Towing System Failure - 2002 Cavalier

[Whiskie]

A first time posting:

I have had a catastrophic failure of the towing system as mount on the 2002 Cavalier that I towed and will be towing again. I have written a detailed report that is too big to share with everyone here. Pictures this whole works. I will mail this report to anyone who would like to read the details.

In a short, the base plate was attached to the radiator support or the Front Body brackets, as GM calls them. The base plate has no attachment to the frame on either side. End result was that for some unknown reason the base plate tore the sheet metal brackets off at the frame.

The aux braking system would not have stopped the car for the safety switch used to active the system would have gone also. Net result, no battery to run the braking system. The car would have been an unguided missile.

The car has been repaired at a cost of $790.00 and the base plate has been reinstalled the same way by the Company. So far the Company has not responded to help defray any cost.

The Company mounted a newer base plate in the same manor, choosing not to support base plate to the frame but to support the sheet metal body brackets used to hold the radiator in the car.

Any thoughts, suggestion would be of a great help.

A link to the full report can be found @ http://www.scheitfamily.us/towing/failure.htm

Reply here on the forum for all to read or contact me directly @ ****.scheit@gmail.com

Thanks

****

[tbutler]

I took a look at your full report and it is clear to me that Blue Ox has no suitable mounting bracket for your car. I think your choice is to look elsewhere for a bracket and tow bar combination that will fit the car. The other choice would be to get a different car which does have a proper Blue Ox mounting bracket and use the existing tow bar. I would not use the bracket that was recently installed. It is clear to me that it is not suitable for towing. I can't believe that the factory did that install. My impression was that they were a more competent company than that.

As to recovering costs for the damages from the previous installation, There is an advocacy column in Good Sam Magazine that has a record of success recovering some or all costs related to similar problems. Your other choice would be to file a claim in small claims court to recover the costs. I was frankly amazed that the damage cost you no more than it did to repair the car.

[Whiskie]

Tom, thanks for your reply.

The Roadmaster system attaches to the frame and I do not know what a Remco system does yet.

I will be contacting Action Line on Tuesday of this next week..

Blue OX, in their design of a towing system for all Cavaliers chose not to attach to the frame but to the front sheet meal body bracket.

Of the many folks that I have talked to, consulted, besides the Auto body repair tech. and a Chevy shop foreman everyone said... the base plate should be attached to the frame and not to the front sheet metal body bracket.

[Whiskie]

And the saga continues:

What to do with a Blue OX BX1647 system that failed with the original install and then was reinstalled the same way at the Blue OX factory, this past month?

First, I would like to thank everyone for their input / feedback. It would appear that those of you whom lean toward the Blue OX side of this situation are in the grave minority. By far, the majority feel that Blue OX made a grave engineering error with this base plate assembly that they are not standing behind. Fortunately no one was killed by a runaway car. Those whom have seen the car and the damaged parts could not believe what they saw and yes those of you who have read my web posting.

The factory had their chance to correct this, when one of their technicians installed a newer base plate the same way, but the chose not to. Quote. “The mounting is good enough to tow this car.†Good enough does not count when the chips are down. They could have made an attachment to the frame from the base plate but did not. They chose to support the front sheet metal body bracket instead. The main stress is still on the sheet metal, the weakest point to tow from.

Quote from a previous post: by a factory VP..

.†In reviewing the notes, this gentleman purchased a used tow car that already had a base plate on it and unfortunately the prior owner had it installed improperly.â€

Ellen Kietzmann

Vice President

NOT SO! ! ! Ms Kietzmann is wrong. There was no error made by a previous professional installer. I did purchase the car used with three Blue OX systems aboard. The only error was the installation of the Toad Stop II, a wiring error.

How does one mount a BX1647? With ten 3/8†Grade 5 bolts, two hold the base plate to the bottom of the thin bumper and four on each side holding the base plate to the sheet metal front body support. The original and well as the newer model where / are mount the same way. Again, there was not error made when the previous owner had this installation done. An eight grade farm kid could have installed this unit. It would not take a rocket scientist to install this unit.

On another point, yes there is a frame on the front of a 2002 Cavalier. The right and left “A†frames attach to it, the engine and whole drive train assembly attach to it and the bumper attaches to it also.

As to future towing this car = Yes it will be towed again. There will be brackets made to support the base plate to the frame as a additional cost of $275.00, by the auto body shop who did the repairs. It will be safe to tow. The total out of pocket cost of the repairs and to tow safely will stand at $1065.00.

Blue OX still remains silent.

Take another look at the posted on the web : http://www.scheitfamily.us/towing/failure.htm

****

[destinykay@hotmail.com]

Here is the Response from Blue Ox:

[Whiskie]

The first thing that I want everyone to know is that this 2002 Cavalier which I own, has been made safer to tow and it will continued be towed with the Blue OX system.

There are three phrases that come to mind in regards to this situation:

There are those who will swear by a product and there are those who will swear at a product. I will stand on neutral ground in this case. Nobody died or was maimed for life.

There was a famous TV police Sergeant who always ask for the facts and only the facts. In this case this is what you will receive, only the facts.

Do you remember the five W’s from school: Who; What; Why; When and Where?

1. Who’ installed the Blue OX equipment on the Cavalier? An unknown.

It has the look of a professional installation, all three of the Blue OX systems.

2. What’ caused the sheet metal front body brackets to tear? A towing stress.

3. Why’ did the failure happen?

Most believe because the 1/8†thick steel baseplate was hung on the 1/16†thick metal bumper and than

attached to the 1/32†thick sheet metal “front body support brackets†and not the frame, a design choice

by Blue OX. The main stress points for towing a Cavalier are the “front body brackets†and not the frame.

The baseplate did not fail, the method of attachment to the car did, the weakest point on the front of a

Cavalier other than the flexible front fascia.

4. When’ did the failure happen? An unknown.

It was discovered in Iowa City, IA, 100 miles from my final travel destination.

5. Where’ did the failure happen? An unknown.

The fact remains that a failure did happen and I will be forever thankful that the total front assembly did not totally break away from the chassis of the car and cause an accident which may have possibility lead to the dead of an individual, much less a child. It would only takes a one time total failure of this type for this to happen.

Mr. Jay Hesse, the President of Blue OX, posted his comments on one of the forums in regards to this situation. I had thoughts of responding with a comment but I have chosen not too for it would serve no purpose. There is a higher ground to be traveled here. I will not make any attempt to degrade the Blue OX business or Mr. Hesse in regard to his position, right or wrong.

Again, this 2002 Cavalier has been made safer tow by the auto body frame technician, who replaced the “front body bracketsâ€, in Des Moines, IA.

If anything is to be accomplished by these postings, I would hope that all of you have looked at your towing systems to check to see how they are attached to your vehicle (frame or sheet metal bracket) and that you may have checked to see if the bolts are all tight and there is no damage.

Bottom line = No life was lost.