InitialDave posted:

Is it related to the AWD versions of the RS2000 we got in the UK in the 90s?

You Am I posted:

No. The Euro Escort AWD was based off a shortened Sierra AWD chassis. The US Escort is based off the Mazda 323 platform.

ab0z posted:

Holy crap AWD escort? I need this information yesterday.

quote:

Not sure exactly---less than a grand based on my time so far---I'll know more today---we may want to wait until the customer installs it as well...it's going to be a fair amount of work getting clearance for the diff where it wasn't meant to go!

hippynerd posted:

These potato chips taste funny
not really, potato chips are much thicker than these bearing remnants

MrChips posted:

I work in the aviation industry. A while back, I spent some time talking with some Eagle drivers while we were all twiddling our fingers in the FBO, waiting for the weather to lift. I asked them a mountain of questions about their aircraft (some of them were pretty technical), nearly all of which they were happy to answer.

Sockington posted:

Something like this...

Sockington posted:

Something like this...

BigKOfJustice posted:

Now if the H2 broke a tie rod in a mall parking lot.. that would be funny

chemaxx.com posted:

Hummer Ball Joint Failure Analysis

An individual was driving a Hummer west bound on a State Highway and had pulled into the left hand turn lane to turn left (south) onto another street. According to the police report, the Hummer's steering locked up and the Hummer skid and hit an oncoming vehicle that was traveling eastbound.


Hummer Damage

At the time of the accident, the driver's side wheel assembly of the Hummer was not immediately found. It remained outdoors for about two days, during which time it is said to have rained. The wheel assembly was found north of the Highway and east of where the Hummer came to a final stop. Total distance from the Hummer to the wheel assembly was said to be about 20 feet.

Upon close examination the steering knuckle was found to have fractured. Chemaxx was asked to examine this fracture an to assess whether the fracture caused the accident or the accident caused the fracture.


Close-Up of Lower Ball Joint Portion of Hummer Steering Knuckle

Information provided to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) indicates that there have been at least 11 previous incidents involving Hummer steering knuckles.

It did not go without notice that the Hummer's airbags did not deploy and that the collateral damage to other portions of the Hummer appeared relatively light. In other words, other parts of the Hummer might be expected to bend or break before the steering knuckle if the failure was in fact due solely to impact overload. Sometimes, what is not seen is as important as what is seen. The lack of significant collateral damage suggests that there was something going on that was not a simple impact overload. This is not to say that there was no collateral damage, just that it was not very heavy.

It was noted that the steering knuckle is made from alloy SAE J434 Grade D4512, which is a type of cast iron. According to the 9th Edition of the Metals Handbook, this alloy is suitable for "moderately stressed parts." Considering that all of the Hummer's front end weight is supported by the ball joints of the two steering knuckles, it is questionable that the Hummer's steering knuckle could be considered as a "moderately stressed part." The preferred alloy type for the steering knuckle would be forged steel. A second choice might be cast steel. Cast iron would not be a first choice.

The investigation is on-going.

Milwaukee Business Journal posted:

Federal traffic safety officials are investigating a series of Hummer H2 crashes and their possible link to a failure of a part supplied by Grede Foundries Inc. of Wauwatosa.

No official cause for the crashes has yet been determined under an ongoing investigation by the U.S. Department of Transportation's National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. In reports to the agency, Hummer manufacturer General Motors Corp., Detroit, denies that the cause stems from a defect in the suspect part.

The federal agency is investigating 26 incidents of wheels falling off or front suspensions collapsing on Hummer H2 sport utility vehicles. The incidents are accompanied by an apparent fracture of a part called a steering knuckle, which connects the upper and lower ball joints that serve as pivot points for the front steering system.

The knuckles were supplied to GM from the Reedsburg plant of Grede Foundries, a lower-tier automotive supplier that provides the parts to upper-tier suppliers like Delphi Corp. Grede supplies the parts for numerous models of cars and trucks from a variety of manufacturers, Grede president Bruce Jacobs said.

Jacobs said he is not aware of any manufacturing defect in the suspect part and that GM has not requested any modifications in the manufacturing process of the parts.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration had given General Motors (NYSE: GM) and other automakers like Ford and Toyota until Sept. 22 to reply to a request for information in the investigation. GM says other makes and models of GM trucks use the same part, but those vehicles are not included in the investigation.

In responses to NHTSA's requests for information, GM claims that the knuckle fractures are the "consequence -- not the cause -- of vehicle crashes," according to agency documents. The automaker says analysis of the incidents, accompanied by material analysis and field performance and testing, indicates that wheel separations or suspension collapses occurred after impact.

from what used to be automags.org posted:

I thought y'all might enjoy this. This is a brand spankin' new GM H2 in all its "glory" that went for a little joy ride at La Sierra University in Riverside, CA (my gf works for PR there and took the pics, good job DJ!).

Heres what happened: This chick took her mom and kids out for a ride at 3AM and saw construction and dirt and so forth around the campus. She thought to herself "hey, this is an H2, i saw it in a commercial and it could do anything. Its an all terrain vehicle, right?"

