Anyone seen anything like this before? (Suspension defect)

nissan · 08-20-2012, 08:51 AM

My '08 Armada has 85K mi on it. We just got back from a trip to NC last wknd, and this wknd we drove ~500 mi with no symptoms. We were going out on Sat night, backed 10 ft out of the garage and heard a pop. I stopped and checked and saw this! I can't imagine the accident that could have occurred if this happened while we we driving on the highway just hours earlier...could have been fatal.

Tow guy came and was shocked to see it, said he's never seen anything like this before. He tried to use a wrench and connect it together again, but was unsuccessful as it kept popping out. I see this as a major safety issue...we could have been seriously injured or even killed if this would have popped out while driving b/c of having no control over the front passenger wheel. Is this something that can happen out of "normal wear"...seems more like a defect than wear?

Robert · 08-20-2012, 05:37 PM

Seems like you have a lot of rust and you live east coast. Do you regularly hose down the undercarriage during winter?

DSB335d · 08-21-2012, 05:48 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Robert

Seems like you have a lot of rust and you live east coast. Do you regularly hose down the undercarriage during winter?

A lot of rust?!! Are you kidding that's nothing, most of what you're seeing is dirt. I've seen cars much newer with 10x the rust because they live near the ocean...

Anyway that's a pretty serious failure, you're pretty lucky that happened where it did and not on the highway.

Keep us updated with what Nissan has to say about it.

Silver-Bolt · 08-21-2012, 11:18 AM

Did the threads pull out or did it break?

nissan · 08-21-2012, 12:58 PM

Threads pulled out. Dealer said they've never seen it before and don't really know how/why it could happen. Am definitely going to give the heads up to Nissan NA to look into it at the very least. Now my wife's all paranoid abt driving the car esp. b/c she had just driving it 300 mi. round trip just a couple hours before and has no confidence that it couldn't happen to the driver's side.

I don't really wash the undercarriage or anything. Maybe right after winter it went to the car wash and the undercarriage "package" was applied, but I've never had any issues with my other cars before.

DSB335d · 08-21-2012, 01:26 PM

Did you have an alignment done anywhere? Maybe some noob messed the threads up? As long as both sides are fixed, your wife shouldn't be worried.

08-20-2012, 08:51 AM	#1
nissan Lieutenant 54 Rep 523 Posts Drives: 2015 M6 GC CP Join Date: Mar 2007 Location: DFW iTrader: (4)	Anyone seen anything like this before? (Suspension defect) My '08 Armada has 85K mi on it. We just got back from a trip to NC last wknd, and this wknd we drove ~500 mi with no symptoms. We were going out on Sat night, backed 10 ft out of the garage and heard a pop. I stopped and checked and saw this! I can't imagine the accident that could have occurred if this happened while we we driving on the highway just hours earlier...could have been fatal. Tow guy came and was shocked to see it, said he's never seen anything like this before. He tried to use a wrench and connect it together again, but was unsuccessful as it kept popping out. I see this as a major safety issue...we could have been seriously injured or even killed if this would have popped out while driving b/c of having no control over the front passenger wheel. Is this something that can happen out of "normal wear"...seems more like a defect than wear?
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08-20-2012, 05:37 PM	#2
Robert Major General 417 Rep 6,968 Posts Drives: 135i -> is350 -> Tesla M3 perf Join Date: Aug 2005 Location: Socal iTrader: (1)	Seems like you have a lot of rust and you live east coast. Do you regularly hose down the undercarriage during winter? __________________ - There's nothing in my pocket other than knives and lint
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08-21-2012, 11:18 AM	#4
Silver-Bolt Captain 27 Rep 805 Posts Drives: 2011 Z4 35is Melbourne Red Join Date: Jun 2010 Location: Portland, OR iTrader: (0) Garage List 2011 Z4 35is [9.00]	Did the threads pull out or did it break?
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08-21-2012, 12:58 PM	#5
nissan Lieutenant 54 Rep 523 Posts Drives: 2015 M6 GC CP Join Date: Mar 2007 Location: DFW iTrader: (4)	Threads pulled out. Dealer said they've never seen it before and don't really know how/why it could happen. Am definitely going to give the heads up to Nissan NA to look into it at the very least. Now my wife's all paranoid abt driving the car esp. b/c she had just driving it 300 mi. round trip just a couple hours before and has no confidence that it couldn't happen to the driver's side. I don't really wash the undercarriage or anything. Maybe right after winter it went to the car wash and the undercarriage "package" was applied, but I've never had any issues with my other cars before.
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08-21-2012, 01:26 PM	#6
DSB335d Captain 1322 Rep 700 Posts Drives: '11 335d DSB/oyster&black/navi Join Date: Dec 2011 Location: West palm beach iTrader: (0)	Did you have an alignment done anywhere? Maybe some noob messed the threads up? As long as both sides are fixed, your wife shouldn't be worried.
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