[Chickenhawk]

Have you guys and girls noticed the Terrains roof sheetmetal extremely thin. Try washing it and it feels like you can push the roof in with hardly no force whatsoever. I also noticed while riding in the back that I thought the head liner was hanging down because it pushed up when looking for a lightswitch for the rear lights, but now I think it might be the sheetmetal flexing. I guess this helps with the fuel economy though??????

 

[cheddar11]

I've also noticed this when I've put my Terrain through the carwash a couple times. I get a "pop" as the sheet metal flexes in and springs back. Similar to denting a pop can. I'm not too concerned as it never leaves a dent in the roof. I wonder if this is one on the crumple zones so certain areas of the vehicle are forced to absorb the majority of an impact.

 

[Chickenhawk]

Yeah, its not too big of a deal to me but I am sure it helps keeping the weight down. The hood is amost equaly as thin and the plastic grill looks impressive but seems flimsy as well. I guess its the way of the future. :-[

 

[redlight_005]

Well it's definetly not top heavy then, shouldn't have to worry about a rollover IDK, haven't noticed it on mine, will have to check.

 

[gearhead]

Well it's definetly not top heavy then, shouldn't have to worry about a rollover IDK, haven't noticed it on mine, will have to check.[/color]

Now I must ask, what exactly is "IDK".
Still early, maybe I'm still sleeping?
Thanks!

 

[gearhead]

Now I must ask, what exactly is "IDK".
Still early, maybe I'm still sleeping?
Thanks!

OK, after shaking my head a little and downing 2 coffees, I'll guess that IDK means "I Don't Know"!
DUH!
LOL!

 

[Chickenhawk]

BTW, we have the SLE 1. Maybe it is not as noticable with a roof rack on the higher end models which may help stiffen up the roof structure.

 

[NY_Joe]

Can't say I noticed any of that on my Terrain.

Did a dry run with cargo box today and didn't notice any exra flexibility up there.

 

[redlight_005]

I have the roof rack, but any car made nowadays is thin sheet metal. Go push on a Sierra hood and you will notice a bit of flex on that as well. Nothing to be worried about.

 

[Islander]

The roof's a bit on the thin side

OK--y'all know I'm a little anal by now concerning my vehicles...easily proven by my putting a good coat of Maguires Gold Class on the new Terrain a week after buying it. As I was finishing it out this AM, got the stool out and was doing the roof and BOY is that some thin sheetmetal up there. Now I understand that the unibody construction is what adds rollover strength and the roof panel is just to finish it out, but that's the thinnest piece of sheetmetal I've seen in a long time...and I routinely do the roofs on all my cars when waxed. Seems a couple extra pounds for a bit thicker gauge wouldn't hurt too much.

 

[Islander]

Re: The roof's a bit on the thin side

Nothing gets past you Snow..I hadn't seen that. My conclusions are the same, but I didn't know the issue had been addressed before.

 

[NY_Joe]

Topics merged

 

[Narg]

I've been on a few car forums where this similar topic is raised a lot these days.

Bottom line is, if you want good gas milage, they've got to cut down on weight somewhere. I'm still taken that the gas cover is plastic. Not a bad thing, but did take me by surprize.

I'll take the good MPG rating these days. The middle of the roof is not a strength point on the vehicle anyway.

 

[Roesterman]

Have seen tractor trailers(semi's ..for US) that have the flexible fabric material stretched over the trailer part?
Its the structure underneath that determines the strength not the sheathing used.

 

[ka7slc]

Terrain Roof Pops: A weak point that will cause paint failure down the road

Just my additional comments:

I have been worried about the loud popping of the roof thin sheet metal as well.

I had the opportunity to look at my Terrain progress through a auto car wash several times over the last couple of months. I view my rig getting washed from the waiting area window as my Terrain goes through. *It should be noted that my Terrain has full roof racks installed.

I actually witnessed and saw a large depression and actual temporary dent form during the drying session. It appeared between the rails above the front seat compartment. The depresson was about 10-12" in shape. The dent depressed up and down almost 1 full inch as the vehicle progressed through the air dryer. I have also noticed this affect when hand washing or drying the same spot.

I clearly see that this may be a place of potential paint failure in the GM Terrain vehicle line.

 

[GARYD]

I was thinking the same thing about the paint. Will the sun roof stiffen it up a bit? I would imagine the rear section would still flex.

 

[Chickenhawk]

Yeah, no doubt this is some of the thinnest sheet metal out there. Everywhere on the car. Be careful on where you lift the car with a jack when trying to rotate the tires. The unibody metal underneath bends in easy also. Still love the Terrain so far just seems like they went cheap in alot of places.

 

[bballr4567]

Yeah, no doubt this is some of the thinnest sheet metal out there. Everywhere on the car. Be careful on where you lift the car with a jack when trying to rotate the tires. The unibody metal underneath bends in easy also. Still love the Terrain so far just seems like they went cheap in alot of places.

There are slots under the car where the jack is supposed to go. If you dont use those lift points the only other ones I would use is the subframe for the rear suspension and the k member in the front.

Look for GM lift point attachments. Commonly known as "lift pucks"

 

[tnmats]

BTW, we have the SLE 1. Maybe it is not as noticable with a roof rack on the higher end models which may help stiffen up the roof structure.

Nope, just as flimsy feeling with the roof rack in our Equinox. The roof wasn't this thin in our old 2000 Saturn LW2 wagon.

 

[tnmats]

I've been on a few car forums where this similar topic is raised a lot these days.

Bottom line is, if you want good gas milage, they've got to cut down on weight somewhere. I'm still taken that the gas cover is plastic. Not a bad thing, but did take me by surprize.

I'll take the good MPG rating these days. The middle of the roof is not a strength point on the vehicle anyway.

GM's been doing this for a while. The fuel filler door was plastic in our old 2000 Saturn LW2 wagon. And that series of Saturns had the rear quarter panels made of steel (front fender/door panels were plastic).