Tundra Warranty Voided by Lift

It's on Toyota Parts site now, and showing up @$1200 cheaper at some dealers without installation

 

Well…my long term plan was to always go with the OEM kit…just wasn’t soon so this may change things.

The OEM kit is also only good for 3yr/36K miles so beyond that we could all be screwed either way…

The other issue beyond an OEM lift is that some dealers (or Toyota if they are trying to play hardball) may cite your “larger tires” for premature failures on a suspension (or God forbid transmission part).
Their OEM lift kit poster seems to suggest/show a larger tire and the show truck at SEMA portrays it with the kit but nothing is saying OEM lift AND larger tires included in warranty…just OEM lift.

I think most of us understand that long term there could be issues…but LONG TERM is the key there not sub 10K miles.

So here is hoping that this is a one off issue and this new third gen isn’t so sensitive to modifications that mild ones cause earlier issues than would have taken 50K+ miles to develop on previous generations for comparable usage

 

If it’s truly an issue, we’re going to see a loooot of problems here in the next several months because a shit ton of people have RC levels and Westcott lifts.

If there’s no influx, this guy was a fluke or wheeling the truck hard. Or both. I dunno.

 

I can't remember if it was on Instagram or Youtube, but he mentioned that the truck has been primarily a mall crawler.

 

Diff Drop.

 

In the actual video he flat out said that it's mainly been a pavement princess.

However, he has tested it off road. If you dive into his YT channel, he's several vids of him taking it off road to test different trail scenarios and the various drive modes. He also has a video where he tests his truck against a stock 4WD without the OR package to see the difference in off road performance.

So he has taken it off road. Maybe in one of those test he over extended the droop and it allowed the front shafts to pull out enough to damage the seals. If you watch the video, it looks like the shaft seals have been compromised vs torn CV boots. When lifting a vehicle...I feel like it's usually torn CV boots that are the first to go and not axle seals first, but that's based off my own personal experience with my old Taco.

And, regardless of what it is, just like @bigjuice said...premature failure due to a lift shouldn't be this quick. It might reduce the over life expectancy of the axles by 10%-15%. It should not reduce the life by 80%-90%.

 

Feel like the bearing would have to fail for the axle seal to see any additional stress.

 

Just one more reason to drive my 2/0 lifted 2016 until the wheels fall off.

I had a conversation with a factory warranty guy about my front lift. He agreed my Toytech coilovers would obviously not be covered but everything else would. I told him my shocks were installed using the TRD PRO shock instructions and set at TRD PRO shock height. Since Toyota didn't seem to think any other changes were required when installing factory Toyota shocks at plus 2" it would be hard to say I caused a failure by using an aftermarket coilover.

 

As a guy coming from a Tacoma, I can only wonder if there’s a needle bearing that is failing and causing the seal to be stressed. It was an easy fox to install a bushing on the Tacoma. Anyone want to pull the driver side cv and see what’s going on in there?!

 

I finally just watched the video and the dude is really whiny. He put a random 2" level on his truck that anyone could draw up in cad in their spare time(with the stock shocks), completely changed the range of motion of the front suspension, and put tires on that probably weigh 2x+ the stock tires and then proceeds to piss and moan about how Toyota suggested to him that lifting the truck was ok because they showed off a long travel truck at Sema. Even though Toyota themselves have created a lift kit that is properly engineered to keep the truck as reliable as possible and includes shocks(which keep the suspension in the correct range of motion), springs, knuckles, and TRD designed and developed front lower knuckles, front extended axle-shafts, front stabilizer links, front outer tie rods, front tie rod sleeves, front jounce bumpers, extended brake flex hoses, and Forged upper control arms manufactured by Roush.

My guess is that some of the lift may be coming from the knuckles and some from the springs/shocks.

Man up.

 

Whiny or not...he hasn't done anything that literally hundreds of people have done to their 3rd Gens. Not only hundreds of people have done on the 3rd Gen but thousands of people have done on their 2.5 Gens.

If people were tearing up axles on the 2.5 Gen with a 2" spacer, people would be burning down Toyota's US HQ.

 

@mass-hole I didn't find him whiny, he seemed to take a pretty straightforward and logical approach, if any thing it reminded me of a fairly cogent legal argument.

