad' like this. The guy whose Taco engine blew up on the slope was met with a great deal of vitriol and ultimately he's left ExPo. Agree or disagree with that instance, the point stands: while buyers of these trucks bicker and argue about others "blowing it out of proportion", "It's your own fault", "It's obviously a design flaw", or accusing each other of lying, the car companies are laughing all the way to the bank.

As a community, we should hear these complaints with an open mind, be constructively skeptical, but ultimately recognize that supporting owners to get to the truth of why their rig broke the way it did is good for all of us. If it is a design flaw, we all benefit from the fix. If it is owner error, we all benefit from learning to avoid that error ourselves.

 

[shade]

I agree. I only took issue with the comments that seemed completely over the top. This is definitely worth investigating, and if I owned one, I'd keep an eye out for similar occurrences.

 

[Buliwyf]

That's a pattern with FCA owners.

 

[billiebob]

That's a pattern with FCA owners.

That is a pattern with North American and European manufacturers. The only brands we have had good warranty luck with have been Japanese. We once slid a new Honda into a curb, took it to the dealer asked them to check the alignment. They said the front wheel was cracked, they did the alignment & a new wheel ALL under warranty. No problems at all.

My wife buys new Hondas, Toyotas, Subarus. I buy used, 10 year old North American trucks. I'll never buy new American vehicles. Warranty is always too much stress.

 

[dreadlocks]

Warranty Smwararnty, I void all my warranties.. almost never has it bitten me in the ********.. and when it does its just a (expensive) learning opportunity heh.

Its all weasley lawyer doublespeak, if they can find a way out of it they will.. if I break something I just get to replace it with something stronger, but for fucks sake.. a chassis, ouch.. time for a stronger truck.

 

[LimaMikeMike]

There is a poster on ZR2zone who has mentioned he has seen several Z71 colorados at the wreckers with bent frames, no mention if these were in accidents and insurance write offs or if tomfoolery was involved. No DSSV on those trucks.

The ZR2 has been around since the late fall of 2016 or early 2017 depending what you read, the regular colorado has been around since 2015 in North America and since 2013 in other markets. You would think that this would have shown up sooner. Is it being swept under the carpet? It would be a fairly large cover up.

 

[shade]

Warranty Smwararnty, I void all my warranties.. almost never has it bitten me in the ********.. and when it does its just a (expensive) learning opportunity heh.

Its all weasley lawyer doublespeak, if they can find a way out of it they will.. if I break something I just get to replace it with something stronger, but for fucks sake.. a chassis, ouch.. time for a stronger truck.

Your Q7 may have a stronger "frame" than a Colorado or many other pickups.

 

[dreadlocks]

mebe if I didnt have this stupid panno sunroof, oh well at least it dont squeak anymore going over the curb now that I bolted a frontrunner to the top of it.. but that thing dont get beat on like trucks do, now my Jeep.. well that has been through some redneck olympics before, and thats why its broken right now.. but it'll be back stronger than it was before.

 

[matoolie]

My $0.00005 worth........this area of the frame seems to be necked down and has a hole as well. It seems intentional by design for a reason.......perhaps as a crumple zone to absorb large rear end collisions. Bending of the frame does absorb energy in an accident and thus by definition a weaker section. Remember these tow ratings are assuming normal roads and rather static loads and forces. Off-roading with trailers adds much more dynamic loading, and even more so with shifting loading due to unsecured or shifting cargo. And I’m sure due to the competitiveness of the market place, manufacturers are trying to squeeze out every ounce in their ratings.

I think if factors occurred only on their own.......rough trail, heavy-ish trailer, heavy-ish tongue weight all would be fine. But putting them all together and the additive nature of them to the forces and stresses.....results in damage even if each on their own are under allowable limits.

 

[Charles R]

Chet, the pics you posted are apples and oranges. Those two trucks are different generations and of course those frames are going to look different. I've never seen a frame under a cab only fleet vehicle that differed from its equal duty pickup bed equipped version.

 

[chet6.7]

Check out about 2.17 about the differences in the frame.