Trucks W/ Warrentiesand lift kits.....

So my truck is under warrenty and im ready to order a 6 inch lift. What does toyota have to say about lifting trucks under warrenty. Will it void the warrenties or just drivetrain? or none at all?

Also what brand of 6 In. kits do you guys like best? What are the pro's and con's of the lift you have?

 

Im not on the band wagon but give the magnuson moss act a little look.


The only thing that should not be covered on your factory warranty is the parts you put on.

 

This is an oversimplification.

It's a slam dunk to deny on anything directly damaged by lift install.

But they can make a reasonable case to deny anything where the wear characteristics, or the system itself, are directly affected by the lift.

e.g. front CV boots wear out faster as a result of CV angles. Everyone knows this. Warranty coverage DENIED.

universal joints wear out faster when driveline operate at higher angle. DENIED.

Front diff operates at incrased stress from CV axle angles. DENIED.

Weird VSC activations post lift: DENIED. (however, in this case, if you return the vehicle to stock and still have a problem then the physics of the system are returned to "as-designed" and they should now be willing to diagnose and solve.)

Where the MM act comes into play so that they can't get unreasonable about this: They can't e.g. deny coverage on a blown head gasket because you changed the suspension!

Now it's true that there are exceptions and some dealers are cool, and will bend over backwards and wink at some of these things. But that's the exception not the rule, and you're setting yourself up for disappointment and frustration if you rely on it.

All you have to do is read these boards for a while and read about the experience various posters have when they try to get warranty repairs on various of these components. Post Lift Front Diff failure, VSC issues, and CV boot failures, and denial of warranty coverage for them, have been documented many times.

 

Some years back I had a dealer deny warranty coverage on a Body-Control-Module-Computer failure that happened after an aftermarket stereo was installed.

I tried to recover the money from the installer to no avail, and was left on the hook for the nearly $2K repair bill.

At the time I bought the dealer's argument that the installer had been probing for wires to tap into and shorted something out. However, the same computer failed again several years later, leaving me to ponder whether it was just a poorly designed or poorly manufactured circuit board. There's absolutely no way to know the definitive answer to that question.

But the short answer is that when you modify your truck, you're taking on more risk that you'll be on the hook to pay for unexpected repairs. Your warranty isn't void, but you're damaging part of its actuarial coverage. So if the most important aspect of owning a new car to you is that feeling of "freedom from risk warranty coverage" then you should refrain from radical mods like suspension lifts.

 

The other avenue you can take is have a major chain like 4 Wheel Part$ do the installation. They will happily sell you a 3 year replacement warranty to cover the difference between the original factory warranty and the "as modified" truck. I think they charge like 700 bucks for this, but I don't recall for sure.