4 recalls across 3 model years
The GMC Brigadier has 4 recalls covering the 1978–1986 production run, with the most serious being a 1986 recall where accelerator linkage return springs can break and cause the throttle to stick wide open, leaving the driver unable to reduce engine power by lifting off the pedal.
The 1981 model year has a steering shaft assembly where the yokes may have been forged from incorrect steel, causing brittle welds between each yoke and its shaft. If those welds fail, the driver loses steering entirely. The 1978 model year has two separate concerns. On the steering side, the pinch bolt and nut securing the upper steering column shaft yoke may not have been tightened to the correct torque, allowing the intermediate shaft to separate from the upper shaft and leave the driver with no steering input. On the brake side, 1978 models equipped with air brakes and either a 427 cubic-inch gasoline engine or a six- or eight-cylinder Detroit Diesel Allison engine may have had the copper brake application valve air lines swapped during assembly. If a major air leak develops in the rear brake system, the service brakes can fail without any advance warning.
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