Suspension Torsion Bar Problems of Chevrolet Astro - part 1

1996 chevy Astro lf torsion bar broke. Luckily it happened after my wife went on an 800 mile trip. Dealer replaced with newly designed shorter bar. Front now a lot lower than original. Dealer did not require or insist the other one be fixed at this time. They adjusted the camber of the wheel to offset the lower lf of the car. After reading other complaints on this board it was clearly a design flaw and should be remedied by gm. They knew--or at least found out about it--otherwise they would not have redesigned the part. They should pay for replacements on both sides. What does it take?.

See all problems of the 1996 Chevrolet Astro 🔎.

The torsion bar snapped in half. This bar was inadequate to the vehicle, and gm has a modified version for this. The bar broke while the consumer was driving the vehicle. The consumer was going 10 mph, when this happened and this caused the left front to drop down about 8 to 10 inches and was a violent drop. There were no problems before this. There were no wrecks involved. The consumer had to take in to the midas dealer and have the torsion bars on the left and right replaced with the new modified version. The front shock also broke, as a result of the bar breaking. The total of fixing this was $1,000. 00 at the consumer's expense.

Part#15990701 failed,broke. Causing left corner of vechicleto droop almost to interfering with left front wheel. This part is comminly known as a torsion bar and should not be failing/. There was no accident. This vech. Is in excellent condition and has never been abused. Reparing this is going to be costly;over 1000. 00 dollars. Because their are no original parts. The parts have been updated and all new parts for both sides of the vech. Must be used. This tells me their was bad engineering in the original design. Now that they've fixed the problem they want the customer to pay the bill. Thank you. Respectfully richard wagner.

Front suspension torsion bar broke while driving 5 mph. Consumer contacted the dealer, and was informed that the part was not covered under a manufacturer's recall.

See all problems of the 1998 Chevrolet Astro 🔎.

Fracture of right side torsion bar caused body to drop onto wheel, immobilizing vehicle. Repairs cost $797. 12 plus $40 towing and loss of use for three days.

Torsion bar broke, dealer claims that it was a defect in the design of the torsion bar, the bar was to long. Now they have a shorter bar. I had to replace both sides with the new design because the original part was discontinued.

Driver's side torsion bar broke. I've seen numerous complaints of this same failure on various web sites. Fortunately, my torsion bar broke while backing out of our driveway. This could have been a catastrophic failure had it occured while driving on the freeway.

I would like to report what I feel is/was a very serious safety defect with my 1996 Chevrolet all wheel drive Astro van 1gnel19w9tb188026. Recently while driving the right front suspension torsion bar snapped, collapsing the suspension, dropping the entire right side on top of the right front wheel and tire pulling drastically to the right across 2 lanes of traffic. Fortunately traffic was light, and I was traveling at a slow speed -about 40 km/hr in a posted 50km zone as I had just entered the 4-lane roadway. I managed to regain control of the van and steer it to the side of the right hand side of the road. I shudder at the thought if this had happened on the highway or freeway. The licensed journeyman mechanic that looked at the van indicated this was quite common on 90-96 all wheel drive vans stating that the torsion bar actually rusts or corrodes at almost the exact same spot (near the adjuster assembly) and eventually snaps completely breaking the torsion bar into 2 pieces! while he mentioned it was usually the driver's side (mine was passenger side) he indicated gm had recognized the problem and actually completely changed the design of both the torsion bar and the adjuster mechanism! however after contacting a couple of local gm dealers, they all told me was that this was not a product service bulletin related item or an official safety recall! yet they all had heard of it and just happened to have all of the parts in stock to the tune of $1000 (you have to replace both sides with the redesigned items). I found it surprising that they just happened to have 6 torsion bars and 6 adjusters in-stock; when I recently had to special order the rear door handle that had broken. I was told they only stock commonly replaced items at that time. The fact that it was redesigned tells me something. A component that is subject to wear should have some sort of published inspection process, wear measurement procedure or even a regularly scheduled replacement interval.

While driving, the torsion bar broke (which was the second time the incident happened) dealer and manufacturer were notified.

The torsion bar snapped without warning. Jb.

Vehicle was backing out of driveway, when a loud noise proceeded the front driver side of the van collapsing onto the front tire. The Chevrolet dealer informed me that the torsion bar had failed, and as the part had been redesigned, the passenger side would also be replaced. I requested the parts be returned, and after visually inspecting, it is very apparent that the part failed due to severe rust and corrosion. The original installation of the torsion bar has a retaining sleeve that fits over the failed end of the torsion bar, and connects into the crossmember. The sleeve is designed in such a way that it collects moisture. This in turn causes approximately 6 inches of the torsion bar to corrode, degrading the integrity of the unit. With over 25 years of experience as a mechanic in the aviation field, I am very familiar with corrosion and metal fatique. The new design of the replacement parts, eliminates the sleeve entirely, and there is no moisture collection points. Chevrolet is aware there is a problem, but as long as the consumer is paying the bill, why publicly admit it? with the repair cost and aggravation set aside, the real issue related to this failure is safety. My family had been on the highway just a few minutes before the torsion bar failed. When the front end collapses, the steering capability of the vehicle is close to non existant. This is a safety issue!!! the safety aspect affects the passengers in the vehicle, other motorists, and pedestrians. I also noticed from the numerous complaints on this web site, that several of the failures occurred while the vehicle was parked. This is even a safety issue to anyone around the vehicle, including children and mechanics who might be near or under the vehicle when the failures occur. In my opinion, Chevrolet has no intention of initiating a recall on their own. Unfortunately, with the number of failures occuring on vehicles that are only a few years old, the majority of failures are yet to come.

The owner made an attempt to step into the van when the torsion bar snapped. This caused the van to collapse in the front, to the ground with no warning. Nlm.

