Suspension failure

[DJ'sLocker]

Hello folks,

First post and I have a little story to tell. I bought a used G8 V6 2 weeks ago with 13K miles on it. 2 days ago it suffered a pretty catostrophic failure. Right front suspension came apart. The strut came loose from the wheel assy. There are two heavy bolts that secure the strut to the spindle (wheel assy, whatever the technical name is). Top bolt completely fell out and nut fell off the lower bolt. This allowed the wheel to "fold" out from its vertical position all the way out 45 degrees.....while driving! Talk about to much F*** camber! My wife is very lucky this happened during a turn from a stop light in town instead of at speed on the highway.

This car came through a GM dealer/auction/corporate lease turn in. I have no way of knowing if the bolts have ever been touched since it rolled out of the factory. These bolts are intergral in the allignment process, so if the previous owner had alllignment issues, they would have been messed with then.

Anybody ever had this happen with a G8 (or anything else for that matter)? Ball joints break but damn, I'ver never heard of a strut coming unbolted.

[scott_k]

There was a recall on the lower control arms. You should be able to find out about that on this forum or any others.

[DJ'sLocker]

Upon further investigation, it appears the transmission was replaced 4k miles ago. The opposite (left) lower control arm was replaced at the same time. Quite possibly the lower control arms are coming out during the tranny removal no matter what. So it appears the the right strut bolts were not properly tightened during this process or during the subsequent alignment.

So probably not a manufacturing error, but a service error.

[el_pontiaco]

Originally Posted by DJ'sLocker

Upon further investigation, it appears the transmission was replaced 4k miles ago. The opposite (left) lower control arm was replaced at the same time. Quite possibly the lower control arms are coming out during the tranny removal no matter what. So it appears the the right strut bolts were not properly tightened during this process or during the subsequent alignment.

So probably not a manufacturing error, but a service error.

The front Vertical bolt doesn't seem to have enough room to slide out far enough to pull the control arm out. Unfortunately, the factory service manual doesn't suggest any special steps, it just says to remove the forward lower suspension arm mounting nut and bolt.