GM paid at least $495 million...

[mike reeh]

... to settle lawsuits filed by victims or the families of victims of accidents involving the side-saddle gas tanks used on older C/K pickups. That information came from a previously sealed court document that was unsealed by a judge in Montana, according to a story in the Detroit News. Legal analysts are worried that this information sets a dangerous precedent for the automaker and other large companies. "Everyone now knows what GM is worth," said a spokesman for a Washington DC legal association.

That little blurb was in a mag I just read. thought you might like to know

mike

[boataddict26]

That is ALOT of money to have to give away!!

[N2TRUX]

Originally posted by boataddict26
That is ALOT of money to have to give away!!

Not if one of your family members was killed in a minor side impact that caused the truck to burst into flames.

[87 STEPPER]

O-Boy...........Here we go again

All i wanted was a factory fuel cell but all i got was some worthless 1000$ voucher that can't be redeemed

[ItsNotABlazer]

I received two of the vouchers and a friend was going to use one and they told him that if he used it, the rebate they were offering would be taken away. I am sure just cause they sent out that many $$$$ a very small percentage of the people ACTUALLY USED the certificates and if you think about they (GM) were paying themselves as the only way to make use of the class action lawsuit would be to buy a new vehicle. Just another example of big business putting it to the consumer and making them think they are doing the right thing

Brad

[MJN]

Great, I'm putting dual saddle tanks on my truck, hopefully it will sit high enough and anyone hitting me will hit the driveshaft before the bed. I got a couple of those letters from some law office about the tank settlement too but never did anything with them.

[lbbdoc]

what years of c/ks where the side-saddles on????

[mike reeh]

73-87!!!!!!!!!

[crackajacka]

yea id like to find a safer place for mine thats more convient like maybe in the bed of the truck and building a custom hard top bed cover that hinges at a point and has a gas cap on top

[old Rusty C10]

while we are at it GM paid out millions like that to settle lawsuits for seatbelt failure, cause during a front impact accident people of a certain height would hit the back of the lock with their hips and that would pop or release the belt sending the person to the windshield and or steering column my old landlords son ( years ago) got much money to settle his suit but he had alot of scars from the trip through the windshield in a cutlass.. i understand its the old monte carlos, regals, cutlasses etc that this happened with

[Slonaker]

The only people who seem to benefit from class action suits (like the one that got owners the certificates) are the lawyers. They get paid millions of dollars and the people they represent usually get something like discount coupons...

Slonaker

[apstguy]

Not this again!

[Hardrock2]

You could alway trade that "dangerous old truck" in on a safer, more sensible car, like.......say ......a Furd Pinto!!
Heh, Heh!!


Mike

[Grim Reaper]

Originally posted by boataddict26
That is ALOT of money to have to give away!!

They didn't give it away. It's crap like this that has caused vehicles to double in price in the last 10 years. In 1990 you could get a fully loaded burb for $20. Now a fully loaded burb is $40k.
Why? well yes the side saddle had problems but you hit any vehickle hard enough and there is possiblity to ruptue a fuel tank. Honestly there are more rear end accidents then side impacts but even today a lot of vehicles have fuel tanks in the rear. Other then Ford snd the pinto there isn't a great deal off lawsuits. Now I do like the fact that they did move the tanks inside the frame rail so it is not as likly to get tagged. It is a safer vehicle but vehicles have become more safe as time goes on anyway. Look at the old trucks with the fuel tank IN the cab.

Just seems to me that it is a rediculous amount of money. What I want to see is hard facts of how many were hurt or died as a direct cause of the tank location. My bet is it is not any out of whack percentage to the average vehicle.

Back to why cars are so expensive now. Crap like airbags. Airbags were designed for those nitwits that don't wear seatbelts because jack off's like Nader don't take responsibilities for their own actions. I refuse to own a car with Airbags. I wear my seatbelt religiously as does my wife and kids. My wife is a small lady and the bag is more likly to hurt her then help her. But for me to buy a newer vehicle I get to eat $3-4k worth of BS I don't want because of BS like the above lawsuits.

[PHOENIX]

"In 1990 you could get a fully loaded burb for $20. Now a fully loaded burb is $40k."

Good lord that is one hell of an increase ($39,980)
j/k

[old Rusty C10]

LOL @ pheonix

todays cars are designed to crumble in impact and absorb energy. Air bags and all that crap help to minimize injury cause seatbelts are not enough in those cars. the older ones are more likely to injure ya cause the energy of impact is not absorbed the same way. If your wife is smaller than the recommended size for air bag safey some manufaturers ( ie ford) allow ya to disable the airbag on the passenger front seat.

[Grim Reaper]

Originally posted by old Rusty C10
LOL @ pheonix

todays cars are designed to crumble in impact and absorb energy. Air bags and all that crap help to minimize injury cause seatbelts are not enough in those cars. the older ones are more likely to injure ya cause the energy of impact is not absorbed the same way. If your wife is smaller than the recommended size for air bag safey some manufaturers ( ie ford) allow ya to disable the airbag on the passenger front seat.

Have you ever tried to get a dealer to disconnect a air bag?


I have and they didn't want anything to do with it. At the time they wanted a letter from the government to do it. I called to see about such a letter and they told me to put peddle extenders on to move my wife back off the wheel.......Some solution. I'm 6'1 so how they hell am I supose to drive it with 4 inch blocks on the peddles?

[old Rusty C10]

my ford has a key operated switch disabling the air bag in both my 1999 ranger and my 2003 Escape if im not mistaken , all manufacturers were suppoused to have this feature soon enough
Last i heard you had to sign a release that holds the manufacturer/disconnecting dealer harmless if you or someone else is killed as a result of driving the car with a disconnected airbag. Also i have a friend in Maryland who has titled, registered, and inspected a car with both airbags removed he claims you can get a non airbag wheel that looks like the factory original

[Longhorn Man]

Look at the old trucks with the fuel tank IN the cab.

How hard you think it would be to get that tank to rupture in an accident?
Other than inside the frame, (meaning fab work and an in-the-way tank, in the cab (like on my 69 and my 70 trucks) is the safest place for the fuel. (asuming it does not leak)

[jimfulco]

Can you disconnect the trigger wire from the airbag?