For those with aftermarket coilover setups?

[ballkillerxxx]

dam i was entirely dead set on getting the SAW setup but I am headed to a cold climate and snow and salt in less than a year to have to pay 1500 dollars for shocks that are going to rust i may have to rethink this now, i hear lots of complaints about Donahues also wtf? for this amount of money they should be reliable and trouble free. if i read correctly the d/r have a coating which prevents this hello SAW are u listening here do the same thing already. i may be wrong though? are the new saw 2.5 coated to prevent this? a good spray with corrosion x should keep wm in tip top shape

[Archy Chris]

I have the SAWs on for 6 months and no problems. I have beat and jumped these coilovers and they have held their own. Can't go wrong with the SAWs!

[FloJo]

btw, i forgot to mention in my earlier post, whatever suspension you choose to go with, you will have risk of rust. over time, road debris and/or offroad encounters will wear off any kind of coating your shocks or coils have. i bought a used set of OME medium rear springs and shocks that were used for about a year on the seller's FJ. i never installed them, but still keep them as a spare. there is rusting in various areas of the shock body and the coils.

[ballkillerxxx]

flo joe you are prob right, i guess as with anything you have to take care of them if you expect them to last. Although i can say that having lived in harsch climates before i never experienced any issues like that.

[my name is mudd]

some leaks also can be cause dedris and knicks in the piston arms, being pushed up into the shock body and cutting the seal or just plain old rotton seals. i need to get better with re building shocks.......just got my RC3 cant wait to install!!

[camerax]

Gottagetone previously said:

Is it just me or do the aftermarket coilover setups that are rebuildable seem to leak and have premature problems. I have seen people list c/o setups for sale, or just post about them, that they leak or have some sort of problem. I have not heard of anyone that had non rebuildable set-ups leaking prematurely. This may be that the guys with the rebuildable setups are just harder on them than others? Thoughts?

I have recently installed Rugged Trail's 6" suspension lift on my '07 FJ. It's a basic install and I found an OEM problem as I tore apart the front end on my Toy.

With just over 17k on my OD we came up with a failing driver's side oil seal on the CV hub. Water and sand was noticeable beyond the hub and in the bearing area of the hub. Inexcusable in our estimation considering about 15k+ on this FJ was on-road with stock wheels & tires. The only prolonged offroad excursion happened this past April in Hatteras, NC. Mostly beach cruising with some water submersion due to much rain in the area that week.

I ordered two brand-new hub oil seals from Toyota Daytona for the build and the right side seal installed with no problem. For some reason, the left side did not behave and the seal ended up spinning in the hub post-install. Not good. It was quite obvious that the I/O of the hub and the diameter of the new seal were not going to fit well but we hesitated to machine back the new RT hub to accomodate a seal that had been "retrofitted" by Toyota Intl.

Toyota has re-engineered their seals and this is apparent from the lack of dual spring-retainers on the new replacement seals from Toyota. If you don't believe me, ask anyone who has had to replace these on their '07's.

It is not surprising to me as well that I'm now reading about front diff seal failures as a result of the OME and other spacer-upped kits out there that rely on stock or aftermarket replacement coilover/shock combinations that may put too much upward pressure on these OEM seals. Recent experience with the outer hub seals on my FJ present a real problem. One that I believe Toyota knows about but is failing to acknowledge.

I did a lot of research in this department and found that not only had Rugged trail upgraded their front end bump stops to prevent rebound and droop, but they also designed their hubs to fit the original Toyota FJ seals. Now the new upgraded ones are a bit too tight a fit and as suspected the weaker sided of the two popped out even after using a liberal exterior coat of silicone RTV. I do not believe that Rugged Trail can be blamed for this but it is a bit of a dilemma as you can picture me going back to my local dealership and asking them to install my new seals in aftermarket drop-links?

With that being said, I want to warn all of you FJ'ers out there that Toyota has a real problem on their hands regarding all front end seals on these new vehicles that they will at some point have to answer less their loyal customers rebel.

I bought my FJ with cash in July of '06 as an '07 model and have driven it primarily on the straight and flats of east coast FL since this vehicle was new.
I am also concerned about drivetrain related issues specific to the rear-end housing and differential boxes of the 07 model FJ's and I think it is a sin if Toyota knows this is a design flaw and is hiding it from their loyal customers.

If any of you would like to relate your stories, please feel free to drop me a private line. I have an attorney in Daytona working on this case if it gets any uglier.

Camerax

[Gottagetone]

camerax previously said:

I have recently installed Rugged Trail's 6" suspension lift on my '07 FJ. It's a basic install and I found an OEM problem as I tore apart the front end on my Toy.

With just over 17k on my OD we came up with a failing driver's side oil seal on the CV hub. Water and sand was noticeable beyond the hub and in the bearing area of the hub. Inexcusable in our estimation considering about 15k+ on this FJ was on-road with stock wheels & tires. The only prolonged offroad excursion happened this past April in Hatteras, NC. Mostly beach cruising with some water submersion due to much rain in the area that week.

I ordered two brand-new hub oil seals from Toyota Daytona for the build and the right side seal installed with no problem. For some reason, the left side did not behave and the seal ended up spinning in the hub post-install. Not good. It was quite obvious that the I/O of the hub and the diameter of the new seal were not going to fit well but we hesitated to machine back the new RT hub to accomodate a seal that had been "retrofitted" by Toyota Intl.

