This is not making sense to me. The silver is an early model and the yellow a later version? Are there build date ranges to go along with the photos? Frankly, the extra holes, dimples and raised section on the yellow would do nothing to stop or change a potential bulge or tear in my opinion. Might even make the member weaker. Perhaps I'm missing something here....
Roll
just picked up my 08 TT 6MT...
The pattern of four holes on the driver's side are the mounts for the clutch fluid reservoir (2 have bolts fitted, 1 is an anti-rotation tab, and the other is unused. It would be easy to bolt a flat plate onto these existing holes.
The passenger side doesn't have the holes.
just picked up my 08 TT 6MT...
The pattern of four holes on the driver's side are the mounts for the clutch fluid reservoir (2 have bolts fitted, 1 is an anti-rotation tab, and the other is unused. It would be easy to bolt a flat plate onto these existing holes.
The passenger side doesn't have the holes.
Reinforcing that one section will likely transfer the problem to another area. It will have no effect on the passenger side inner fender, which suffers from the same problem. And it may interfere with the function of the crush zone in event of a severe collision. So, my suggestion is you leave that area alone, monitor both inner fenders for bulges / cracks on a regular basis, and watch this forum for any additional formal updates from Toyota. If you install you own "fix", you can be sure to be exempted from Toyota factory coverage on the issue, when a proper cure is determined....
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Short but very important question : can we ride with this failure if we already find it ? How dangerous is it ?
And one more : can we make or find any solution which would prevent this failure as for example subaru or nissan are doing ? Do you have inner fender bulges / cracking??
Doesn't a body rip like this indicate a frame malfunction? And would this not mean your truck is technically "totaled" insurance wise?
I doubt it. Otherwise there would be a lot of recalls. The FJ has a "body on frame" construction like that of a pick up. If it was a unibody, i think then you may have a problem.
Quote:
Peter4x4 previously said:
Short but very important question : can we ride with this failure if we already find it ? How dangerous is it ?
And one more : can we make or find any solution which would prevent this failure as for example subaru or nissan are doing ? Do you have inner fender bulges / cracking??
Has anybody tried to do so ?
Yes. If it was unsafe and causing people to get in wrecks and die, there would be a recall or we would have heard of it on the forum. I don't know how dangerous it is, but i would bet it is not going to make a significant difference in a collision. As cruiserlarry said and i agree, if you make your own modifications to the fender area, you are assuring that toyota will deny you for a claim if you wish to have them repair it later on.
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Reinforcing that one section will likely transfer the problem to another area. It will have no effect on the passenger side inner fender, which suffers from the same problem. And it may interfere with the function of the crush zone in event of a severe collision. So, my suggestion is you leave that area alone, monitor both inner fenders for bulges / cracks on a regular basis, and watch this forum for any additional formal updates from Toyota. If you install you own "fix", you can be sure to be exempted from Toyota factory coverage on the issue, when a proper cure is determined....
Larry, Im sorry to hear that this is happening to a lot of FJ owners (even to the DD type driving) but Im one of the lucky ones that has not observed this yet. I understand that any maodification might void any official work but wouldnt the crack get bigger overtime and even spread if nothing is done? So if Toyota doesnt get on top of this quickly we'd be sorry...on top of a major repair bill!
This is really concerning because I have seen reports even on FJ (build date 11/07) and considering the material and design are similar that this is NOT a case of being unlucky but rather something inevitable that can happen down the road of our FJs.
I called 2 local dealers here in San Diego if in fact there was TSB or service campaign on the bulging/cracking fenders and both Service Manager (yes made sure they were service managers and not just some clueless tech answering the phone) and thinking about the hundreds of FJ running around in a bigger city and they both told me that they have not heard of this problem (as well as the rear differential shearing problem).
They referred me to 1800-331-4331 (toyotas #) and the service tech said the same thing. He woud not disclose to me if there was any valid reports as he needed to pull someone's personal info and case#. Im not questioning the people here that has this problem but it sounds to me that they are covering it up quite nicely with a lot of BS.
Well... 28814 miles now on my 2 year old 2007 FJ; build date Oct. 2006.
No bulges or cracks though I have a yellow model, perhaps the problem is only on the other colors. Makes sense to me but then I'm taking pain meds for my back.
Ours is not a daily driver though averaging 14,000 miles a year would say otherwise. Neither has it spent much time off road, (if you exclude driving over some gravel where a road was being repaired; a lawn* or two; and one time a 15 minute excursion over a hilly field).( *No lawns were torn up in the process.)
I have no mods installed other than some odds and ends; nothing serious like bumpers, winches, plating or lift kits.
Seriously, I am somewhat concerned about this problem. With retirement looming in the next 5 years and my "going in" expectation that this FJ would be a keeper to be used for homestead chores in the coming years, I am worried about some catastrophic body/frame failure.
Any news? Updates? Dealer or Manufacturer acknowledgement about the issue?
Roll
P.S. By the way, the undercarriage/frame seems to be rusting more than I would expect. Normal?
/ WPOK492 
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