[CruzeBuilder]

I am a general motors employee at Lordstown Assembly. My truck died on me and I replaced it with a 2011 black chevy cruze ltz with rs package. What a night and day difference from it's predecessor, the cobalt. Now don't get me wrong, the cobalt wasn't bad. But I was never a car person, and a cobalt sure wouldn't have changed my mind on that. I love the cruze though and it is my daily driver. I have about 1400 miles on my cruze now.

I work on the instrument panel line where they assemble the dashboards. The good thing is that I could tear the entire dash apart down to the firewall with nothing more than 6,7,8,10, and 13 mm sockets and a plastic stick in under an hour by myself if I ever have to do so. And have it back together in about the same amount of time.

If you have any questions, I would be glad to help you answer them if I can. This seems like a great community and I am glad most of you seem pleased with the product we build.

 

[Aeroscout977]

Welcome! Also prepare to be bombarded with questions once someone starts ripping a dash out lol

 

[CruzeBuilder]

Welcome! Also prepare to be bombarded with questions once someone starts ripping a dash out lol

Lol that's ok, it doesn't even have to be about the dash. I move around quite a bit and have worked in almost every stage of automotive manufacturing except for chassis (which might be the most important one though since it is where the motor is installed). In 5 years, I have worked in metal fabrication, body shop, then trim, and then paint shop, and now trim again. And if I can't answer your question, I will find someone who can and report back. And I swear I am not some kind of gm PR rep, i'm just a lowely factory worker. But I love my job and like feedback from people who buy what I build.

Paint shop is crazy. You could never imagine how clean it is in there and the technology involved. To even be allowed in there you have to wear a special kind of anti-static suit and receive a panel test to see if any deodorants, perfumes, colognes, or hair care products that you use could possibly cause defects in the paint.

 

[scaredpoet]

I am a general motors employee at Lordstown Assembly. My truck died on me and I replaced it with a 2011 black chevy cruze ltz with rs package. What a night and day difference from it's predecessor, the cobalt. Now don't get me wrong, the cobalt wasn't bad. But I was never a car person, and a cobalt sure wouldn't have changed my mind on that. I love the cruze though and it is my daily driver. I have about 1400 miles on my cruze now.

I work on the instrument panel line where they assemble the dashboards. The good thing is that I could tear the entire dash apart down to the firewall with nothing more than 6,7,8,10, and 13 mm sockets and a plastic stick in under an hour by myself if I ever have to do so. And have it back together in about the same amount of time.

If you have any questions, I would be glad to help you answer them if I can. This seems like a great community and I am glad most of you seem pleased with the product we build.

Congratulations on getting the Cruze! If the people building it are buying and enjoying it, that says a lot to me.


I got two questions.

1. Is the instrument cluster illuminated using LEDs or incandescents?

2. Any light you can shed on the "Steering Wheel incident?" Apparently something happened in assembly that really freaked out GM to the point where all Cruzes up to a certain date were recalled for steering issues... even though it seems like maybe one or two Cruzes actually had a problem.

 

[CruzeBuilder]

Congratulations on getting the Cruze! If the people building it are buying and enjoying it, that says a lot to me.


I got two questions.

1. Is the instrument cluster illuminated using LEDs or incandescents?

2. Any light you can shed on the "Steering Wheel incident?" Apparently something happened in assembly that really freaked out GM to the point where all Cruzes up to a certain date were recalled for steering issues... even though it seems like maybe one or two Cruzes actually had a problem.

1. The cluster is led.

2. The cruze that had the steering wheel incident was a very early build. The original steering wheel was correctly installed on the assembly line, and then later found to be damaged and had to be manually changed out without the torque monitoring tools that are in place on the assembly line to make sure that every bolt is correctly installed and to the correct torque levels. It was incorrectly repaired offline somehow before being shipped. That is why it is an extremely rare isolated incident and didn't stop me from buying a cruze. And thanks to that incident, we have many more quality checks in place.

 

[scaredpoet]

Awesome, thanks for the info!

 

[70AARCUDA]

CruzeBuilder -- "Welcome aboard."

..a question for you: is the DIC controlled by the BCM or does the dashboard assembly have its own "smarts" (ie: cpu chip, etc.)?

 

[cruzeman]

Awesome! Great to have someone that works at lordstown. You are guaranteed to get drilled with questions!

 

[Aeroscout977]

^ I hope they are not adding new modules

 

[gman19]

Welcome aboard!
I have a 2012 on order....are you guys still on track to start 2012 production on June 21st? I think that is this coming Tuesday.

 

[CruzeBuilder]

CruzeBuilder -- "Welcome aboard."

..a question for you: is the DIC controlled by the BCM or does the dashboard assembly have its own "smarts" (ie: cpu chip, etc.)?

