I pull a 24' enclosed car hauler with my 2002 8.1 Suburban. One day I noticed the hitch was alot lower than I'm used to seeing so I took a look under there after I dropped the trailer. I found that some of the bolts that hold the hitch to the frame were backing off (1 was almost half way out). I tightened the bolts and found that the bumper was pointing at a different angle so I brought it by a dealer to take care of. They tried to get it lined up but couldn't so I forgot about it off for awhile. After talking to a few other dealers that didn't want to touch it I called GM's customer service number and they set me up with a dealer to look at it today. The dealer said that the frame is bent and it's not covered under warranty so I should call my insurance company. They could straighten it but it would be better to replace it.

We discussed the issue for awhile and I explained to him that if the bolts didn't start to back out of the hitch while I was towing we wouldn't be having a conversation about the frame being bent. He said that I probably exceeded the truck's tongue weight which I really doubt. The trailer only weights about 9000 lbs loaded and I've pulled this with various 1/2 and 3/4 ton trucks throughout the years with no problems. I'm courious to see what the tougue weight is so I'll check that this week. I should also be getting a call from GM tomorrow to get a case going to get this taken care of.

Has anyone else ever had this problem?

Thanks,
Tom

 

I've never heard of that. It's very hard to bend those hitches/bumpers up. My dad's '99 2500HD has been rearended 3 times and finally on the third try the bumper bent down a little. You should have seen the damage to the cars that hit it though.

I don't think they would bend without some other problem as the cause which in your case was probably the loose bolts.

Good luck with GM.

John

 

Damn Tom your a lucky guy,just imagine if that thing came loose at 70 mph in heavy traffic.Dont tolerate GM,s usual its your fault stance.Document everything get some pics,contact an attorney.They told me its normal for my 8.1 to burn a qt of oil every 500 miles,it took a year but I sucessfully sued them.Prepare for battle.
Going outside to check both my hitches.

 

Tom if that is all factory equipment, and you were within the load ratings, GM can suck an egg. I'd take them to court. They have no problem advertising how badass the Suburbon is for towing, and now they don't want to warranty it?! What that thing rated at? 12,000 right? Were you using any kind of displacment hitch? The tounge wieght can't be over 800#'s and that should be in range.

 

So far it's been the dealer who is saying that it won't be covered under warranty. I'm going to see what GM says today. This truck is rated to tow 12,000lbs so it's not like I overloaded it. I see alot of trucks pulling trailers like this and I haven't heard of anyone dropping a hitch because of it.

I've thought about that and have mentioned it to Chevrolet.

Tom

 

If it's a factory hitch I'm sure they will do the right thing.

 

I spoke with a rep from GM today and they aren't going to cover it. They said that there are two ways that the frame could have been bent -

1 - the vehicle was hit
and
2 - the tongue weight was to high

I know #1 didn't happen and I really doubt the tongue weight was exceeded. This trailer really isn't that heavy so I'm going to goto the local scale on Monday and find out what the tongue weight is.

I usually never have any warranty work done but the one time I do it ends up being a problem that turns into a battle.

 

Tom I have seen your setup at ARE(last June)And their is no way your overloaded.My previous post predicted this would happen and it did.GM policy is to deny and hope you go away.The beancounters determined its cheaper to get sued occasionally and pay a judgement than to fix all problems.For a company that size they can save 10s of millions per year hoping people just get frustrated and give up.Contact a good attorney,document everything and dont knuckle under to them.Good luck it took a year for me but I won.

 

If the truck didn't have close to $18k in mods I'd find a way to have them own it again but I like it to much to have it go away. It's just a matter of principle now. After I prove that the truck has been pulling what it should be I'll probably end up telling them that I don't want GM to fix it. If I have to be the one to shoot down both of their reasons for the frame bending I'll feel better going somewhere that will be able to fix it right.

I am going to see what other options I have though. If we (GM customers) have a problem with a dealer or getting repair work we can contact GM's customer service center for help. But they look to the people at the dealership to get feedback on the situation. So either way the dealer still has say over what's going on.

The service mgr kept saying that the tongue weight shouldn't be any more than 900 pounds but the owner's manual shows that the maximum tongue weight should be 1500 pounds. I will be heard on Monday

 

Good luck Tom and let us know what happens.