Bolt Breakage

John of Oceanside, CA, writes:
I have a '99 Pontiac Sunfire. At a stoplight with no one around me the bolt that attaches the trailing arm to the rear axle just broke. I was heading to the Interstate at the time and could have been severely hurt. The dealer just wants to replace the bolt that broke and send me on my way. However, how do I know that the car is safe, what if the other bolts in the car are defective as well?

Automan replies:
Wow, that is a bad one, you are lucky you were not going at speed.

Contact the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration and file a complaint, get the old parts and send them to their investigation division as well. Take some Polaroids as well. It could be an isolated incident, maybe not...

Bolts just dont break, unless they are over tight or too loose and flex causing breakage over time. It is a serious problem that should be brought to the attention of authorities. Do not count on the dealer to do anything more than replace the broken part, have them make sure all the other hardware is snug and nothing is damaged.

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