Delivery Guy Bent Both Axles & Driveshaft

[b-mac]

Damage question - Wrong Year - Because I trust your opinions...hope mods don't boot me.

Our 2016 1/2 ton Chevy at work, has been at the dealer shop with a rear end vibration. I never drove it. It was taken in after it came back to my warehouse with a blown tire...that I was told there was a piece of metal in.
The dealer has called me as said that the REAR SHOCK WAS BLOWN, BOTH AXLES ARE BENT, and the DRIVESHAFT IS BENT.
There are no visibal impact marks on the under side of the truck.
My older trusted couter guys think it is a known 'shimmy' problem with GM trucks that has been reported elsewhere online.

Just want to know what you guys think. Do you think it's possible my delivery guy did this damage? I've been pretty hard on some vehicles in my youth, and I've never blown a shock, or bent and axle.

[1project2many]

Bent axles and driveshaft are usually tough to make happen without significant abuse. I would expect to see wheels bent as well, and maybe even bent before the axles. I would make the dealer show me the problems and demonstrate if necessary why they feel the bent parts are causing issues. Many vehicles have axles or wheels with mild out-of-round and drivers never notice. Bent driveshaft could cause an issue, though.

Is vehicle still in warranty?

[Russell Ashley]

I agree with what 1p2m just said. I definitely would want to see the supposedly damaged parts. Let us know what happens.

[b-mac]

Yes, the vehicle is still in warranty, with about 30K miles on it. But of course, that doesn't matter if it's our fault...

I did ask them to leave the damaged parts in the bed. I will let you know what happens.

I'm surprised that, if all this is true, the only want $2700 in parts and labor.

[dsraven]

sometimes that can happen when the dealership delivery vehicle unloads the unit, they get it a bit off the ramp and/or it falls the last bit due to same. bends axles and driveshafts. nobody says anything. hoping the warranty will cover it when found after the sale of the vehicle and troubles start. I know a dodge guy that had a vibration and the dealership couldn't find anything wrong time after time until it was off warranty and then they found the rear axle tube was bent on the one side. they replaced the housing etc. later, after he sold the car, he found out it had fallen off the car carrier and nobody said anything.
maybe the delivery guy accidentally drove over one of those parking lot curbs while texting. I have seen that a few times. would have to be a big curb to bend a driveshaft though.

[1project2many]

sometimes that can happen when the dealership delivery vehicle unloads the unit, they get it a bit off the ramp and/or it falls the last bit due to same.

This caused me to think about strapping the vehicle down for transport as a possible way that axles got bent. Shouldn't cause a problem with the driveshaft, though.

Vehicle in warranty, they say axles are your fault, but they did not report bent wheels. I'd discuss, politely, with service manager and GM corporate if necessary that there are very few ways to bend axles without damaging wheels and most of them have to happen before vehicle is delivered to customer. Of course you want to be certain that it isn't your guy's fault before doing this.

[b-mac]

Well, nobody is fessing up. And with no visible damage, it's hard to blame someone.

Thanks for the opinions guys. Never thought about the transport to the dealership. I'm sure the dealership would say that we should have noticed it right away.

[b-mac]

http://www.autoguide.com/auto-news/2...s-now-too.html

Here's a link to one of many articles on the "shimmy" my guys are claiming is the cause.

[b-mac]

Also, I said in the first post that it was a 2016 model. I believe it is actually a '17. Bought late last year.

[joedoh]

look in the inner fender for rubber! blown tire + blown shock + bent parts might just be a burnout superstar

[mr48chev]

Back in the mid 70's I replaced two wheels, a rear axle shaft and aligned the front end on a year old Grand Prix Pontiac after a teen age hottie that worked for him drove it over a curb in the parking lot. The next week he was back with a sheepish look on his face, She had jumped another curb in it and bent two more rims and tore up a tire.

I'm wondering if the delivery driver didn't hit something when he blew the tire. Maybe something legit like a road construction spot that was rougher than it should have been or a big pot hole or something in the road. Or maybe something not so legit as a post sticking up in a parking lot that he hit backing up too fast to do a turn around and just hit with the axle . There should be a mark somewhere though.

Other than that, damaged in transportation before you bought the truck but that is hard to prove several months later. General motors gave the high school auto shop class I taught two cars because they had been damaged on convoy trucks. one had roof damage where it had hit something and I can't remember what was damaged on the other one but it did have some body damageit isn't uncommon for one to be damaged that way.

If you get the parts back I'd take the driveshaft to a good driveshaft shop and have them look at it and put it on the lathe/machine to see how it acts. The good driveshaft guys have seen just about every way to damage on there is and can spot things that we would never notice.