General Motors Corp.: Suspension › Front › Control Arm › Lower Ball Joint
General Motors Corp. reported this defect to federal regulators on Jan 30, 1996 and put the number of vehicles at risk at 102,403. The repair is free for as long as the recall stands.
The defect
DEFECTIVE LOWER CONTROL ARM BALL JOINT ATTACHMENT NUTS WERE NOT PROPERLY TORQUED AND CAN LOOSEN.
The risk
THE LOWER CONTROL ARM BALL JOINT CAN LOOSEN, FATIGUE, AND SEPARATE FROM THE FRONT SUSPENSION KNUCKLE RESULTING IN A LOSS OF VEHICLE CONTROL.
The remedy
DEALERS WILL INSPECT BOTH FRONT LOWER CONTROL ARM BALL JOINT ATTACHMENT NUTS FOR PROPER TORQUE. IF THE BALL JOINT HAS LOOSENED, BOTH THE BALL JOINT AND THE KNUCKLE WILL BE REPLACED.
4 model years covered
Newest first| Vehicle | Complaints | Recalls | Fires | Crashes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1996 Cadillac Fleetwood | 17 | 2 | 0 | 2 |
| 1996 Chevrolet Caprice | 65 | 8 | 0 | 1 |
| 1995 Cadillac Fleetwood | 18 | 5 | 1 | 2 |
| 1995 Chevrolet Caprice | 88 | 11 | 0 | 10 |
What this page is, and what to do next
A recall is not an opinion. It is a Part 573 report a manufacturer is required by federal law to file once it decides a defect poses an unreasonable risk to safety, and it commits them to repairing the vehicle at no cost to the owner. The three passages above are the manufacturer’s own wording as published by NHTSA.
This page describes the campaign. It cannot tell you whether one particular car has already been through the shop — that is tracked by VIN, and only the manufacturer knows it. Check yours at nhtsa.gov/recalls or with a franchised dealer, quoting campaign number 96V018000.
Full record for the 1996 Cadillac Fleetwood → · Recalls carrying a do-not-drive advisory → · Where this data comes from →