1979-1993 & 94 Conv [Subscribe to Daily Digest] |
Actually, I agree with everybody on this one. For the Ken/Dave camp, it's a potentially lethal failure. For the Jim/Chip camp, it's not something that afflicts every car & it can be detected by inspection.
Considering the design criteria for the car, I think it's unreasonable to expect everything on it to last indefinitely. Remember, these are economical "family" cars, not high-strung racers or over-built land-yachts. The car was made to be as strong as it needed to be for the type of driving the designers expected the average family to do. And regular maintenance, inspection & replacement of worn parts is part of what the designers envisioned. How many 15 yr old, 200k+ mile Civics, Tercels, Escorts, Cavaliers, K-Cars, or whatever else, are still on the road, much less being sought after, cared for, & expected to run ANOTHER 15 yrs & 200k+ miles? And if you had one of these other makes/models, would you expect everything to be original on it??
Looking at the Lippis letter, several things should be noted.
1) it occurs "on older 900's and possibly 99's" ('79-'89, as of '97 when the letter was written)
2) it's not occuring at random locations. "All of these fractures have been found in exactly the same place on the rear arm of the lower wishbone, where the arm is welded to the pivot shaft collar," & that, "it may coincide with the fact Turbo models seem most affected, in that hard acceleration brought on the fatigue."
3) he's "been servicing Saabs for 30 years, being an independent repairman for the last 25," & "works on two or three Saabs per day." This means he's seen maybe 120,000-190,000 Saabs since he's owned his own business. Of those years & cars, he says, "In the past 6 years I have witnessed approximately six failures of Lower Wishbones on 900's, most of them Turbo's."
4) it's not unexpected. "I believe that old age is also part of the equation causing the same problem in these cases. There is an amazing amount of flexing and stressing involved in the arms, either accelerating or braking, despite the fact that they are triangular and intrinsically rigid. Though the rubber bushings allow for movement, one can easily understand that years of this suspension stressing and flexing could result in fatigue."
5) it's not undetectable. "I believe the fatigue fracture grows for a long time before breakage, and therefore an inspection interval during other regular maintenance, after the initial inspection, would be adequate to insure safety, and coincide with routine maintenance. At signs of fatigue, the arm could be replaced."
So, is it a valid concern? Most definitely!! Is it going to happen to everybody? Probably not. Is it detectable & preventable? It appears so. Obviously, if it's happened to you, you're sensitized to the situation & potential effects. But after 15 yrs of use, it's only a $125 part to replace, & that doesn't seem like it's outside the realm of "normal wear & tear" for this highly-stressed part. Indeed, even Mr. Lippis only urges Saab "to publish an alert to your dealers initiating or recommending regular inspections of the lower wishbone's rear arm, where I have described, especially with Turbo models."
-Greg
posted by 216.160.177...
, Mon, 7 Jul 2003 10:29:22
, Sun, 6 Jul 2003 17:10:07
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