1995 GMC SAFARI — Complaint #446253
Open-data reference.
NHTSA Complaint about SUSPENSION:FRONT:SPRINGS:TORSION BAR filed December 22, 2003
NHTSA complaint #446253 (ODI reference 10050952) concerns a 1995 GMC SAFARI and was filed on December 22, 2003. The owner reports the failure occurred on November 30, 2003. The vehicle had 66,144 miles on the odometer at the time of the incident. The report was geocoded to Ohio 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 1995 GMC SAFARI shows the complete component-level complaint distribution alongside any active investigations or recalls.
Complaint Description
RIGHT TORSION BAR BROKE OVERNIGHT IN MY GARAGE.ONLY HAS 66K MILES, PARKED IN A GARAGE AT ALL TIMES. MOST ASTRO/SAFARI VANS BREAK ON THE LEFT SIDE. THE DEALER INFORMED ME THAT I CAN NO LONGER BUY THE 41 INCH BAR, I MUST BUY THE NEW 36 INCH BAR AND ADJUSTER ARM FOR BOTH SIDES. THE ADJUSTERS ARE WELDED INTO THE FRAME WHICH MUST BE CUT OUT AND REWELDED IN. I LIKED OUR VAN UNTIL I STARDED DEALING WITH THIS PROBLEM. I HAVE FOUND A GM REPLACEMENT KIT FROM OVERLANDVANS.COM FOR MUCH LESS THAN THE DEALER IS ASKING. I DO NOT UNDERSTAND WHY THE NHTSA DOES NOT ISSUE A RECALL ON THIS AND THE ONLY THING GM CAN SAY IS "YOUR VAN IS NOT UNDER WARRANTY". NO ONE SEEMS TO CARE ABOUT ALL THE FAMILIES TRAVELING IN THESE VEHICLES. I HOPE THAT NO ONE GETS HURT, THERE WILL BE MORE FAILURES. I FEEL THERE MUST BE A RECALL ISSUED FOR THIS KNOWN DEFECT. I FEEL THIS IS MUCH MORE IMPORTANT THAN A WINDSHIELD WIPER MOTOR RECALL! I WILL BE SELLING THE VAN AFTER THE REPAIR HAS BE MADE. SORRY GM, I WILL NOT BUY
Complaint Details
| NHTSA Complaint ID | 446253 |
| ODI Number | 10050952 |
| Date Filed | December 22, 2003 |
| Failure Date | November 30, 2003 |
| VIN | 1GKEL19W5SB |
Similar SUSPENSION:FRONT:SPRINGS:TORSION BAR Complaints for 1995 GMC SAFARI
TL*THE CONTACT OWNS A 1995 GMC SAFARI. WHILE THE VEHICLE WAS PARKED IN THE GARAGE, THE FRONT TORSION BAR ON THE FRONT DRIVER SIDE SNAPPED IN HALF. THE ENTIRE DRIVER SIDE FRONT END DROPPED DOWN ON TH
THE CONSUMER OWNS A 1995 GMC SAFARI. THE CONTACT SAYS WHILE THE VEHICLE WAS SITTING IN THE GARAGE THEY HEARD A LOUD BANGING NOISE. WHEN THEY WENT OUT TO THE GARAGE THEY NOTICED THAT THE TORSION BAR
WHEN RIGHT FRONT TORSION BAR ON ALL WHEEL DRIVE MINIVAN WAS REPLACED TWO YEARS AGO, VAN BEGAN EXHIBITING UNSTABLE, EXTREMELY SENSITIVE, AND DANGEROUS HANDLING CHARACTERISTICS AT HIGHWAY SPEEDS. REPLA
THE FRONT OF VEHICLE WAS VERY LOW TO THE GROUND. CONSUMER FOUND THAT THE RIGHT TORSION BAR BROKE. *AK
LEFT FRONT TORSION BAR BROKE AS IT WAS PUT INTO GEAR FROM PARK. MECHANIC STATES THAT THIS IS A PROBLEM WITH THIS MAKE AND MODEL, BUT NO RECALL HAS BEEN INITIATED. CAN'T FIND REPLACEMENT TORSION BAR
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.