Anybody had a recall yet from GM to replace thier tailgate cables.My dealer says they hasn't recieved any.The letter I got earlier said I should receive a recall letter in June.

My dealer told me the same...... no cables yet.

No cables here either.

No recall letter yet. Just the warning that a letter is comming.

Who cares! I've got VR Straps! http://www.dieselplace.com/forum/smileys/Big Smile.gif


Tom http://www.dieselplace.com/forum/smileys/Pig.gif

thebac


whats the VR straps?

High Quality-Bomb-proof Tailgate Strapshttp://www.dieselplace.com/forum/smileys/Clap.gif


http://www.vrstraps.com/

http://www.vrstraps.com/

just put my vr straps well worth ithttp://www.dieselplace.com/forum/smileys/Clap.gif

Sunny, just do a search here for them, lots of info from about 6 months ago....Victory Red (Rick) designed and built solid metal straps for the tailgate like the old Chevy's used to have. Beats the living crapola out of the wire links. First mod Iput on my truck! http://www.dieselplace.com/forum/smileys/Big Smile.gif


Tom http://www.dieselplace.com/forum/smileys/Pig.gif

The following is an unsolicited testimonial for the VR straps. Last week I received a 6,000 pound shipment of stone at a TJ freight dock that I had shipped from Guadelajara along with 4,000 sq ft of bamboo mat (don't ask - I'm nuts - OK, ceiling cover to give jungle hut look). I hauled it back across the border from the Castores dock in TJ to San Diego in two trips with my CC LB with canopy on. Second trip still had too much stone so I stacked 4 crates of stone weighing a total of 1200 to 1400 lbs on the tailgate with no supporting part on the bed, as the dockworkers had loaded the front of the truck bed with the bales of bamboo. I then bounced my way through the TJ industrial area on Otay Mesa to the border, and back to San Diego where I loaded in a trailer. VR straps help up great with no problems. I was skeptical to try it, but desparate. Would have NEVER even considered it with the factory cables.

Going back to the wire links...

It seems to me that GM covered their a$$ by sending letters a few months ago but they seem to be slow delivering the goods. At least SOME of us should have received something. I assume they're not going to send out millions of links at once to the dealers.

Provided that here is no damage or corrosion,
the nominal break strength (lbs.) for our existing and
soon to be stainless cable straps would appear to be
about 4000 Ibs. each. I believe they are (3/16th)

What is the break strength for the VR straps? That
shouldn't be too hard for the manufacturer to provide.

What would be the shear strength for
the VR 3/8” stainless clevis? Could that be
the weak link?
Edited by: 56Nomad

Well I think you saved me a trip to Angleton. I was wondering why I had received the letter about the straps, and no follow-up. Thought it was because they had moved the business.

What would be the shear strength for
the VR 3/8” stainless clevis? Could that be
the weak link?
I've had the VR Straps for a few months now, and I can attest to their strength. My guess would be that they're so over-engineered that the weak link would be the mounting pins in the bed side, not anything on the straps themselves.

GET THE VR STRAPS! Forget GM. I wouldn't want the stainless cables either. You guys blind or what? Don't you see the money connection?


BTW, saw a guy today with a older C/K (man we're getting old I remember when they first came out) that was cutting grass. He had the old original steel plate straps and a dump conversion on his bed. Drove his machine right up into the bed.Edited by: hoot

The VR straps are being advertised on their website as:

"Don’t be surprised by having your tailgate cable break on you at the most inopportune moment.

Mix a little old fashioned quality, with current day technology and you have the VR Stainless Straps."

Anecdotal stories are great, but if these straps have been engineered with current day technology....... I think they should have some load information available for the consumer.
If you’re buying them just for their good looks, that is a different matter. That is just my opinion.

Anecdotal stories are great, but if these straps have been engineered with current day technology....... I think they should have some load information available for the consumer.
If you’re buying them just for their good looks, that is a different matter. That is just my opinion.


I come from engineering and can just look at them and know my tailgate would bend before the VR Straps failed. No doubt about it. If Rick made them for my Dodge I would be his first customer.

My cables broke last year and my parents just gave way (after 9 months) with no load on them(thank god) but still slammed the bumper and did a number on the paint. Wonder if GM will fix the paint scratches which are obviously due to the failure? Well see.


Glad my children werent on or under either tailgate at time of failure.


The VR sraps make a great gift for a friend or family member. SAFETY!!

Anecdotal stories are great, but if these straps have been engineered with current day technology....... I think they should have some load information available for the consumer.
Like what, the tensile strength of the individual components he uses? Something more sophisticated perhaps?

He can tell you what items he uses to produce the straps, and what they're made of, but advanced testing would cost a significant amount of money. That would most likely make the unit price astronomical, and essentially end the business.

I've used the cables. I've used the straps. While I'm no engineer, I'm no dummy either. I can tell which is gonna break first. And it's not the straps...