External Tire Rack issue
 

Hello all. First I did a search and did not come up with a solution. I have a 05 H2 with the external tire rack. My wife had an issue opening the latch the other day so she bathed it in WD40. After a few minutes she was able to open it with ease. Well now it will unlatch while driving down the road. With out the safety wire it would swing around. I believe the issue is the rubber bushing on the latching pin. It appears to be worn. I have attached pics. Is this a part the GM would be able to get at this late date or should I try to source some at a hose supplier? I could be wrong and the issue is with the latching mechanism itself. It will latch and hold but after driving a bit I get out and its popped as you can see in the pic. What do y'all think?

That's what my bushing looks like on my 06 and I don't have any issues. I would say it's something with the upper latch that you push up to release the carrier. The oil may have loosened it up too much that when you hit a bump it releases...just a thought.

Ok thank you. I will take a closer look at the latch. The thing is, it does not operate unless the pin is in the jaw so I cannot function it through the open close to see if there is a problem. I didn't see any grease points but will look more closely. Perhaps the WD40 washed all the grease out and as you said it releases too easily. Thanks again.

There isn't a physical zerk for a grease fitting for the latch. I understand what you mean without it being engaged to see what is wrong. Maybe you can use a big screwdriver to act like it is latching close so you can better see what is going on with it.

So I went out and like you said used a big screw driver to see the action. Basically the latch just moves back as the pin enters the jaw and the front side comes down and holds the pin in place. That all seems to be working fine. The latch handle was very loose and would wiggle around. I could pop it up with my little finger and hardly any pressure at all. There is a pin to hold the latch handle on but it is flared at both ends so it cannot be pressed out.There is a bolt that runs through the mechanism that the jaw rides on. I was able to tighten that down while keeping the hole for the safety wire clip in the same position. It does 'feel' like it takes more pressure to lift the latch. Not a lot more but the latch handle does not wiggle around like it did before. Hopefully this will be enough to keep it from popping up while driving. I will test later when we head down to the beach and report back. I told my wife if that fails I will take a hand full of sand and throw it in the latch to make it dirty again. ;)

Well, I went out and tested my adjustments with no change. The swing arm will still come unlatched. I removed the latch to take a closer look. I couldn't see anything obviously wrong. It was still little gunked up so I cleaned it out with some degreaser and reinstalled. When I did the reinstall the latch was little more to the left than before. I could barely fit a knife blade between the end of the swing arm and the latch housing when the swing arm was latched before removing. Now there is approximately 1/4 inch gap. The swing arm seems to be more firmly in place when latched. Took it out for a quick spin and when I returned the swing arm had popped loose from the latch again. I am at a loss. I see no way to adjust the latch and its weird this all started after my wife sprayed down the latch with WD40. Any input would be appreciated.

UPDATE: Fixed
 

Well, it seems to be fixed. After looking at the cost to get a replacement and even contacting the manufacturer of the latch itself (SPEP.com) I ran across this thread.

https://www.hummerforums.com/forum/h...h-broke-27247/

Post eight had a great suggestion and it has worked for me for the last two days. I have gone over some very rough roads and it has remained latched. For anyone having similar issues, I'd try this before shelling out for another latch on Ebay or at the dealer.

Great info for anyone else who has similar issues!

If you plan to get rid of the latch let me know as i would not care if it is damage as i can fix them? if not would you know of anyone that wants to sell a latch.

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