NHTSA Complaint #713748 — 1995 GMC SUBURBAN

DOOR HINGES ON BOTH FRONT DOORS HAVE FAILED TO THE POINT WHERE IT IS NEARLY IMPOSSIBLE TO OPEN OR CLOSE THE DOORS WITHOUT EXTREME EFFORT, TO THE POINT THAT IT IS NEARLY IMPOSSIBLE FOR CHILDREN TO OPEN THE DOORS IN THE EVENT OF AN EMERGENCY. THE DOOR HINGES ARE NON-ADJUSTABLE, AND THERE IS NO OBVIOUS WAY TO RE-CENTER THE DOOR IN THE FRAME. LIKEWISE, THE REAR PANEL DOOR HINGES HAVE FAILED IN THE SAME MANNER, RESULTING IN THE DOORS ALLOWING AIR FLOW AND LIKEWISE CARBON MONOXIDE INTO THE CABIN. AGAIN, THERE APPEARS TO BE NO WAY TO ADJUST THE HINGES. THIS VEHICLE HAS SEEN VERY LITTLE "ROUGH ROAD" USEAGE, SINCE WE HAVE OWNED IT, AND THE HINGES WERE FINE WHEN WE BOUGHT IT USED WITH 66K MILES ON IT. IT WOULD APPEAR THAT EITHER THE HINGES ARE OF A BAD DESIGN, OR SOME BUSHINGS HAVE WORN OUT WHICH ARE NOT ACCESSIBLE. I HAVE OWNED NUMEROUS VEHICLES OVER THE YEARS THAT HAD MANY MORE MILES AND NEVER HAD ANY HINT OF DOOR PROBLEM. I CAN FORSEE THE TOP HINGE PINS ON BOTH FRONT DOORS EVENTUALLY FAILING, ALLOWING THE DOORS TO PARTIALLY POP OPEN FROM THE FRONT EDGE.