front cv's going bad too early?

**capt.rick** · 05-01-2008, 07:37 PM

Have had my RC 6'' lift for 2600 mi. so far.. with 35's.. three times out wheelin, one was a weekend up at rausch,maybe green, blue's and a little mud,, one day at tolland, blues.. and one day at ma bell, blue/blacks. I dont think that after 6500 mi and three times out should both front axles be bad. There is some talk about that I beet up my truck in the mud at rausch,, but both axles. If this is the case does anyone that has played in the mud and gone 4x4ing a few times think that this is the offroad truck marketed by Toyota for off road use ,, look at one of the catalogs at the dealership,,, not one picture of an FJ on the tar.. in the water, on the hills ,over the rocks, in the sand,in the woods. WOW what a truck!!!! dont get me wrong I LOVE my truck. but three times out. I really cant waite for the solid axle change when I can afford it.. Maybe I was misled about the durability of the truck ,or maybe about the lift, with to much droop, ''so the dealer tells me'' after denying me any at all of warrenty. not even the radio.. washed there hands of my truck. .... ggggrrrrrrrr... sorry needed to vent..

**slither** · 05-01-2008, 07:52 PM

I think it was due to the diamond chips in that Pennsylvania mud! They get in there and carve everything up. Oh wait Pennsylvania is known for coal and it takes a long time for coal to turn into a diamond. Well it sounded good anyway.

homedad · 05-01-2008, 08:52 PM

Rick....you have changed everything the fine Japanese engineers built you....RC is who you should be complaining about!!!
I wheel mine EVERY week...HARD....never broke an axle yet.....

Sean K. · 05-01-2008, 08:55 PM

Did he actually break the axles....or did he just tear the boots? Not really clear from the description.

Sean

**FJCRUSR** · 05-01-2008, 09:01 PM

I busted one CV...now I carry two spare!

fjTeddy · 05-02-2008, 03:32 AM

I do this every second week-end in summer. Find another dealer. My cv are still good. Good luck Rick

Stinkyfinger · 05-02-2008, 04:17 AM

Quote:

homedad previously said:

Rick....you have changed everything the fine Japanese engineers built you....RC is who you should be complaining about!!!
I wheel mine EVERY week...HARD....never broke an axle yet.....

I agree it's not the FJ. I'm in and out of the mud every weekend, over 40,000 miles and 2 years and not a problem, but I'm only running the ome 3" lift.
It's no surprise to see that the dealership would void the warranty on a FJ modified that much, especially on a part like the CV axle that would be prone to failure pushing 35" tires at extreme angles caused by the lift.
I would believe that some how the axle were put in wrong when installing the lift. I would blame RC, but I don't hear about others with this lift having this issue so soon.

How do you know their gone, can you hear them making noise?

**capt.rick** · 05-03-2008, 12:01 PM

How do you know their gone, can you hear them making noise?[/quote]

They started making a load clicking on the trail, and when I got home got underneith and I could move the inside (cv) axle about an inch maybe more in dia. the dealer said they would change one but not the other one?????? well I got one changed any way. Its just funny how dealers work. they said they would change one out of the goodness of there heart, but no way under any circumstances would they change the other one, they said it could have been caused by abuse???..So I said I would like to talk Mike Cisco , the DSM in my area...It was like they didnt want me to know his name,,, and would not give me his phone #..... they told me he was at the dealership when my truck came in for service and he looked it over and oked it so they changed one only??? (but that one wasn't failed by abuse?????) got the run around...I did talk to toyota directly ,, they were very understanding but could not do any thing for me,,, after a long talk to him he said '' talk to the dealerships customer relations Lady, She should be more understanding if the dealership had been up front with me in the begining"". I did that and lo and behold....... nothing....... she was more b!tchy than any of the previous people that I talked to... customer relations ,,,,Ha,,,,, she needs a new job,,
maybe at the motot vehicle dept..(sorry for those who work there, nothing personal).She said she would give my name and # to mike cisco and he would get intouch with me ... will see.....Im am not convinced yet, that it wasnt bad cv's to start with. alot of people without lifts have stated they had bad cv's... and 6700 miles on the rig and only 2500 miles with lift on it , if that were the case RC would be doing some thing different with ther lift , because everyone with an 6'' RC lift would be having problems and I do believe that is not the case..
FYI.. the guy at Toyota said alot of guys that work up in the customer relations at Toyota were on this site . (maybe a good thing).. I would like to here from them on this site.

calijetfxr · 05-03-2008, 12:42 PM

I'm so f@#king tired of hearing about dealerships denying work that they are paid to cover. Make sure and remind them about the Magnuson-Moss Warranty Act Sema.Org, that was created to deal with the vultures and their false denials of service.

Good Luck.

NCFJ · 05-03-2008, 12:44 PM

The bottom line here is that you did indeed modify your suspension by putting on a 6” lift. That you can not debate. The stock axles and CVs were designed for the stock height and therefore axle angle. By raising the vehicle 6” you changed that axle angle a great deal and added far more stress to them than what they are designed for.

You also state that you are running 35” tires. Just guessing here but I would have to think that each tire weighs 40 lbs more than the stock tire. That is a great deal more rotating mass than stock. With these things in mind I would never expect Toyota to warranty my front axles. Yes they advertise the FJ as an off road vehicle and many people have proven how well it performs in stock form. You chose to modify your rig to the extreme, thus the responsibility of replacing broken parts such as axles and CVs fall squarely on your shoulders. By law they can not deny warranty work on something like the radio because of your lift, but they certainly can deny you warranty work on a CV joint which is directly affected by the lift you installed.

I have a 3” lift on my rig with 33” tires and am waiting with baited breath for heavy duty axles and CVs that one company is developing to come out. To my point of view, modifying the suspension by lifting and adding bigger tires without beefing up the axles and CVs is only doing half the job. Expecting Toyota to warranty the axles and CVs is just plain unrealistic expectations on your part.

Would you buy a ½ ton pickup and put a one ton load on it and expect the springs not to sag?