NHTSA Complaint #10501124 — 2007 NISSAN ALTIMA

OBSERVED PIPE SUSPENDED FROM BESIDE RIGHT REAR WHEEL OF THE 2007 NISSAN ALTIMA 2.5. VEHICLE WAS PARKED. LOOKED UNDER VEHICLE AND DETERMINED IT WAS A PIPE LINKED TO THE REAR WHEEL AND SUSPENSION ASSEMBLIES. THE END OF THE PIPE WAS NEARLY DRAGGING ON THE GROUND. DID INTERNET RESEARCH CONCLUDING THAT THE BROKEN PIPE WAS THE REAR SWAY BAR OR TORSION BAR. PRIOR TO OBSERVING THE VISIBLE HANGING TORSION BAR END, WE FREQUENTLY EXPERIENCED THE REAR END OF THE VEHICLE WAS UNSTABLE WHEN CORNERING AT HIGHWAY SPEED SUCH AS WHEN ENTERING OR EXITING A HIGHWAY RAMP. GIVEN THIS FREQUENT EXPERIENCE, THE ACTUAL FAILURE IN TORSION BAR FUNCTIONAL STRENGTH MAY HAVE OCCURRED MONTHS EARLIER. AFTER DETERMINING THERE WAS NO RECALL OR SERVICE BULLETIN, AND ALSO NOTING THAT NHTSA RECORDS IN THIS DATABASE SHOW OVER 50 EVENT DESCRIPTIONS NEARLY IDENTICAL TO OURS, I WENT TO THE NISSAN DEALER TO ASK IF THEY OFFERED PAYMENT OR CREDITS FOR THIS REPEATABLE DEFECT. THE DEALER WAS NOT OFFERING ANY CREDITS. THEN, TOOK MY VEHICLE TO MY MASTER MECHANIC. HE PERFORMED THE SERVICE REPLACEMENT OF THE BROKEN SWAY BAR AND END LINK ASSEMBLIES. WE RETAINED THE BROKEN SWAY BAR IN HOPES THAT NHTSA BEGINS TO RESEARCH THIS PROBLEM. ACCORDING TO THE MECHANIC, THIS "BAR" IS REALLY A 5/8" DIAMETER PIPE THAT SEARED NEAR ONE OF THE BUSHING SUPPORTS. THERE IS SURFACE RUST PRESENT WITHIN THE PIPE INDICATING THAT THE PIPE HAD FRACTURED SOME TIME EARLIER WITH WATER ENTERING THE FRACTURE CAUSING THE RUST. IT IS NOT A SOLID STEEL "BAR" AS TYPICALLY FOUND IN OTHER VEHICLES THROUGHOUT THE INDUSTRY. COST OF REPAIR WAS APPROXIMATELY $200 FOR PARTS PLUS 1 HOUR SHOP LABOR. WE RESPECTFULLY REQUEST THAT NHTSA INVESTIGATE THIS FAILURE DUE TO ITS APPARENT COMMON FAILURE MODE AND FOR THE POTENTIAL RISK OF INJURY SHOULD THE REAR END OF THE VEHICLE LOSE TRACTION ON CURVES OR ROUGH PAVEMENT AT HIGHWAY SPEEDS. *TR