2002 Chevrolet S10 Body Problems

Which parts fail

• Body › Tailgate › Hinge and attachments
  39
• Frame and members
  6
• Body › Door › Hinge and attachments
  6
• Body › Door
  5
• Body
  3
• Body › Tailgate
  2

Components named in complaints (doors, hood, frame, rust, paint and trim).

Mileage when the problem started

• Under 25k
  815%
• 25k–50k
  1731%
• 50k–75k
  1731%
• 75k–100k
  916%
• 100k–150k
  35%
• 150k+
  12%

Owner reports

Selected complaints filed with NHTSA by 2002 Chevrolet S10 owners, lightly cleaned up (personal details are redacted by NHTSA).

2002 Chevy S10 ls crew cab the door strikers caved into the frame on both sides drivers side and passenger side.this happened with in one day of each other. On photographed inspection the steel had ripped in the shape of the clip behind the door strikers an obvious engineering flaw in design,I took it to the dealer who acknowledged the obvious design flaw launched a complaint with photos he took as well. Chevy said the truck was to old, evidently the doors can fall off your truck in 8 years and Chevy does not care. I had to weld the steel my self since the doors would not shut. Chevy will be hit with a class action lawsuit eventually when someone falls out of their crappy truck. Unlike Toyota who is taking care of their customers Chevy will just give you the middle finger. …

The door opened fine all day and all of a sudden when I went to open the door it opened only 2 inches. It appears that the front right fender panel has slid back towards the door approx. 1/2 inch and that is what's blocking the door. Upon further inspection the hinge is slightly bent. Dealer is trying to say that the door was sprung. Witnesses that I have including 2 police officers can state that this did not happen. They can state that the door opened fine the first 2 times and then not at all later. Body shop mechanic slid something inside the door hinge and popped it open resulting in the paint on the hinge to be scraped off. This should have been a warranty issue but the dealer refuses to fix it without payment. I feel since this did not happen by cause or fault of me nor was this vehicle hit on the driver side, that it is a defect and needs to be investigated. …

On February 2, 2005 I was unloading a twenty-five pound pail from the back of my Chevy s-10 pick up truck. I opened the tail gate, and as I slid the pail on to the tailgate, both of the tailgate support cables snapped. I fell backwards onto the garage floor, and I injured my back. I called the dealership where I purchasde my truck, and they said there was nothing they could do because there was no recall. On March 17,2005 as I was driving, I heard a loud bang. The tailgate had fallen into the middle of the road. A woman with a van full of children had to swerve into the opposite lane to avoid hitting the tailgate. The tailgate was dented and badly scratched. I again called the dealership and explained what had happened, and again they told me they would do nothing, because there was no recall for the s-10 pick up regarding the tailgate supports or the tailgate. …

This is the third vehicle of this type that I have had to have a door hinge, bushings and/or hinge pins repaired on. 2004 Chevrolet blazer four door (odi number) 10255992. 2003 Chevrolet blazer two door (odi number) 10256634. The door is dropping causing a problem to either open or close the door. Door started creaking about a month ago and subsequently became a safety problem to close it properly. It was rubbing on the lock strike. Door was taken to the dealer after the other two were found to have a problem with the doors. I presume that the same repairs were made to this as it is still in the dealers shop as of today. When all is said and done it will have cost four hundred dollars plus to repair these doors and make them safe. It is not a new problem for GM as it has been going on in various models since the 80's.

I have a 2002 Chevrolet S10 zr2. It has had many problems in the front end, it was eventually discovered to have numerous cracks and broken welds, mostly on the right side. At this point GM has offered a 70/30 split on repairs, which we reluctantly agreed to because we needed the vehicle repaired. Now that the frame has been haphazardly repaired by a different dealer, because the dealer that we purchased it from refused to look at it, we feel that it is still a safety hazard and we are trying to get it repaired correctly. We want proper repairs for our vehicle, but ,to also alert others that there May be problems with the zr2 frames. The original frame is still in the possession of turnpike Chevrolet in nitro, wv.

I was unloading some limbs and brush into a brush pile from the back of my 2002 Chevrolet s-10 truck when both tailgate cables snapped and I fell into the pile. I weigh 200 pounds and the limbs I was unloading weighed about 20 pounds. I was not injured and there appears to be no damage to the tailgate itself. I was looking online to order new parts when I found about a hundred similar complaints, some with injuries, and still no recall. I became angry when I found out GM knows about this problem and has ignored their customers' safety. Also, the cables are riveted in which means you have to replace the entire assembly which is $60.00 for one side therefore total cost is around $120.00.

My son-in-law sat down on the tailgate of my 2002 Chevrolet s-10 and both tailgate cables broke. He fell to the ground but only suffered minor scrapes and a sprained ankle and back. I had the cables replaced at the dealer where I had bought the truck. There were recalls in force for other GMC trucks whose tailgate cables had suddenly broken, but I was informed that my particular year was not among them. I feel, in light of the recent recalls, mine should have been included in, that recall,or at least this recall, and my deduction for the repairs covered by GMC. I am certain that all the trucks using the same cables will, or have been affected by the sudden failure of said cables.

I own a 2002 Chevrolet s-10 pickup. I was helping a friend move some small furniture when at the end of our last run I noticed my tailgate was resting on my bumper. Apparently the tailgate cables snapped. Upon further inspection the site of failure where the cable snapped was rusted through. Now this is a cable that is entirely encased in plastic from the factory and it still managed to rust. I have open and closed my tailgate perhaps two dozen times in the course of three years so this is certainly not a wear issue.. I feel that GM should extend the tailgate recall it has for its full size trucks(which experience the same problem) to include their mid-size s-10 trucks as well.

Placed about a 200 pound torch on tailgate when lifing into 2002 Chevy S10 truck. Tailgate cable broke. Although no injuries or damaged property that day, in the future a 275 pound owner could have been on the tailgate and a broken cable could cause broken bones or lacerations. To correct problem one can not simply replace a $10 cable. GM has made the vehicle so you have to buy the cable and hinge for $45. This is ridiculous and if these cables have been found to be faulty and recalled in the silverados they should probably also be recalled on the s10s. As of yet the cable has not been replaced-wailting to see if a recall will be issued.

I own a 2002 Chevrolet s-10 with 72,000 miles. Since purchasing the vehicle, the door hinge pin bushings have failed, resulting in the vehicle doors falling out of alighment and opening while driving. The dealership, and GM, while acknowledgeing the design flaw have failed to do anything. I have researched this problem on the internet and have found in to be a wide spead situation with all GM medium duty door hinges. This problem started with the introduction of the welded door hinges rather that the bolt on type. This seem to be a very serious safety concern to me, and I cannot understand why GM is not willing to fix this problem.

NHTSA investigations

Body complaints in other S10 years