Impala owners sue GM over tire wear

I'm shocked, shocked I say...

well, no I'm not. Impalas are notorious tire eaters.

It's a blessing in disguise though, as the stock Goodyear tires are so tractionless as to be a hazard.

nate

Out of curiosity I just spent 25 minutes searching for what is actually wrong and could find no descriptions at all. Just a lot of complaints.

I just bought a new Toyota Corolla and one condition of the vehicle search was "No Goodyear tires will be accepted." Got Continentals and so far so good..

Complaints of excessive rear end tire wear on 2007-2008 Chevrolet Impala's has lead to a class action law suit to be filed against GM in a federal court in Detroit. Over 400,000 Impala's were sold in the two year period which could lead to millions in replacement tires and parts for GM if the suit is successful. According to the suit, GM issued a technical service bulletin (TSB) in 2008 (#10026504) to fix the problem only on police versions on the Impala. In 2010, a TSB (#10037807) was issued stating that the rear tires are wearing or appear to be out of alignment in many 2007-2011 Impalas, but a recall still was not issued

Technical Service Bulletin #PIC-5406

This 2007 CHEVROLET IMPALA Technical Service Bulletin affects the 190000 TIRES NHTSA #10037807 Date Of Bulletin

20101201 Failing Component Name

190000 TIRES Description

GM: THE REAR TIRES ARE WEARING OR APPEAR TO BE OUT OF ALIGNMENT.

2007-2011 IMPALA. *RM

your camber bolts need top be replaced. Im telling you, i have go through all 4 tires with this issue. I rotate every 6000 miles and get alignments often.. I handed them the police TSB Number:08032 and told them i got to have this. I don't care if its only for the police package, i find it bull. After much complaining they replaced the camber bolts and no problems 15,000 miles later

The Impalas have faulty spindle rods, which cause problems with the rear suspension. [14] The wear has allegedly been attributed to faulty rods in the rear suspension linkage. [7]

The recall involved dealers realigning the rear wheels, replacing the rods, and replacing worn tires if necessary. [7] Police agencies that had replaced rear tires themselves could seek reimbursement for a year. [4]

guess you were looking in the wrong places... ;)

bob

Bought a new Corolla in 1980 with Bridgestones.

Changed them 4 years later with 125,000 miles on the car. They still had tread.

Bridgestone does not make that model anymore. I wonder why....

I read that article but did not see any explanation of what actually causes the problem. Do the spindles get bent? Do the camber bolts get worn out? Its hard for me to imagine bolts wearing out. Do they move? Do the bolts get bent? Bushings deteriorate?

All of the tire companies make good tires and bad tires.

For the most part, the tires that the car manufacturers put on are not the good ones. Sounds like someone got lucky once, though.

--scott

Good information although neither link actually describes the failure mechanism, they only speak to a requiremnt that the spindle rods be replaced.

>

Agreed. Obviously there is a problem but I yet to find anything that says what actually goes wrong. There is no reference to new bolts, only to new spindles. Maybe the spindles elongate? Maybe they shorten? Maybe they break in half?