1995 CHEVROLET ASTRO — Complaint #427461
Open-data reference.
NHTSA Complaint about SUSPENSION:FRONT:SPRINGS:TORSION BAR filed August 28, 2003
NHTSA complaint #427461 (ODI reference 10036764) concerns a 1995 CHEVROLET ASTRO and was filed on August 28, 2003. The owner reports the failure occurred on August 17, 2003. The vehicle had 95,000 miles on the odometer at the time of the incident. The report was geocoded to Indiana 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 CHEVROLET ASTRO 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 1995 CHEVROLET ASTRO shows the complete component-level complaint distribution alongside any active investigations or recalls.
Complaint Description
BOTH TORSION BARS OF MY VAN FAILED WITHIN 2 HOURS OF EACH OTHER. THE VEHICLE WAS PARKED ON THE STREET BESIDE THE CURB. A LOUD POP WAS HEARD BEFORE THE VEHICLE DROPPED ON THE FRONT TIRES. THE VEHICLE WAS SUBSEQUENTLY TOWED TO A SHOP WHERE IT WAS DETERMINED BOTH TORSION BARS HAD FAILED. REPAIRS ARE ESTIMATED TO BE $700.00 INCLUDING PARTS ($520.00) PURCHASED AT THE CHEVROLET DEALER. WHY IS THERE NOT A RECALL ON THIS ITEM?
Complaint Details
| NHTSA Complaint ID | 427461 |
| ODI Number | 10036764 |
| Date Filed | August 28, 2003 |
| Failure Date | August 17, 2003 |
| VIN | 1GNEL19W8SB |
Similar SUSPENSION:FRONT:SPRINGS:TORSION BAR Complaints for 1995 CHEVROLET ASTRO
I HAD JUST PARKED MY CHEVROLET ASTRO AWD IN THE GARAGE AND AFTER A FEW MINUTES THE DRIVERS SIDE TORSION BAR SNAPPED. THE FRONT END WAS SITTING ON THE SUSPENSION STOPS. I AM LUCKY THIS DIDN'T HAPPEN
DT: THE TORSION BARS ARE BREAKING AND IT DROPS THE SUSPENSION. DO NOT HAVE ANY STEERING. CONSUMER'S WIFE WAS COMING OUT OF THE DRIVEWAY AND THE TORSION BAR. THE CONSUMER CONTACTED GM, THEY SAID TH
DT: WITHOUT WARNING THE TORSION BAR BROKE AND DROVE ITSELF INTO THE AXLE SHAFT WHICH ALSO HAD TO REPLACED.. THE DEALER FIXED THE PART, AND SAID IT WAS FORTUNATE THAT NO ONE WAS DRIVING WHEN IT HAPPE
WHILE DRIVING 30 MPH TORSION BAR BROKE. VEHICLE WAS DRIVEN HOME. DEALER WAS CONTACTED. *AK
THE TORSION BAR SNAPPED ALLOWING THE VEHICLE TO DROP ON ONE CORNER, MAKING IT UNDRIVEABLE. THE VEHICLE WAS PARKED WHEN THE BAR SNAPPED. THE VEHICLE HAS NEVER BEEN TAKEN OFF-ROAD OR OTHERWISE ABUSED. H
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.