I have to admit that this question is somewhat above my head. And i'm not sure at this time what the answer is. I would be almost certain to say though that the small and medium DICs are BCM, the large one with the nav and dvd player may have a cpu. I do know they are manufactured by Johnson Controls, you could go from there. Know this wasn't a very helpful answer, and I can't hardly type this without laughing... but what size is your DIC? Small, medium, or the large nav one?

 

[jsscooby]

Welcome to the forum.

 

[70AARCUDA]

...sorry, but I'm not competing with ex-Congressman Weiner (ha,ha)!

...I'm asking about the standard upgraded DIC in the LTZ dash, not the combined radio/hvac display panel.

 

[CruzeBuilder]

Welcome aboard!
I have a 2012 on order....are you guys still on track to start 2012 production on June 21st? I think that is this coming Tuesday.

Yes, we have been building non-saleable 2012 test models for a couple months now every here and there. We are in an exemption period right now where they can work us as much mandatory overtime as they need us for until a couple weeks after full model changeover.But as of right now, we have not started building saleable 2012's yet. I'm not sure what the exact date is when we have the full changeover but I know it's coming in the next couple weeks.

 

[gman19]

...... I'm not sure what the exact date is when we have the full changeover but I know it's coming in the next couple weeks.

Thanks man,
My order status is at 3000 level (Parts have been ordered...)
It has been posted more than once on this site that 2012 production is scheduled to start on June 21 is why I asked. I ordered a 2011 just after the Japan disaster, and my color choice was the downfall of that order and I got thrown into a 2012 because of the delay. I'm ready for my Cruze!

 

[CruzeBuilder]

Thanks man,
My order status is at 3000 level (Parts have been ordered...)
It has been posted more than once on this site that 2012 production is scheduled to start on June 21 is why I asked. I ordered a 2011 just after the Japan disaster, and my color choice was the downfall of that order and I got thrown into a 2012 because of the delay. I'm ready for my Cruze!

Typically we change models after July Shutdown. We are off the first 2 weeks of July while maintenance does some work on the tooling for the new model. I'm pretty sure we will start full production of 2012 models on Monday July 18 when we return to work after the shut down. But it sounds like your order has been in for months and will be one of the first ones to be built. That is at least some good news.

 

[Jim Frye]

Typically we change models after July Shutdown. We are off the first 2 weeks of July while maintenance does some work on the tooling for the new model. I'm pretty sure we will start full production of 2012 models on Monday July 18 when we return to work after the shut down. But it sounds like your order has been in for months and will be one of the first ones to be built. That is at least some good news.

Welcome to the forums. I have been told several times by Chevy Marketing Support Reps that 2012 production begins 06/21/11. I was surprised by that date as I always thought new model production started after the July shutdown also. I am curious what the difference in dates really means. It has been a topic of discussion here as us regular folks have not been able to order a 2011 model for many weeks now. It seems that since the 2012 order guide came out in mid April, the dealers would not order a 2011. Hard to believe the backlog in 2011 orders was so large that it would take two months for the plant to fill all of the 2011 orders. Its probably a nit, but it is curious.

 

[CruzeBuilder]

Welcome to the forums. I have been told several times by Chevy Marketing Support Reps that 2012 production begins 06/21/11. I was surprised by that date as I always thought new model production started after the July shutdown also. I am curious what the difference in dates really means. It has been a topic of discussion here as us regular folks have not been able to order a 2011 model for many weeks now. It seems that since the 2012 order guide came out in mid April, the dealers would not order a 2011. Hard to believe the backlog in 2011 orders was so large that it would take two months for the plant to fill all of the 2011 orders. Its probably a nit, but it is curious.

That probably means then that we will be building 2011's and 2012's at the same time until shut down. Then all 2012's after that. I will find out for sure on monday though. But it's about time for me to go out and have the time of my life with my first saturday night off in a LONNNGG time. They are working us to death, but the overtime is nice and it's way better than laid off due to slow sales. Thanks guys!

 

[feh]

If you have any questions, I would be glad to help you answer them if I can. This seems like a great community and I am glad most of you seem pleased with the product we build.

Welcome to the board!

Your timing is perfect - just yesterday I was wishing somebody was on the forum that knew how these cars are assembled...

I've had my Cruze for 10 days and just discovered it was damaged when I took it home from the dealer (see this thread for details). My question is: is replacing the rocker panel a "simple" procedure as I've been told by the dealer? It seems to me that that piece of sheet metal goes over and under the doors and is also the quarter panel. Is replacing it really a simple bolt-on procedure, or do I need to worry about weather seals and seams at the doors, wheel well, etc?

Thanks!

 

[audog]

Welcome to the club! I just did a 500 + mile round trip in my black LTZ with RS package, love this little car. Now that the minor new car issues have been worked out by dealer service, it just keeps getting better. Glad to hear that someone who builds them, buys them.