She then procedes to dive around campus for a while and then broke through the cable barrier (took 2 tries) that prevents idiots from running into the schools brand new samaritan statue. she then hit a 1' dirt curb at about 40mph, and then right into the statues cement base. Needless to say, the curb and cement were victorious.

When asked why she did it, she repiled "I wanted to jump the statue, i saw it on tv"

She wasnt drunk or under any kind of influence and yes, the kids were inside when it happened. This is all very true. here are the pics:

(click for original size)

[IMG]http://i50.tinypic.com/2e3ogti.jpg][/IMG]

Prelude Gundam posted:

"I wanted to jump the statue, i saw it on tv"

Sockington posted:

So here's how they fail;

1. Diff pin fails
a) To fix, weld diff pin and replace w/ a welded MSP diff or a mFactory one

2. Second or Third gear shreds to pieces (as pictured)
a) To fix, replace w/ expensive aftermarket set or swap in a new gear box

3. The power causes the aluminium case to flex between shifts as power is re-applied (second to third usually) and the shafts destroy their mounting points inside the transmission.
a)To fix this, a thick plate is machined to fit where the shafts meet the 1/4" aluminium mounting point on the transmission.



Or to fix all of this, you simply replace the G-series with a Toyota E-series from a FWD Solara or a AWD Celica (if you have an AWD BG chassis car.)

Prelude Gundam posted:

BIG HORNY COW posted:

Reminds me of some Ford Expedition commercials, one where the truck was literally flying through clouds and the other where it demonstrates braking ability by not skidding off the deck of an aircraft carrier.

Both had the "DRAMATIZATION DO NOT ATTEMPT" warnings at the bottom in huge block letters. Legal CYA sure, but you cant help but think someone out there somewhere would have watched that and thought "HOLY poo poo THAT CAR FLYS" or "IF IM EVER ON THE FLIGHT DECK OF AN AIRCRAFT CARRIER IM TOTALLY DOING THAT"

Doctor Zero posted:

Is the H2 really just a Suburban with a different body or is that a myth?

Prelude Gundam posted:

Hummer Carnage

Fucknag posted:

Would that E-series bolt into a Mazdaspeed (BJ chassis, 2.0 FS-DET engine)? I ask for possible options down the road, and to avoid ending up in this thread.

ab0z posted:

What company is offering those subframes? Can I order one? Is there a detailed writeup that you know of so I don't have to hassle you for details?

Doctor Zero posted:

Is the H2 really just a Suburban with a different body or is that a myth?

Prelude Gundam posted:

I know it's also old, but still. Anyone know anymore about this possible issue?


Oh and:

Is that a coil spring in the bottom right of photo 2?

Also, yes, I know this was all hosted on fuh2.com and I'm not affiliated with them. No, I don't know if the story is real.

I actually read an article about an H2 or H3 driving around a parking lot and accidentally bumping into the curb, breaking a knuckle, but I can't remember where it was. Anyone know what I'm talking about?

Ericadia posted:

IIRC they overloaded it by about 200,000lbs

Ericadia posted:

IIRC they overloaded it by about 200,000lbs

Jorsh posted:

somewhere there's a VW kid looking at these pictures thinking they look frikkken sweet

incredibull posted:

One of my favorite H2 videos. Mashing the gas on rocks is never a great idea, but I just think it's funny considering the circumstances that a tierod broke before an axleshaft did.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uxrdwXXat14

BigKOfJustice posted:

As for the cast steering knuckles being an issue....



That's one from my H1, and mine has been jumped, and beat on for over 10 years. No issues. It's not widely different from what's on SUV's these days, including the H2.

If the steering knuckles are an issue on the H2, then it's an issue on most GM truck platforms as there are shared parts on everything from the Silverado up to the Escalade [GM 800]

InitialDave posted:

It's entirely possible that they just had a batch of duff knuckles that went to the H2 production line - all it'd need would be an incorrect heat treatment to make an otherwise "right" part failure prone.

Ericadia posted:

Ericadia posted:

IIRC they overloaded it by about 200,000lbs

chem42 posted:

This truck is rated to haul 800,000lbs, whats another 200,000 going to do?

chem42 posted:

This truck is rated to haul 800,000lbs, whats another 200,000 going to do?

chem42 posted:

This truck is rated to haul 800,000lbs, whats another 200,000 going to do?

Ericadia posted:

Yep someone posted that one on the previous page

Ericadia posted:

IIRC they overloaded it by about 200,000lbs

Ericadia posted:

IIRC they overloaded it by about 200,000lbs

Sockington posted:

250fwhp and a Mazda G-series FWD transmission;

Dr. Awesome MD posted:

...

The man who did this is replacing his internals with a obscenely expensive PAR gearset

Dr. Awesome MD posted:

InterceptorV8 posted:

This poo poo makes my teeth hurt

IOwnCalculus posted:

I'm pretty sure that was a joke about how many pickup truck owners will just throw another 500lb of crap in the bed of their truck that's already got 2000lb in it and is barely rated for that.

From experience, it makes for some very scary driving.