Would you allow this repair?

2017 Crewmax RC 6inch lift installed by dealer. After 10k miles front tires started to wear uneven so I took the truck to a recommended local shop for an alignment. Local shop says they are unable to do an alignment due to cam covering left tab and portion of the tab bent on front cross member.

The truck has had no other maintenance other then oil changes at Toyota. Take truck back to dealer that installed the lift and they say it will be taken care of.

This their idea of a “repair”. Would you allow this?

 

Well a couple things... the part that failed wasn’t the dealer or Toyota’s fault.... and if the dealer repaired it for free instead of telling to to shove it because it wasn’t anything that they should warranty, I’d say don’t worry about it.

Edit: no the didn’t bend it out far enough.... as Phil said, get those gussets or new crossmember

 

The tab is still distorted, and even though it shouldn’t ever take force once the bolt is torqued, I can’t say I’d be satisfied with that.

What I will recommend is something like this: But I wouldn’t ever hope for the dealer to cover the cost of the upgrade, just the alignment and the tires that were scrubbed off.

 

Did you pick out the lift that they installed?

 

Hell no!!

 

But why?

 

Nope, not good enough. If they’re taking responsibility for it, I’d ask them to replace the tabs. Just not sure they should be responsible for it after 10k.

 

I take all my comments back.... I looked closer at the picture.... looked like the tab had just snapped off at first

 

Did you buy the truck new with the lift already installed?

 

Did it allow alignment?

When you say dealer installed, do you mean you bought it that way, or you had the dealer install it?

 

Like @landphil said, the bolt is already torqued to the max. So, I think that the gaps in between the shins will eventually cause flexing and the problem will return. It’s not a permanent fix. At this point it would be better if you upgrade. Toytec is very good, but, there are other affordable products out there as well. Take your truck to other aftermarket lift shops for other options available to you.

I had a similar problem with my 3” lift on my 2010. I kept balancing, rotating, and aligning my wheels/tires every few months. But, it never fixed the problem. Eventually, the problem got worse and more vibration developed in the front axles and wheels. Which led to damages to the wheel bearings. In short, it ended up costing me $3500 to fix.

I had to replace the front wheel bearings and buy 4 new tires. The front bearings on my 2010 was a “B” to replace. The bearings and hubs are pressed into one unit. But, you have to buy both the hubs and bearings to replace the worn ones. Then, you have to have the special tools and machinery to get the new bearings pressed into the new hub. The shop that did mine had to send them to a machine shop to get them pressed in without damages.

Let’s say that the damages that the faulty lift installed caused, cost much more that the lift itself.

 

Here is another angle of the cam bolt and cross memeber before the dealers repair. I don’t believe there was a failure of the parts. The bolt was installed incorrectly and wasn’t caught until now. And since the dealer was the last to touch anything in this area I believed they were responsible to replace and realign the truck.


I bought the truck with the lift already installed. I knew it was an RC kit when I bought it and didn’t really know there were much better ways of lifting a truck.

The dealer tried to pass off the “repair” and call it a day. I finally with some heated conversation got them to say they will replace the originally damaged crossmemeber. I will be taking the truck elsewhere to have it realigned after they are done just because I don’t trust their work anymore.

The reason I asked was to see if any one would have left the dealer as was repaired. I just don’t see how they could see heating and bending a component in that area as a satisfactory fix. Thank y’all for the input.

 

Cam tab gussets

 

After seeing that photo, I’m of the opinion that the bolt was tightened with the cam on top of the tab, rather than it bending the tab due to shifting / inadequate torque on the bolt. Big old pile of shit work...

 

Can't believe they (dealer) did that! That's some messed up BS!

 

That’s exactly what I think happened too.

 

And this is why you don't buy lifted trucks, because they look pretty, from the dealership - They're not a 4x4 shop and have no business installing anything other than stock Toyota parts. I'd plaster this shit all over their reviews and file a complaint with Toyota USA to save the next guy some grief.

 

Knowing what I know now I wouldn’t have purchased my truck lifted. Luckily for Toyota, this truck wasn’t bought new lifted or from a Toyota dealer. The truck was used with 4K miles and the dealer sales these trucks with the lift, wheels and tires installed. They do this with Fords, Chevys and Dodges and from what I can tell they sale a lot of them. If they make this right and don’t do any further damage to my truck, all will be well and I will move on. As of right now I’m not out of pocket for anything.

 

I'm not so sure the dealerships should be allowed to install anything more difficult than an air freshener.

 

Well dropped the truck off this morning and all was taken care of and done correctly! Brand new cross memeber and hardware installed!