While driving 25-30 mph driver's front side of vehicle dropped onto wheel well vehicle was towed to dealer, front torsion bar had broken.

My wife went to move our 1996 Chevrolet Astro van and when she backed up the right front tire was rubbing on the wheel well. Upon further investigation it was determined that one of the torsion bars broke. When I called my local dealer I found the parts were readily available but I would have to replace both sides because they had been "updated". The parts alone were over $500. 00. When I removed the old torsion bars I found out what had caused it to break, the receiver tube that the end of the bar went into had filled with dirt and road crude causing the bar to rust and eventully break. This occured four days before we were leaving on a 2500 mile trip. If this had occured when we were going down the interstate at 75mph or in the mountains while on vacation it could have been diasaterous. My last complaint is that I was required to replace both torsion bars because the new one would not match the old. You should not have to replace something that is not broken and if they do require you to do so the manufacturer is admitting there is a problem with the old design. I checked in your records and found that the Astro and safari vans built from 1992-1996 had almost 200 cases of these torsion bars breaking and a complaint being filed. Who knows how many other ones have broken and gone unreported. The 1997 models did not seem to have a problem because they came out with the updated parts.

While driving the consumer heard a popping noise. When the vehicle was pulled over, and the front end dropped a few inches. Dealer determined that torsion bar had broken. The consumer stated that this wasn't the first time this problem happened, in 1988 Astro van. Scc.

While driving at 65mph on the highway and going over an overpass 2 torison bars broke causing the front end to fall which almost resulted in an accident.

Consumer states after the torson bar failed, the front tire rubbed against frame of vehicle.

While the vehicle was parked the right and left side torsion bars broke within the retainer and caused the vehicle to drop. Dealer has been notified at this time.

While vehicle was parked and had gotten out of the front end and fell to the ground due to the torsion bar breaking. Dealer contacted.

While driving 65 mph consumer heard a loud pop from front end, then, driver's side dropped onto front wheel. Dealer determined torsion bar had broken.

See all problems of the 1997 Chevrolet Astro 🔎.

Front torsion bar snapped while consumer was pulling out of parking lot. Contacted dealer.

Left front torsion bar failed. Wife was driving 40mph on snow covered winding road when torsion bar failed. This caused tempoary loss of control. Control was regained and no one was hurt. This is 2000 chevy Astro awd. This should not happen. This happened 1-4-2003.

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Left front torsion bar failed and vehicle's front end dropped approximately 6 inches. I was told that there was a design change that required both left and front torsion bars to be replaced. Additionally, when the van collapsed, an engine oil line was damaged. Total cost: $891. 47. Design change indicates that engineering was aware of the problem and designed a more robust torsion bar. This is a critical safety issue, and yet I was told that the vehicle is out of warranty. It is not reasonable to expect this type of failure, no matter how old the vehicle. One would not reasonably expect the frame of a 10 year old vehicle to collapse. Likewise, one would not expect failure of torsion bars that support the vehicle. I was lucky that the vehicle was parked when the incident happened. If moving, total loss of control would have been the result.

Torsion bar broke and front suspension dropped about 5 inches while driving vehicle. Contacted dealer, and dealer stated there was no recall. Dealer told consumer to call NHTSA.

When I backed my van up to leave for work , the front driver side was sitting on the tire & it was making a rubbing sound. We had to get it towed & even though only one torsion bar was broke the replace both. The total bill was $560. I am just thankful it didn't happen 2 weeks sooner when I was on a trip on the interstate going 70 mph, with my sister & our children with us. I have noticed that there have been no more complaints after the 1996"s. I will assume that chevy replaced the part finally. I count 80 complaints on your website, involving 92's through 96's. How many more are out there that have not been reported? I think chevy knew it had a bad part, & they should pay for repairs.

While driving, left drivers side torsion bar broke, causing front end to drop about 4 inches, consumer contacted dealer, and the dealer insisted that consumer had to replace both bars.

After driving on highway parked vehicle in driveway, and found out that front of vehicle was lower, and tires down on wheels. Next day, towed vehicle to dealer, who replaced torsion bar spring. Please provide more information. About a half hour after the vehicle had been driven, the consumer was startled by a loud bang, after veiwing the van the consumer noticed that the front end was about 9 inches lower and the vehicle was not driveable. Nlm.

While in park in the driveway and the front end dropped to the ground, with a very loud crashing sound. The torsion bar broke.

While driving front torsion bar broke, and front end of vehicle dropped down. Contacted dealer, and dealer stated nothing could be done. Consumer states the torion bar has been redesigned on new vehicles.

While consumer was travleing at 30 mph torsion bar snapped. Body frame of the vehicle collapsed on the left front wheel. Contacted dealer, and dealer is not willing to do anything. Dealer covered 50 percent of replacement costs, consumer has old parts for review.

Vehicle was parked, and consumer heard a loud noise. Vehicle tilted to passenger's side and frame rested on wheel. Towed to dealer; had to replace both front torsion bars. No prior warning.

While driving at 30 mph torsion bar snapped which caused whole front left wheel to collapse. Consumer has contacted dealer. Dealer refused to provide any assistance. Please provide any further details.

Consumer attempted to start vehicle and left front torsion bar broke, causing vehicle to drop. Different dealership informed consumer that these parts were kept in stock because this was a problem with this make/model of vehicle. Consumer had to replace both front torsion bars.

As consumer was pulling out of driveway, he heard driver side tire rubbing on the wheel well, consumer drove vehicle back into the garage and upon inspecting the suspension, he found that the torsion bar on the driver side of the vehcile had sheared in half, consumer contacted manufacture and was advised that they would not assist with repairs because vehicle was out of warranty.

Front torsion bar broke, causing front end of vehicle to drop down to ground. Dealership was aware of it.