RE: 2003 Suburban DEFECT - rear hatch glass hinge breaking (Full Version)

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RE: 2003 Suburban DEFECT - rear hatch glass hinge breaking

  

Zinns228 -> RE: 2003 Suburban DEFECT - rear hatch glass hinge breaking (7/5/2007 6:36:03 AM)

I joined Chevy Forum this morning just b/c of this issue as the previous owner of a 96 Tahoe, 98 Tahoe, 2001 Suburban, 2002 Suburban, 2003 Yukon XL and now and 2004 Z71 Suburaban I am quite dissappointed with GM 's lack of concern on this issue.  Mine just broke yesterday on a 42K vehicle.  Since GM won't step up to help I guess it's up to us to find the fix. I thought of the JB weld as well but I work for a major boat manufacturer and we have something here I am going to try.  I will let everyone know how it works.  Who knows maybe I can be the next Mr. Goodwrench!!!!!!!!!

  
texace -> RE: 2003 Suburban DEFECT - rear hatch glass hinge breaking (7/9/2007 11:57:07 AM)

Count me as another. I was actually on these forums for another problem with my 03 Tahoe (7 times now it has not started over the last 3 years). But I ran across this thread.

I had the hinge on my rear hatch glass break over a year ago with about 30,000 miles on it. I am the original owner and I have never towed anything, so that could not be the problem. Just normal, occassional use of the window. GM obviously has (or had) an issue with manufacturing/design problems despite what ZX and a few others on here seem to think.

Now if the dealership would just fix the problem with it not starting...

ZX1100F1 -> RE: 2003 Suburban DEFECT - rear hatch glass hinge breaking (7/9/2007 12:02:37 PM)

I have done a bit more research here on the subject and it is apparent that there is a problem with some of these rear hatches although I’m not sure just how wide spread of an epidemic there is or what the solution would be.
  I honestly don’t see GM going back several years to replace these hatches on out-of-warranty vehicles though.

rxlrider -> RE: 2003 Suburban DEFECT - rear hatch glass hinge breaking (7/12/2007 4:03:42 AM)

Thank you ZX1100 for seeing that this problem is not isolated to just me.  Now if only we could get GM to step up and fix their faulty product... 

valerie -> RE: 2003 Suburban DEFECT - rear hatch glass hinge breaking (7/16/2007 8:29:18 PM)

Wow.  Now I know I am not crazy. I found this forum accidentally while looking for a place to get a rear window w/hinge piece for my 03 Suburban.  I am the original owner and travel ALOT in Florida for business so I have a lot of miles on this vehicle but I have only opened the glass part maybe 4 times!  I use the whole back door a lot loading and loading horse feed, etc.  A few months ago, a friend accidentally hit the button to open the window hatch and we discovered the hinge was broken!  It is now affecting the whole back door and I was mystified how this could have happened.  My hubby accused me of somehow hitting something.  I did not!  While it has high highway miles I baby that vehicle and love it.  There is not a scratch on it and still has the new car smell even.  Today the Chevy fellow told me it would be over $1000 to replace (!) since its one piece and said he had never seen this before.  So, y'all have at least made me feel I am not losing it.  While I love my Suburban and the ride it gives me as I travel, I am so disappointed at the cheap quality of these parts.  I am going to have to look for this window at junk yards or something cuz I can not afford $1000 at the moment.  II called my my mechanic to see if he had any ideas.  Coincidentally, he has a 03 Suburban and had to replace the same thing just 2 months ago!  He said he could not find a part at a junk yard so he paid full price.   Yikes.  If anyone ever finds a fix - please let me know!   Thanks. 

rxlrider -> RE: 2003 Suburban DEFECT - rear hatch glass hinge breaking (7/17/2007 8:07:02 AM)

quote:

ORIGINAL: valerie

Wow.  Now I know I am not crazy. I found this forum accidentally while looking for a place to get a rear window w/hinge piece for my 03 Suburban.  I am the original owner and travel ALOT in Florida for business so I have a lot of miles on this vehicle but I have only opened the glass part maybe 4 times!  I use the whole back door a lot loading and loading horse feed, etc.  A few months ago, a friend accidentally hit the button to open the window hatch and we discovered the hinge was broken!  It is now affecting the whole back door and I was mystified how this could have happened.  My hubby accused me of somehow hitting something.  I did not!  While it has high highway miles I baby that vehicle and love it.  There is not a scratch on it and still has the new car smell even.  Today the Chevy fellow told me it would be over $1000 to replace (!) since its one piece and said he had never seen this before.  So, y'all have at least made me feel I am not losing it.  While I love my Suburban and the ride it gives me as I travel, I am so disappointed at the cheap quality of these parts.  I am going to have to look for this window at junk yards or something cuz I can not afford $1000 at the moment.  II called my my mechanic to see if he had any ideas.  Coincidentally, he has a 03 Suburban and had to replace the same thing just 2 months ago!  He said he could not find a part at a junk yard so he paid full price.   Yikes.  If anyone ever finds a fix - please let me know!   Thanks. 


