Has anybody had the opportunity to check out their spare tire lock on their 07' Tahoe? You talk about cheesy poor design. This thing is a joke. The little access panel you need to remove to get to the lock is what I'm talking about. Come on GM you can do better then that. If you hadn't removed the cover yet then give it a try. I will bet that after a couple of years most 07' Tahoes will be driving around with missing access panels on their rear bumpers. I'm sure GM will sell replacements but they will need to be painted to match the bumper making them pricey little devils. They do have a plastic retaining tether holding the cover when removed but ours was not attached. When we did reattach the tether it came loose again very easily. It almost feels like this cover was made for a one time use because the small plastic clips holding the cover to the bumper are very flimsy, bending very easily. I hope y'all have better luck with yours.

 

Most vehicles in the junkyard have a brand new spare tire in the trunk that has never hit the road.
If you look at most every European car out there, they use an identical plastic cover and I cannot recall seeing a single car on the road that was missing the cover, but if you have to have something to belly ache about I guess this is as good as anything.
What a non-issue.

 

Dave
I know how it is when you work for a company and have to defend their product knowing the issue at hand is faulty. That’s OK for some people; kissing up to the man is good job security. You see, that’s the difference between me and you I’m retired and can say whatever I want, especially when I see cheesy crap like this. You say foreign cars have been doing this for years, that may be fine but isn’t that why GM is in trouble these days by following the imports and not setting the standard? Quality issues are the big reason Americans are buying imports. Maybe the big three will figure that out one of these days. They better.

 

I aint sucking up to anyone, just stating a fact.
And I don't believe that this tiny square ABS cover is the root cause of any trouble (either real or perceived), and judging from the lack of replies to this thread it appears as though I may be correct.
But if it bothers you that much then you should go get your money back.

 

I changed my rear axle fluid at 5000 miles (overkill perhaps but man was the stuff dirty). To do this I had to drop the spare in order to have room I, too, thought the design was a little odd, but once I removed the cover, unlocked the spare and dropped it, it all made sense to me. Now that I've gone through the exercise I know what to do if I ever DO have a flat on the road. If you haven't yet figured out how to get to the spare (and the jack for that matter) take the 5 minutes and figure it out before you need it at midnight in a rain storm.

One interesting but not unexpected discovery. The spare 20" tire is the (cheaper) Goodyear tire and does not match the Bridgestones on the truck. Of course it's on a steel 20" wheel so I wouldn't rotate it anyways. On the other hand, with 4 of these steelies I could mount up some winter tires and save my rims for the warmer months and no road salt.

All in all I think the spare tire lock/access is OK. My access plate snapped right back on with no problems and is just as tight as before.

 

I agree. They designed it so a credit card can flip it open. As they say, "So easy, even a caveman can do it"

 

Dave
I've come to realize that you enjoy getting the last word in on a subject in this forum and that's fine with me. I will say that most new owners of 07' Tahoes have not had a flat nor have they had any reason to check the access panel. Like I said in my first post this problem will show up down the road in a year or two. These new Tahoes are very complex vehicles and I know this is a very small part but bringing it to the attention of the people of this forum shouldn't be criticized no matter how big or how small the issue. That's what this forum is all about, people sharing their concerns and especially their personal opinions about a product. As for getting my money back I've already done that once but turned around and bought another Tahoe. I still think the 07' Tahoe is the best SUV on the road today and if I encounter a problem or a poor design feature you can bet I will let others know via this forum. So please continue to voice your opinion and I will continue to voice mine.

 

You are correct.