1996 GMC SAFARI — Complaint #416402
Open-data reference.
NHTSA Complaint about SUSPENSION:FRONT:SPRINGS:TORSION BAR filed July 7, 2003
NHTSA complaint #416402 (ODI reference 10026635) concerns a 1996 GMC SAFARI and was filed on July 7, 2003. The owner reports the failure occurred on July 2, 2003. The report was geocoded to Michigan 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. No VIN was supplied by the filer, so this complaint contributes to model-year trend data but cannot be tied to a specific vehicle.
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 1996 GMC SAFARI shows the complete component-level complaint distribution alongside any active investigations or recalls.
Complaint Description
THE CONSUMER HEARD A LOUD "BANG." FRONT RIGHT SIDE WAS VERY LOW TO THE GROUND. THE VEHICLE WAS TAKEN TO THE DEALER ON 7/7/2003 WHO REPAIRED THE TORSION BAR. *AK
Complaint Details
| NHTSA Complaint ID | 416402 |
| ODI Number | 10026635 |
| Date Filed | July 7, 2003 |
| Failure Date | July 2, 2003 |
Similar SUSPENSION:FRONT:SPRINGS:TORSION BAR Complaints for 1996 GMC SAFARI
GMC SAFARI VAN WAS PARKED IN DRIVEWAY, NEXT MORNING IT WAS DISCOVERED THAT THE FRONT HAD COLLAPSED AND WAS JUST 2 INCHES OFF THE PAVEMENT, INNER FENDERS WERE TOUCHING THE TIRES. DISCOVERED THAT THE T
WHILE DRIVING 25 MPH CONSUMER HEARD A BOOMING NOISE COMING FROM THE FRONT OF THE VEHICLE. CONSUMER WAS ABLE TO MAINTAIN CONTROL OF THE VEHICLE, AND PULLED OVER. CONSUMER NOTICED THAT PASSENGER SIDE
WHEN COMING TO A COMPLETE STOP, THE VEHICLE HIT A POTHOLE, CAUSING THE LEFT SIDE OF THE TORSION BAR TO BREAK. *AK WHILE DRIVING SLOWLY APPROACHING A STOP SIGN, THE LEFT SIDE OF THE VAN HAD DROPPE
WHILE TRAVELING AT 65 MPH DRIVERS SIDE TORSION BAR INEXPLICABLY AND WITHOUT WARNING BROKE. ENTIRE VEHICLE SHUDDERED AND PULLED SHARPLY TO THE LEFT. FORTUNATELY FOR MY PASSENGERS AND MYSELF I WAS ABL
WHILE DRIVING TORSION BAR BROKE ON THE FRONT LEFT SIDE OF THE VEHICLE DOWN ON THE FRONT TIRE. THE CONSUMER STATED THAT GMC NEEDS TO NOTIFY THE CUSTOMERS ABOUT THE DEFECTS OF HOW BAD OF A DESIGN THE T
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.