Open and Shut: NHTSA Issues Hood Recall for New Silverado, Sierra HD

Steph Willems
by Steph Willems

General Motors’ revamped 2020 Chevrolet Silverado and GMC Sierra HD pickups are striking in appearance, but some buyers might be more enamored with the new 6.6-liter gas V8 under the hood. It’s a selling point, but it’s not something you want the truck showing off an inopportune times.

Like, say, when driving down the highway.

The possibility of unexpected underhood peep shows for the occupants of passing school buses are what prompted the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration to issue a recall.

According to the agency, the hoods on a relative handful of 2020 Silverado and Sierra HDs could fly open without warning. Some 1,909 pickups are impacted by the recall; the bulk of them Chevys, both in 2500 and 3500 guise.

“The hood-latch striker wires may not have been heat-treated properly, possibly causing them to fracture,” the agency wrote. Obviously, if that wire fractures, the vast hood might fly up while the vehicle is underway, providing the driver with an opaque head-up display spanning the height and breadth of the windshield. Hardly a low-stress situation.

While the automaker claims no knowledge of real-world impromptu hood openings, engineers at GM’s Milford Proving Grounds first noticed the problem back in October. The vehicle in question was a company-owned truck. This led to a tip-off, which then sparked a formal investigation.

“Hardness testing on the striker wire recovered from the first durability vehicle confirmed that the wire’s metal hardness was significantly higher than GM’s specifications,” an associated recall document states.

“On January 30, 2020, GM’s hood striker-assembly supplier informed GM that it used an alternate supplier to heat treat two batches of striker wires in January 2019, and that the supplier failed to properly heat treat these wires. Before receiving this information, GM believed that any material issue with the striker wires was fully contained to GM-owned vehicles in GM’s possession.”

General Motors will replace the hood assembly free of charge; recall notices should reach owners on April 26th.

[Image: General Motors]

Steph Willems
Steph Willems

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  • Cprescott Cprescott on Mar 26, 2020

    Witch Barra Motors. Since the styling department at GM is filled with blind people and challenged former zoo monkeys, why would you think their engineering department would have a higher level of competence. Who knows how many mules and three legged dogs they have to check specs of parts? You'd be lucky to find a giraffe and an organ grinder monkey doing it.

  • Probert Probert on Mar 26, 2020

    When will Tesla learn how to make a car!!! Oh - wrong thread.

  • AZFelix Hilux technical, preferably with a swivel mount.
  • ToolGuy This is the kind of thing you get when you give people faster internet.
  • ToolGuy North America is already the greatest country on the planet, and I have learned to be careful about what I wish for in terms of making changes. I mean, if Greenland wants to buy JDM vehicles, isn't that for the Danes to decide?
  • ToolGuy Once again my home did not catch on fire and my fire extinguisher(s) stayed in the closet, unused. I guess I threw my money away on fire extinguishers.(And by fire extinguishers I mean nuclear missiles.)
  • Carson D The UAW has succeeded in organizing a US VW plant before. There's a reason they don't teach history in the schools any longer. People wouldn't make the same mistakes.
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