1993 GMC SAFARI — Complaint #170449
Open-data reference.
NHTSA Complaint about SUSPENSION:FRONT:SPRINGS:TORSION BAR filed September 8, 1999
NHTSA complaint #170449 (ODI reference 711098) concerns a 1993 GMC SAFARI and was filed on September 8, 1999. The owner reports the failure occurred on June 9, 1999. The report was geocoded to Alaska based on the filer's self-reported location. The affected component is categorized as suspension:front:springs:torsion bar, one of NHTSA's standardized taxonomy codes used to group defect patterns across make, model, and year.
The filer flagged the following severity indicators: crash: no, fire: no, injuries: 0, fatalities: 0. No crash, fire, or fatality was associated with this report, which places it in the early-warning stream rather than the priority-review stream. Because a VIN was supplied, this complaint is tied to a specific vehicle and not just a model-year cohort.
Individual complaints are consumer-submitted and unverified by NHTSA engineers — the agency's role at this stage is to collect, index, and make them searchable. What matters for federal action is the pattern: when many owners of the same GMC SAFARI cohort independently describe similar suspension:front:springs:torsion bar failures, defect investigators have grounds to open a PE and request manufacturer data. Related filings for the same vehicle and component appear below, and the detail page for the full 1993 GMC SAFARI shows the complete component-level complaint distribution alongside any active investigations or recalls.
Complaint Description
GM OF CANADA AND THE TRANSPORT CANADA HAS BEEN NOTIFIED OF THIS PROBLEM. GM RESPONSE IS THAT IF THEY DETECT A PROBLEM WITH A COMPONENT THEY WILL INVESTIGATE ALTHOUGH IT SOUNDED MORE LIKE A BRUSH OFF. THEY CLAIM THAT THERE IS NOT A PROBLEM AT THIS TIME WITH THE TORSION BAR FAILURE. THE PERSON I SPOKE WITH AT TRANSPORT CANADA WAS AWARE OF 5 OTHER REPORTED CASES OF TORSION BAR FAILURE ON THIS MODEL IN THE PAST TWO MONTHS. A GM DEALER CONTACTED IN HAMILTON ONTARIO HAD ANOTHER REQUEST FOR TORSION BAR REPLACEMENTS YESTERDAY. A LOCAL WRECKING YARD HAS A VAN IN THERE POSESSION WITH A BROKEN TORSION BAR. I FEEL THERE IS A PROBLEM HENCE MY CONTACT WITH NHTSA, TRANSPORT CANADA, AND GM CANADA. INDEED THE DESIGN OF THE TORSION BAR WAS CHANGED ON 1996 AND NEWER ASTRO/ SAFARI AWD VANS AND THE OLD STYLE TORSION BAR IS NOT AVAILABLE FROM GM CANADA. THIS MEANS THE WHOLE FRONT END NEEDS TO BE RETRO FITTED AT THE OWNERS EXPENSE TO THE NEW STYLE TORSION BAR. I HAVE NOT RECIEVED A SATISFACTORY RESPONSE TO
Complaint Details
| NHTSA Complaint ID | 170449 |
| ODI Number | 711098 |
| Date Filed | September 8, 1999 |
| Failure Date | June 9, 1999 |
| VIN | 1GKEL19W3PB |
Similar SUSPENSION:FRONT:SPRINGS:TORSION BAR Complaints for 1993 GMC SAFARI
1993 GMC SAFARI ALL WHEEL DRIVE 7-PASSENGER STANDARD WHEEL BASE VAN WITH 42" TORSION BAR FRONT SPRINGS AND 182,000 MILES. THE DRIVER'S SIDE FRONT TORSION SPRING BROKE INSIDE THE ADJUSTER SLEEVE AT TH
EXCEPTIONALLY DANGEROUS SPONTANEOUS SHEARING OF FRONT LEFT TORSION BAR. GMC MUST KNOW OF THIS PROBLEM, BECAUSE THEY HAVE COMPLETELY REDESIGNED THE TORSION BARS, REQUIRING A MAJOR RETROFITTING (AT THE
WHEN ENTERING VEHICLE LEFT FRONT END DROPPED DUE TO TORSION BAR SNAPPING. DEALER SAID BOTH TORSION BARS NEEDED TO BE REPLACED. *AK
Source: NHTSA Vehicle Complaints Database. Component taxonomy and severity codes are standardized by NHTSA Office of Defects Investigation.
Read our methodology — how this data is sourced, computed, and verified.