My 2009 Tacoma saga..... (long)

I'm new to this forum. I bought a 2009 Tacoma TRD Sport last month with the off-road package and I thought I would share with my experiences with you in the 28 days since I bought the truck. Here we go...

Bought the truck Christmas Eve, took it on a short road trip to see the family for the holidays. Got back home 2 days later loving the way the truck drove and looked.

The next morning after driving to work I notice some grease on the front driver side fender and the bumper. I put the truck up on one of my lifts (I own a couple of tire shops) and see that the metal clamp the holds the grease boot on the CV axle (the bigger side)has slipped off thus slinging grease all over the suspension and fender well. I call the dealership, they take it in right away, give me a loaner and the 2 days later I have a completely new grease boot installed.

I wasn't completely satisfied with the job that the dealership did because they didn't clean all the grease out of the wheel well or off of everything else. A small issue I figure and take it back to the shop and do it myself with my pressure washer. In the next few days , my lift kit and wheels come in (Thanks to advice from this site I went with the Toytec 3" suspension lift, AAL, Procomp 7089s and some BFG 285/70/17s).

Myself and one of the mechanics that work for me set about installing the lift. What do I find? The same damn clamp band on the same boot has again slipped off and there is again grease everywhere. Mind you, I have yet to take this truck off of the pavement and have not even engaged the 4WD yet. I am pretty ticked about it but rather than lose my truck to the dealership for 2 more days, we clean everything, install the lift, and put a hose clamp to hold the grease boot on. Three hours later I have a pretty sweet ride and have forgotten all about the damn boot.

For the next 2 weeks or so I drive around town loving my new truck and itching to take it offroading. This past weekend I get my chance. I head over to my bother's house and he takes me to a friend's nearby property where we find a sugar cane road that has just been plowed and is wonderfully soupy. We have a blast for over an hour doing everything I can to test my new ride. My Taco perfoms beautifully, never once getting stuck. There were a few holes that I know for a fact that my old Z-71 would have been buried in.

I spend 2 hours cleaning all the mud off and check out my troubled little boot. What do I find? The smaller clamp further up the axle on the same has slipped off now. I am again pissed at the half-ass Toyota sevice tech that replaced it but tell myself that I will just put another hose clamp on it when I get to the shop monday and be done with this problem for good.

It is about a 60 mile drive from my brother's house back to the city where I live and work. I drive home, go to work monday, replace the clamp with a small hose clamp, and all is well again.

This morning on my way to work I hit a speed bump and notice a "rattling" coming from the same driver side (see a pattern emerging). I turn the radio off and listen to it. It doesn't sound like anything serious, I am thinking maybe the center cap on my wheel is a little loose. I get to work, put my truck back up on the lift and pull the tire off. Right away I notice something is terribly wrong. The CV shaft has a lot of lateral play in it and is making a clicking sound as I rotate it. My first thought is that we did something wrong when we installed the lift and I made it worse in the mud last weekend. I wait until my mechanic shows up and tell him to break it down and find out what the issue is.

I should have stopped right there and called the dealership but I thought it was honsetly my fault. I am by no means an expert at installing lifts on Toyotas but I know my way around front ends and have a mechanic with 20 years experience who helped me when I installed it (by "helped" I mean he did everything while I handed him tools). I figure, lets tear it down and figure out the issue and find out if its my fault or not. We pull the hub, disconnect the tie rods, and pull the shaft. When we disconnect the upper boot (never had problems with this one) we find the oddest problem: THE CV JOINT HAS NO BEARINGS IN IT!!!!!! Oh it is properly assembled and well greased all right but there is not a ball bearing in the joint.....none. How does this happen?

I'm, ready to choke someone out at this point so I call the dealership, get the service manager on the phone, tell him his idiot tech totally screwed a simple job and that I want my truck that has only 1800 miles on it restored to new immediatly. He aplogizes profusely, says he will investigate the matter himself, and sends a tow truck to pick up my truck. I go to the dealership, get a loaner Tacoma and that is where we stand.

Now the question is: Are they going to try and blame me for this and say I did it when I installed the lift? I will find out tomorrow morning but I was just curoius as to what you guys think the outcome will be.

 

They have to prove the lift caused the problems. There is a documented history of the this particular issue. I think you'll be OK. They will try to give you shit though...

 

Damn buddy... That is a helluva situation. I hope it all works out for you.

 

Sorry to hear that happened to you. This just another story I've read about an 09 Taco that has had a lift done, and had its CV joint or drive axle ruined from a lift.

My friend of mine who is a parts manager at a major Toyota dealership by Los Angeles told me that the suspension setup on the 09s are slightly different from the 05-08s. He's had numerous 09s come in ruined after having a lift installed, and warned me NOT to get anything, not even a spacer kit, unless it specifies its 09+. I hope you get everything resolved!

 

I got the diff drop kit and it seems to operate just fine. It isn't the lift that ruined the joint, it is the fact that a major component was not reinstalled properly. This had nothing to do with the lift .

 

Welcome to the forums....

Hope it all works out for you!! Keep us posted

 

that sucks. your dealer will probably fix it. and also can you get me a good deal on some km2s?

 

sure, you wanna pick em up tomorrow?

 

welcome to tw!! i think i'd be kickin some tech's ass man! thats ridiculous! hope they get it squared away for ya man.

 

You are right. It is the Offroad package. I have been a Chevy man for a long time. Give me a little bit to get acquainted with the terminology.

In my defense, it is a pretty "sporty" truck

 

Hopefully they can get it figured out soon.

 

Oic, well I hope everything works out for you though.

 

The dealership manager called me today to apologize for the mistake. They are going to change out the whole CV axle. He also said that he would guarantee in writing that any future problems that may result from this would be covered, warranty or not.

I am satisfied with the result. Hopefully this is the last problem I have.

 

awesome to hear!!

 

That is pretty cool. You should post some pics of your truck.