photo's chassis failure on 3.1 td Isuzu

Man that looks ugly, hope it didn't result in an accident! Hope GM comes to the party - must make you feel a little uncomfortable about the rest of the gear attached to the chassis.

Kind regards

If only it had happened as a result of an accident my insures would have picked up the tab..This just collapsed while driving around town...in fact while slowing for a set of lights...Trust me I hope that GM Isuzu also come to the party as it looks like it's a new chassis or a cut and paste by a very clever welder..either way it will require the recertification of the vehicle...a very expensive exercise...

Cheers Paul V

Paul v,

One of the guys in our 4WD Club had the same thing happen on his Jackaroo 3.1TD

No luck with Holden, so just traded it and let it become someone elses problem. Not the ideal solution, but non the less the one he chose.

shiza................. absolutely a manufacturing fault, some sort of stress raiser in the area. Push GMH to fix under warranty as 10 years is definetly not the expected useable life on a vehicle chassis, report it to DOTARS as well as a major safety issue, hell holden were recalling VH commodores a while back due to a problem with the floor pan, and they were a 82 build..

Good news is anything can be fixed, a good welder will fillet the edges and re-weld, then make doubler plates for each side and bolt or huck-bolt them on, then stich weld around the edges as well. Hardest thing will be removing everything from around the area, then just re-shim as needed to get the alignment back.

Dang lucky it didn't happen at speed, but she'll live again...

Here you go.

a href="http://homepages.picknowl.com.au/darian/jackchassis/">Paul Vahry's Trooper

Don't think Dave would like pics included direct - link HERE is best I think!

damn thats the same as the merc w114-123 chassis failure..... same spot.

weld it up and weld 5 mm plate all around the rebolt the suspension and steering box back on.

shadow

Holey Moley ... wouldn't that make your heart sink.

No two ways about it ... Holden has to come to the party on that one.

Just curious do yo have the original torsion bar or a heavy duty one.

The Isuzu is stock Std...only thing vaguely non std are the tires being a slightly wider profile 265 x 16 Firestone Firehawk RV... but even these run on the original factory rims..

If anyone else has heard of, or has any knowledge of any other reported cases of Chassis failures,around the front RH suspension arm can they give me a few details...
1. Was the Vehicle Std . ?
2. Was it winch equipped with bullbars etc...?
3.Did the arm fail as the result of an accident.?
2. Vehicle Type: Isuzu Trooper/Bighorn / Jackaroo 3.1 td. or petrol.?
3. Year of manufacture.?

Cheers Paul V

I would be very interested in seeing a pic of the leading edge of the lower control arm. I'm definately not an expert in this field, but the end result is definately caused by hard conditions and impact with a related component- and ultimate failure over a period of time...definately not by 'just driving down the road'..

Hi Signman...i'd love to agree..but our roads are pretty dam good in NZ .If it was the LH side you might expect some damage if you deliberately drove into curbs..but the fact is the insurers tossed my claim out because they could find no attributing damage...They said there would have been severe damage to the rims, tires,and and steering etc,There wasn't a mark underneath or on any of the running gear..
Iv'e gotta say with the exception of this bloody mess it's pretty much still mint on the underside..Unfortunately the old girl is at the garage and I havent got any means of getting anymore pics in the immediate future. if ya got a 3.1 td this isn't the only case.. I'd suggest take a gecko and check her out..

Cheers Paul V

It amazes me all those clever people that have building vehicles for years cannot get it right. I have a 350SL Mercedes and the same thing happened on it. After about 2 years on the road Mercedes bought out a gusset kit to be welded in to strengthen the front cross member. They did not do a general recall and mine went 2 years ago. I found a company in Canberra who supplied uprated second hand front cross members. I thought I would have to take the motor out (4.2lt V8)to fit it but my local garage said they could do it without doing that. All up including chaging all the bushes and brake lines on the front end cost me $1100. Not bad really so do not dispare.

Paul,

I had a 1990 TD Rodeo that had the clutch master cylinder punch thru the firewall due to metal fatique. I rang up a Holden dealship and they said they'd had a couple of them do that (to my suprise). The vehicle was 9 years old and I wasn't even the 2nd owner and holden paid for half the repairs - cost me $110. They did all the fix. I was pretty stoked but I might have been lucky. Good luck!!

Cheers,
Hughesy