Here is a previous post that I had regarding the repair:

"I actuallly repaired the hinge with JB weld. Basically when the hinge finally seperated completly from the window, I filled the void with JB weld, and then clamped it together with a Irwin 6" clamp. I let the adhesive dry for 24 hours, and put the window back on the truck. I did it almost 6000 miles ago and it is still holding well. If this fails, I may take the whole assembly to a glass shop and have them drill the glass out and fasten the glass directly to the hinge. I figure the worst that could happen is the window would break and I'll have to buy a new one anyways, unless GM issues a TSB by then (wishful thinking). "

The truck has almost 20,000 miles on the fix (I am driving it almost 1,000 miles between Monday and Thursday this week alone) and has not had a problem.  I did not have to drill it, the JB weld has held fine so far.  Be sure to clean both parts with acetone and leave that clamp on for at least 24 hours.

Good luck,

Brad


Freewillyf15s -> RE: 2003 Suburban DEFECT - rear hatch glass hinge breaking (8/6/2007 8:13:57 PM)

I will add my name to the mix.  I love my Burb, 03 LT.  I even upgraded to the HU Boise Amp and Nav TNR radio (thanks to JP Customs).  My hinge broke at around 40K and like many others I had only used the back window like 3-4 times.  I found it was much easier to open the big door to put groceries in.  Anyway I bought my Burb new and until my 03 I traded in every couple of years.  Because of the great drop in price in 05 my Burb dropped about $10K in value over night (ouch and o yea thanks GM nice job).  In any event I went with a 100K mile exteded bumper to bumper warranty since I was done trading in Burbs every couple of years.  Needles to say the only other thing that went bad with my Burb was the Air Conditioner compressor (around 28K) and that darn hinge on the passenger side of the rear glass. 

Bottomline, GM said no dice I must have broke my hinge.  (Yea right)  I didn't have an option to drop the $1400 for new glass, so I took my window out and used Gorilla Glue.  My hinge was not broke per se, just separating from the glass.  That was over a year and 15K miles ago and still holding very well.  I did leave the shocks off, I was thinking that they might have been putting pressure on the hinge, even when closed.  I really appreciate you starting this thread and got a good giggle out of the dude who was bashing everyone.  Poor guy must have had a very bad childhood and still uses that as an excuse for his current lot in life. 

Cheers

Freewilly


chukar11 -> RE: 2003 Suburban DEFECT - rear hatch glass hinge breaking (8/16/2007 2:55:52 PM)

Same problem with a 2004 GMC Yukon XL.  I baby my vehicles and in no way caused this.  It appears to me to be a very poor design which should be remedied and rectified by GMC.  I'll let you know how it goes.

joetheperson -> RE: 2003 Suburban DEFECT - rear hatch glass hinge breaking (8/22/2007 7:12:31 AM)

My 2004 Tahoe, 55k miles, mysteriously broke a rear hatch hinge.  Shortly thereafter, but before I could get it fixed, I was on the highway going 60+ mph and happened to roll my driver's side window down.  The entire hatch exploded off the hinges, popped both struts off their studs, frisbeed off backwards and--fortunately--shattered on the pavement behind me, without striking any other vehicles on the freeway.  For those of you wondering if the hatch was closed, the latch remained locked to its clasp and actually separated from the glass (it's held on with an adhesive-type material).

If it had decapitated a driver behind me, as it could easily have, GM may have heard about it under less pleasant circumstances than this forum, which I googled while looking for the new part. 

JRM

rxlrider -> RE: 2003 Suburban DEFECT - rear hatch glass hinge breaking (9/5/2007 1:52:55 PM)

quote:

ORIGINAL: joetheperson

My 2004 Tahoe, 55k miles, mysteriously broke a rear hatch hinge.  Shortly thereafter, but before I could get it fixed, I was on the highway going 60+ mph and happened to roll my driver's side window down.  The entire hatch exploded off the hinges, popped both struts off their studs, frisbeed off backwards and--fortunately--shattered on the pavement behind me, without striking any other vehicles on the freeway.  For those of you wondering if the hatch was closed, the latch remained locked to its clasp and actually separated from the glass (it's held on with an adhesive-type material).

If it had decapitated a driver behind me, as it could easily have, GM may have heard about it under less pleasant circumstances than this forum, which I googled while looking for the new part. 

JRM



Wow!  That is exactly what I was afraid of.  I actually used a ratchet strap from the bumper to the luggage rack to hold the window tight (more so to keep the wind noise down) but I was also afraid of the window completely popping out.
 
Have you gone to GM with this one?
 
Brad

  

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