New tailgate cables

larry arizona · October 25, 2004

Having formerly worked for an automotive cable company, I can tell you that the original GM tailgate cables were made in China for a US company. Because they bring them over to the US and do a final inspection and quality check it actually counts as North American content. Pretty tricky....... but on to the facts.

The original cable was made of an inferior grade of chinese galvanized steel, the ends were sealed with an epoxy but still water would wick to the center of the cable because the cable is u shaped when the gate is closed. Over time corrosion weakens the cable and it breaks.

The new cables are made by the same US company outsourcing to China but these cable are made of inferior chinese stainless steel (yes it is possible for stainless steel to rust especially cheap stuff from china), the cables is not truly sealed on both ends. One end has a boot over it but that does not work real well. The other end is open. Also the cable is thinner.

It is very common to have one cable tight and the other slack, that is not a warped tailgate, it is a tolerance in the cable. All cables are 2-3 mm different in length,

Last the reason they stick out is that the thinner stainless cable is more flexible and it is more likely to find its way into the tailgate crack.

It was a cheap fix, only time will tell if the cable is actually better. OEM's do the minimum to get out of these recalls. It is about the bottom dollar.

For what it is worth, all OEM's are going to cables supplied by China, So just wait the others will likley get recalled.

For example all the park brake cables for the Nissan Titan are made in China and are junk, Lets just say I know and leave it at that..... The transmission shift cables are made in Mexico of inferior components made in china and shipped to Mexico for final assembly.

It is just the way it is these days...........

454HO · October 26, 2004

Thanks for the info Larry

budhayes3 · October 26, 2004

Hey Larry, is there any difference in the cables on the 99's? The 99's don't fall into the recall...is it just because they haven't had enough failures to warrant it, or are the cables different?

Thanx

nimmer · October 27, 2004

Geez, with that all said, maybe we should be paying for our trucks with China and Mexican money. Something to be said for an eye for an eye.... I bet that would get GM to stand up and take notice that the buying public has 'some' control.....

larry arizona · October 27, 2004

You would be suprised how much stuff on our trucks is made in China or Korea. It is the way of the future until there are so many failures that will cause the OEM's to find it be more expensive in the long run.

All OEM's are doing it. US, Japan,Germany etc......

The automotive industry is not as fun to work in as it used to be.

Bottomline is to get the quality we all desire with North American content would add so much cost to the vehicle it would not be competitive to those OEM's getting parts out of China.

Would you pay 5-10K more for the same truck that had true North American content?

Interesting dilema. Just food for thought......

Sorry to be a bummer on all this.

bigdogs · October 27, 2004

It is not just automotive cables that are being outsourced to China and Korea. I used to work at a place that made medical cables; EKG, pulse ox, etc. and a lot of them get outsourced to the far east. We'd have many boxes come in everyday that have to be "inspected" which consists of like 20 pcs out of like 10K (and we were an ISO company).

MS3DALE · October 27, 2004

Man,all this "outsourcing" is scaring me Theres just to much of it and too many good hardworking guys and gals are losing there jobs here.

nimmer · October 27, 2004

'OUTSOURCING' don't get me started. I'm a victim of this plague. 'Worked' in I/T and my job was outsouced to India, now it's the unemployment line until I can find job that might pay $10.00 an hour if I'm lucky. But our government says that many jobs are on the horizon, that horizon is mighty cloudy......

lrymal · October 27, 2004

Man,all this "outsourcing" is scaring me Theres just to much of it and too many good hardworking guys and gals are losing there jobs here.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

The Japanese complain the same way, claiming that their body cab assembly units are shipped from their plants in the U.S.

It is a global economy, y'all!

Elwood 2000 · October 27, 2004

While I am one who used to be "anti-new" anything because of build quality issues, new things, especially vehicles do spoil me. Upon changing out my cables, I noticed that my old ones were junk and the new ones did not impress me much at all.

I look at it this way. There is NOTHING that can't be done in my shop. I have welders, plasma cutters and even a "smoke wrench" if this issue gets this drastic. If these cables fail, I will design and build my own system.

bigdogs · October 27, 2004

What is a smoke wrench?? For myself I will take a look at the new cables and if they look like junk to me I will get the VR straps.

gmcjoe · October 27, 2004

I installed the new cables last month, used some clear silicone in the unprotected end.

We'll see how long these last

jhm · October 27, 2004

Because they installed mine on the wrong sides, one has chewed rubber sheathing. It dosent expose the cable, when I had them fixed, they left the chewed one on. I pointed this out and the mgr say's "thats not going to hurt the cable, besides, you have 12 month warranty." Great customer service, makes you want to buy another vehicle from them!

Elwood 2000 · October 31, 2004

What is a smoke wrench?? For myself I will take a look at the new cables and if they look like junk to me I will get the VR straps.

A "smoke wrench" is a cutting torch.

I looked at the VR strap web site and I do have a concern about them. I used to own several mid 70's thru 87 Chevy's and the tailgates were FAMOUS for rattling and most was due to the steel tailgate supports that look much like the VR cables.

Personally, I will go without a tailgate before I have one that rattles.

bigdogs · October 31, 2004

A "smoke wrench" is a cutting torch.

I looked at the VR strap web site and I do have a concern about them. I used to own several mid 70's thru 87 Chevy's and the tailgates were FAMOUS for rattling and most was due to the steel tailgate supports that look much like the VR cables.

Personally, I will go without a tailgate before I have one that rattles.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Ok, I was thinking a plasma cutter but since you listed that already, wasn't sure. As for the VR straps, a lot of people have bought them and so far I haven't seen anyone complaining on the boards about them rattling... My truck goes in tomorrow for the new cables so I can see what they look like.