1.) Toyota advertises Tundras (and other cars) performing actions or modified in a way that voids the warranty, which is misleading at best and possibly exploitative
2.) Toyota dealers sell Tundras in a state that voids the warranty and won't specify whether or not they disclose this to the customer
3.) A low mileage Tundra should be able to run a relatively small/common spacer and be tough enough to run bigger tires without breaking its axle

I feel like those are all pretty reasonable. Point #3, I would argue, contains the most appeal to emotion of his 3 points, but I don't find myself disagreeing with him. It should be that durable--especially given its price tag and prior generation's durability. If anything I think @KroppDuster makes a good point that key details are missing and its hard to judge whether or not Toyota voided the warranty or the Dealership denied the claim. I do think @mass-hole you raise some good points of inquiry: was the lift he installed designed poorly, was it installed poorly, how did it impact the geometry and physical forces on the truck? I find it a drawback that you'd have to extend the axle-shaft to lift the truck by 2". If anything I think Toyota should step in and repair the truck and clarify what voids a warranty in the case of lifts.

 

So with a TRD Pro, would this be an issue with the Westscott leveling kit?

 

What did Toyota do to suggest that its ok to throw a random spacer in the truck? It may be a common mod, doesn't mean they can't provide pretty clear proof that such a mod could increase stress on components. And that was my point in listing what the TRD lift includes(which is probably what was on all the Sema trucks). Its a pretty extensive list that pretty much replaces most of the components outside of the frame rails with the exception of the lower control arm. Clearly some thought was put into it just to achieve 2.6".

The dealer can do what they want to the truck not being actually owned by Toyota, just like they can put a market adjustment on the price. The dealer can also choose not to make a stink about the warranty on a truck they themselves modified with known components and the customer paid them for.

My point is, the guy modded his truck with a random spacer lift and is running 70 lb 35" Geolandars on offset wheels and is now pissing and moaning that something broke.

 

I mean if it truely is a fault of the lift then that sucks for everyone wanting to do a cheap lift on the 3g Tundra. For everyone else, they can spend the money for the TRD lift which, honestly, if its $1200 seems like a bargain for what you get.

At the end of the day though, hes got a lift, 70 lb 35's and likely more negative offset wheels. Yeah they seem like basic mods but the stress on the front end is probably considerably higher.

 

I'm not sure you understand what pissing and moaning means. I think he brings up some good points.

It would be absurd IF the 2022 Tundra can't handle a 2" spacer lift. That will be a hell of a talking point for the Ford/ Chevy/ Dodge salesmen.

That this is the first report of this issue with hundreds of other guys running nearly identical setups suggests that it's a defect with the parts on this particular truck though. We all know that Toyota should take care of his problem.

 

Just to level set the convo here...

1) YT content creator aside, I don't think anyone here is expecting Toyota to warranty items that are impacted by aftermarket mods.
2) This is the primary concern here: Whether or not the 3rd Gen is capable of handling a basic spacer without destroying the axles within an EXTREMELEY short period of time.

I guess to summarize it...

• Does adding a spacer add stress? Yes.
• Do most people understand that it reduces component life? Yes.
• Does any one who installs a spacer lift expect their axle to have this damage in less than 5,000 miles? Hell no.

 

If my (supposedly) bad ass $55k 4X4 can’t handle my 1.75” RC level and 35” tires I’m 100% trading it in ASAP.

The idea of that is the most absolutely ridiculous thing I’ve ever heard of.

 

Nothing exists for the 3rd gens and it is nearly impossible- the RC 6in lift has one, but you have to cut the frame to install it.


Just crawled under my truck today to check the axles, all is well on mine with almost 6k miles and over 100m this past weekend on shitty fast dirt roads. Truck has been lifted since it had 500 miles on it, but was done right with coilovers, bump stops, UCA's, rear springs, rear shocks, panhard bar, sway bar relocation kits, etc.

 

Nope, not finding it. Do you have a part number handy?

 

It's PTCCY34000 and like @funE_man said, 32% discount at some dealers. No clue if they actually have them in stock though.

https://parts.toyotaofmorristown.co...yota.com&machineIDT1=icmyghwkbfq5biub4m0t41xv

 

Excellent, Thank you.... 37% off at my local dealer...

 

Anyone been able to get an actual inventory of included parts? If that’s the price for shocks/springs/control arms it’s a bargain.

 

Here you go…another member posted it last week

 

Yes…despite what part.Toyota says you actually have to call the dealer and see if they can indeed order it for you.

 

Is this the kit that the TRD Pros have?

 

No, it’s a far superior lift (and almost 3x higher) but comes with shocks that aren’t as nice as the fox trd pros

 

From TRD Lift Kit Installation Guide

This combination should alleviate the stress on driveshaft, aftermarket need to catch up quick on this.

 

What's the make up of the kit? What height increase?

UPDATE: Found this on a TFL Now video at SEMA