Should I do the Spring TSB?

I put the firestone ride-rite airbags on my truck, theres a ton of threads here about them but so far they seem fantastic (stock, comfortable ride unloaded, then add air when you're hauling to retain suspension)

 

i had the tsb done on my truck around 20k and it made a world of a difference. In my opinion the truck handles better over bumps (off-road)
and no longer bottoms out with a few poundes in the bed

 

I had the tsb done. It let me add some more weight in the bed and it raise the rear about 1 1/2 inches but I needed it to haul a camper so I had to put air bags on it.

 

I dropped my truck off yesterday at around 1pm. I waited until 2 today and hadn't heard anything from them so I called their service and was transferred to the guys voice mail who checked me in yesterday. I wait another 3 hours and call back again, turns out the guy isn't even working today so i was waiting for 3 hours to hear back from somebody who wasn't f'ing there.

Then I'm told they check it and everything was fine, I asked them how much weight they tested it with. Silence on the other end of the line and then he says they just test drove it unloaded. I ask him exactly what was written on the original complaint form and he says " customer complains of a harsh ride".... Nothing at all about a harsh ride WHEN LOADED! He then tells me if I want I can leave it there another day and they will look at it again tomorrow. No thanks, even if nobody else will look at it since its a few days out of warranty I'm not letting these bozos touch it anymore.

I cant believe it took them a full day just to test drive it and decide there's nothing wrong, AND I had to call them twice just to find this out. That's the best part of the story, they had written down that I wouldn't pick it up until Thursday. WTH they got that from I have no idea. I know it probably won't do any good but is there a Toyota number I can call and complain?

 

That sucks man, sorry to hear they were giving you the run around. I'd call corporate and let them know.

 

Toyota's telephone number is in your owners manual, Customer service.

 

that's what I did...called Toyota and got a "case number" that was emailed to my dealer.

dealer had no choice in the matter.

although...out of warrranty, the OP may be out of luck. in that case...ante up a few bucks and get the AAL.

 

I talked to a woman at Toyota who opened a case for me. I told her im out of warranty by justa week and that im dissapionted in both bernardi and my rear springs. She said I need to go to a dealer and get a diagnosis and an estimate for the cost of repair and fax that to her. So now I'm going to call the dealer who did my1st gen frame replacement and schedule an appnt with them.

If any of you live in or near Framingham I'd avoid using bernardi for anything involving service. I got a great price on my truck so I can't complain too much I guess.

Have any of you gotten things done through toyota? How long could this process take?

 

here ya go

http://www.tacomaworld.com/forum/2n.../234383-new-aal-1-5-u-bolts-front-shocks.html

 

You should load down your truck and make sure you bounce off your bump stops and then return to the dealer and show them the wear on them.

 

Yeah, my bump stops have made a definite mark on the frame, you can see it in a couple of the pictures I posted. After today I just don't want to deal with this dealer at all. I tried to find a manager when I picked it up just a little while ago and was told " all the managers have gone home for the day"... Yeah, right, since when do the managers leave before the dealership closes? If they'll lie to me about that how can I trust them to do anything mechanical?

 

Which dealer? Ira toyota in Milford treated me extremely well. They gave me a brand new all wheel drive SUV for a couple days while they did the TSB, offered to do the steering shaft TSB at the same time. ALL free!

 

Bernardi Toyota in Framingham. Milford is actually closer to me than boch south, maybe I will call them tomorrow and see what they can do for me.

 

not that I would EVER defend a dealership...

but service managers tend to leave when the shop closes, usually around 5:00. and any sales manger or other business manager who would stay later would defer to the service manager.

having said this...I will say most car dealerships pretty much suck from top to bottom.

 

Scheduled an appt with Ira in Milford Monday but I'm not holding my breath. The service manager I talked to was trying to tell me the rear leaf springs don't wear out, they either work fine or break. If that was true why does the suspension sag over time? I think if this all doesn't work out and I can't get the tsb I'll probably go with the wheelers single aal, it's the least expensive option and will work with my stock ubolts.

 

just learning about the TSB and 'TSB leafs'...so, a '99 pre runner with 200,000mi, i guess, has no chance of getting free suspension work from the dealer, eh?

i need to read the actual TSB....

kirk out

 

Just curious for those who had the TSB leafs put in, how long did it take the dealer to do the work.. of course assuming they start working on it immediately and dont let it sit in the lot for half a day before getting to it.

Bought a 2010 TRD Sport about two weeks ago and do occasionally haul heavy loads in the bed and will probably be trailering fairly heavy loads (4k +) in the future. A buddy of mine was sitting on my tailgate earlier and the truck sagged a fair amount (he isnt exactly a small guy)... figure i should get this done now while i still have plenty of time left on the warranty. Just want to plan ahead a little so im not left without a truck for a week or something.

 

I'm having trouble trying to get mine done and I'm only a few weeks past my 36 month warranty, plus this is for the 2nd gen trucks. Did you ever have your frame checked for rust?

 

FYI for any of you considering this tsb work. I was just out walking around the dealership and all the new DC tacomas have 3+overload but the access cabs all have just 2+overload. I wonder how Toyota decided on that? Also very new Tacoma here at least has 4 tie downs on the bed, the d rings near the tailgate and a pair of c shaped brackets bolted to the side of the bed in front. Would it have been that much trouble for Toyota to have done that since 05?
EDIT: the dealer had 3 guys sit in the back and said it was normal but called toyota and also told me to fax the diagnosis and estimate to corporate so now it's wait to hear back from Toyota. My warranty expired on the 11th so it's really going to suck if Toyota says no way.

 

Well, no tsb springs for me. Since the dealer didn't test drive the truck with a load in it they said there wasn't a safety concern and Toyota corporate won't replace the springs. Sucks, if you are still in warranty get going on this so you don't end up like me.

Hmm, maybe I should get some wheeler or icon 3 leaf progressives?