General Motors, in response to the ongoing Toyota debacle, has been working to equip some of its models with a brake-override system that would slow vehicles when in sudden acceleration situations, wrote The Car Connection.
Although the carmaker’s actions were considered, for the most part, preventative in light of Toyota’s ongoing problems with sudden acceleration, it appears as if GM might have braking problems on some of its trucks and SUVs, said The Car Connection. The Car Connection cited an Automotive News report that said that the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) is investigating potential <"https://www.yourlawyer.com/topics/overview/defective_vehicle_parts">brake-line failures in some of its GMC and Chevrolet vehicles. The Car Connection notes that the agency is in its early stages of its review and that nothing definitive has been released.
To date, the NHTSA has received 110 complaints concerning “loss of braking effectiveness” in GM’s Chevy Avalanche, Silverado, Suburban, and Tahoe and the GMC Sierra and Yukon, said The Car Connection. Three of the reports involved collisions. One complaint claims that the brake-line, which it says failed as a result of corrosion, caused a “large increase in stopping distance … with the brake pedal pushed to the floor,” quoted The Car Connection, saying that this could be an indicator of significant potential problems.
Early reports point to brake-line corrosion that could be responsible for the loss of braking efficacy and seems to be specifically affecting 1999 to 2003 model year vehicles, said The Car Connection, which noted that six million of these potentially defective vehicles are on the road. Of note, said The Car Connection, there are also 189,000 heavy-duty pickups involved in the investigation. Four-Wheel News said a separate inquiry was initiated on March 29 for the 189,000 Silverado and Sierra HDs built in 2003, and the inquiry concerns brake-line corrosion.
Four-Wheel News reports that over six million GM full-size trucks are being looked at by the NHTSA regarding brake line corrosion. The preliminary investigation was initiated on March 30 and is looking at brake lines in about six million Chevrolet Silverado, Tahoe, Suburban, and Avalanche models as well as these vehicles’ GMC model counterparts and the Sierra, Yukon, and Yukon XL, all in model years 1999-2003.
According to the agency, said Four-Wheel News, the corroded brake lines could burst during brake application, which could lead to a “sudden loss in braking strength, increased pedal travel, and increased stopping distances.†Of the claims the NHTSA has received so far, said Four-Wheel News, 37 received dealer inspection confirmation of brake-line failure.