Toyota has re-engineered their seals and this is apparent from the lack of dual spring-retainers on the new replacement seals from Toyota. If you don't believe me, ask anyone who has had to replace these on their '07's.

It is not surprising to me as well that I'm now reading about front diff seal failures as a result of the OME and other spacer-upped kits out there that rely on stock or aftermarket replacement coilover/shock combinations that may put too much upward pressure on these OEM seals. Recent experience with the outer hub seals on my FJ present a real problem. One that I believe Toyota knows about but is failing to acknowledge.

I did a lot of research in this department and found that not only had Rugged trail upgraded their front end bump stops to prevent rebound and droop, but they also designed their hubs to fit the original Toyota FJ seals. Now the new upgraded ones are a bit too tight a fit and as suspected the weaker sided of the two popped out even after using a liberal exterior coat of silicone RTV. I do not believe that Rugged Trail can be blamed for this but it is a bit of a dilemma as you can picture me going back to my local dealership and asking them to install my new seals in aftermarket drop-links?

With that being said, I want to warn all of you FJ'ers out there that Toyota has a real problem on their hands regarding all front end seals on these new vehicles that they will at some point have to answer less their loyal customers rebel.

I bought my FJ with cash in July of '06 as an '07 model and have driven it primarily on the straight and flats of east coast FL since this vehicle was new.
I am also concerned about drivetrain related issues specific to the rear-end housing and differential boxes of the 07 model FJ's and I think it is a sin if Toyota knows this is a design flaw and is hiding it from their loyal customers.

If any of you would like to relate your stories, please feel free to drop me a private line. I have an attorney in Daytona working on this case if it gets any uglier.

Camerax

What is your build date? I know that Toyota has made production changes from the time the original FJs were built. they have had issues with blown rear diffs, seals, body bay rips, etc. It sounds like you have an early build date and the issues may have been addressed but no recall was made. My build date is 05/07 and supposedly many items had been addressed by that time.

[Sean K.]

camerax previously said:

I have recently installed Rugged Trail's 6" suspension lift on my '07 FJ. It's a basic install and I found an OEM problem as I tore apart the front end on my Toy.

With just over 17k on my OD we came up with a failing driver's side oil seal on the CV hub. Water and sand was noticeable beyond the hub and in the bearing area of the hub. Inexcusable in our estimation considering about 15k+ on this FJ was on-road with stock wheels & tires. The only prolonged offroad excursion happened this past April in Hatteras, NC. Mostly beach cruising with some water submersion due to much rain in the area that week.

I ordered two brand-new hub oil seals from Toyota Daytona for the build and the right side seal installed with no problem. For some reason, the left side did not behave and the seal ended up spinning in the hub post-install. Not good. It was quite obvious that the I/O of the hub and the diameter of the new seal were not going to fit well but we hesitated to machine back the new RT hub to accomodate a seal that had been "retrofitted" by Toyota Intl.

Toyota has re-engineered their seals and this is apparent from the lack of dual spring-retainers on the new replacement seals from Toyota. If you don't believe me, ask anyone who has had to replace these on their '07's.

It is not surprising to me as well that I'm now reading about front diff seal failures as a result of the OME and other spacer-upped kits out there that rely on stock or aftermarket replacement coilover/shock combinations that may put too much upward pressure on these OEM seals. Recent experience with the outer hub seals on my FJ present a real problem. One that I believe Toyota knows about but is failing to acknowledge.

I did a lot of research in this department and found that not only had Rugged trail upgraded their front end bump stops to prevent rebound and droop, but they also designed their hubs to fit the original Toyota FJ seals. Now the new upgraded ones are a bit too tight a fit and as suspected the weaker sided of the two popped out even after using a liberal exterior coat of silicone RTV. I do not believe that Rugged Trail can be blamed for this but it is a bit of a dilemma as you can picture me going back to my local dealership and asking them to install my new seals in aftermarket drop-links?

With that being said, I want to warn all of you FJ'ers out there that Toyota has a real problem on their hands regarding all front end seals on these new vehicles that they will at some point have to answer less their loyal customers rebel.

I bought my FJ with cash in July of '06 as an '07 model and have driven it primarily on the straight and flats of east coast FL since this vehicle was new.
I am also concerned about drivetrain related issues specific to the rear-end housing and differential boxes of the 07 model FJ's and I think it is a sin if Toyota knows this is a design flaw and is hiding it from their loyal customers.

If any of you would like to relate your stories, please feel free to drop me a private line. I have an attorney in Daytona working on this case if it gets any uglier.

Camerax

What does ANY of this have to do with leaking coilovers?

Sean

[Sean K.]

Gottagetone previously said:

Is it just me or do the aftermarket coilover setups that are rebuildable seem to leak and have premature problems. I have seen people list c/o setups for sale, or just post about them, that they leak or have some sort of problem. I have not heard of anyone that had non rebuildable set-ups leaking prematurely. This may be that the guys with the rebuildable setups are just harder on them than others? Thoughts?

Did you post this thread twice or was that someone else? I could've sworn I answered this yesterday.

Short answer: c/o's are more work and more tempermental than regular coils and shocks. If you don't want the hassle, get regular coil/shock suspension.

If you want performance, get the coilovers.

Sean

***EDIT*** Sorry, different thread I was thinking of from yesterday.

? about adjustable coilovers

[thugasaur]

the SAW or was it camburg are offering a new coating to that resists rust