GM engineers should be whipped!

[Jackass master]

Just came in from fixing the brakes on my Suburban. What a screwed up job that was! My neighbor came down early this morning and helped me cause there is no way it was a one man job. The factory puts those metal lines in BEFORE they set the body on. We ended up cutting the line in 2 places just to get the old one out of all the plastic clips. It was still a total wrestling match to squeeze the new line between the frame and the body. Of course the one that blew is the longest one going from the middle of the car back to the passenger side front wheel.We ended up getting the longest section of line Napa carries plus another 40 inch piece and 2 couplers. Had to cut the one end off the long one and reuse the special end that goes on the ABS unit that they stuck down along the frame. What idiot puts an electrical control with 4 lines going to it down on the frame where all the salt and sand from the front wheels splashes up on it? The same for running the lines between the frame top and the body. With 4 lines up there and a bunch of clips to hold them all the salt and crap lays there and corrodes them. Will have to give some thought to what vehicle replaces it next year.

 

[NoDak]

Probably the same idjut who configured the underhood design of the Blazer. Wife's '95 needed plugs. They're a little tough to get at from on top, so I outfoxed it by removing the front wheels and going in through the fender well. Except for the driver side, middle plug.... right in line with the steering shaft. Had to put the plug socket on, then use a 3/4 wrench to crack 'er loose. THEN, I could slip the drive extension into the socket, loosely, so I could hold it beside the steering shaft and work it like a U-joint. Nope, can't put a u-joint drive into the socket from the start. Not enough room. Think I cussed a little?? You're right!

 

[isabbbela]

As someone who works at Ford, I'm inclined to agree (that GM engineers suck!). No, I'm kidding. I actually know nothing about engineering, I work at the marketing department. But maybe you should go for an Expedition next time?

 

[pluser]

Then there's Ford. They sell what's essentially race quality brake fluid at dirt cheap prices because they routed the rear brake lines too close to the exhaust in their full size van.

All automakers have some vehicles with flaws that make maintenance a huge headache, but there are some gems. My Corvette is a great example of that. As an enthusiast that maintains and modifies my car on my own, I've often felt as if the engineers thought about what I would be doing to this car, and engineered it to make it as easy as possible. I'm sure it helps that they have a product development team that is passionate about the car, and probably own and work on their own, so they'd know what owners really want and need. That's the way it should be rather than having engineers that are wizards at getting parts to fit together well on the computer, but don't have the passion or experience to make that assembly of parts work out well over the life of the vehicle.