I have both a 2001 Tahoe and a 2007 Yukon Denali and two other GM Vehicles. The Tahoe has 265,000 and never a single drivetrain problem. The 2007 Yukon has 136,000 miles and has the common broken driver side motor mount. My local dealer has quoted me over $500 to replace. I own a business in the quality industry in Michigan and even used to work for a body, engine, and transmission mount manufacturer in Grand Rapids, Michigan, so I have some inside knowledge about this exact subject. These engine mounts are clearly sub-par either in design, or in manufacturing quality. Most engine mounts do have a safety over travel stop designed into the engine mount core frame/bracket in order to prevent the engine from traveling past a certain point should the rubber section ever fail (this is what causes the audible clunk). This is probably how GM is able to not have to issue a safety recall for this common failure/fault. Suppliers are required to subject said parts to a rigorous testing program which is defined by the buyer. This leads me to believe that this engine mount suffers from a poor design. I remember in the early 90's actually making special engine and transmission mounts for police vehicles. They were otherwise identical and used all the same parts as the mounts used in typical passenger vehicles with the exception of purging out the standard softer raw rubber compound, and switching it out for higher durometer stronger rubber compound in order to deal with the higher horsepower engine packages offered in police package vehicles. My point being, the requirement of needing different strength mounts and sometimes different designs is obviously well known for many decades. Shame on GM for allowing this poor design to be sold to their unassuming loyal customer base and then not properly fixing the problem once the fault was discovered. I have been to hundreds of automotive suppliers and many of the big three factories to perform Metrology and Calibration services in the last 20 years, and GM Powertrain R&D divisions are in my opinion
TOP NOTCH in the industry and world. They are certainly able to catch this, and at the very least provide an
appropriate fix. Using the same engine mount will never fix the problem, they will continue to fail. I am curious as to the extent of this broad repair cost for the general consumer at large. Maybe this issue needs to be looked into as a class action lawsuit. If this failure is not as broad scale as it seems, then why does the all mighty General not fix all of these broken engine mounts under good faith. You are shooting yourself in the foot by not. I have extensive vehicle mechanical knowledge and many facilities and tools at my disposal, so I am able to cope with this repair by myself, but why should I have to? I race a 500+ HP Camaro Z28 and guess what? It still has the stock engine mounts which have been thrashed for the last 20 years without breaking.
I am 100% about buying American branded vehicles and products, but if this is the kind of product and customer service that I can expect from GM, it honestly makes me ready to change brands for both my personal and business vehicle purchases. I also have many family, friends, and colleges who value my input aimed at the automotive world due to my background...