Safety Recall E02, 2005 - 2011 leaf springs

So the NHTSA submittal says the Taco's leaf pack is made in Indonesia by this company: http://www.chuhatsu.co.id/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=5&Itemid=6

Seems to be a popular supplier for Japanese OEMs (Suzuki, Akebono, Showa, Fuji [Subaru?], Kubota...): http://www.chuhatsu.co.id/images/stories/stories/Slide11.JPG

 

But .... but ...

 

My TSB springs had "made in Mexico" painted on them, maybe the earlier years were made by that company?

 

I'm glad that cough it

 

Thanks for the info. Looking into it a bit more I find that Chuhatsu is owned (or owns, international business organization confuses me) by Chuo Spring Co., Ltd., which is a multi-billion dollar Japanese spring producer.

The company is older than Toyota itself.

 

I do not see how they are going to install a clip as mentioned above. The Clip needs to be riveted to the overload spring to prevent lengthwise movement. The overload springs do not have a hole to install a rivet. It is way too labor intensive to disassemble the leaf packs and install a different overload with the clip on it. Shit they won't even replace a Universal joint.

I see a very good chance of new leaf pack(s). The spring company is probably going to have to eat a good portion of the cost also.

 

I don't think a clip will do it

 

What kind of load do you have on that truck above? Your bump stop is nearly touching the frame.

 

About 900#, well below the GVWR

 

Just dropped off my 06 and he said mine is available for the leaf spring recall. I will post what they say when they call.

 

do the numbers not add up that all prerunners and 4x4 will recalled? toyota sells a bit over 100,000 on average every year, lets just say for instance 120,000 over that 7 year span would be 840,000, and assumming that 18% of tacomas sold are 5 luggers (which would include the x-runners) that would be right at 690,000. sorry if these numbers have already been discussed

 

Isn't that how many they're saying are being recalled?

 

The Ford Pinto exploding car recall involved putting a 50 cent piece of plastic on the rear differential so the gas tank wouldn't spark against the diff mounting bolts when it slammed into the diff in a rear end impact. IOW they're not going to fix everything, just the minimum that they need to fix, and at the minimum cost they can manage.

 

I thought Ford decided it was cheaper to pay the lawsuits, than conduct a recall or change manufacturing methods

 

Once again, the problem is not weak leaf springs. It's a punctured fuel tank. A clip should fix that since it apparently did in 2012+

 

yes 690,000 is how many they say will be recalled. i am stating that sounds like all of the prerunners and 4x4 made from 05-11 will fall into the recall if that number is acurate

 

It is all 6 lug 2nd gens made before Oct 2010 according to the stuff around. It only includes a few of the 2011's since some were made before that date and some after.

 

I'm thinking that during the earlier spring fix mention, not only did they add the clips, but they changed the specs for the springs. The spring steel not only has it's own mix of metals when made at the steel mill, it also has to be heat treated and tempered . If either of these processes (or specifications by Toyota) are off, the spring can become either too brittle (and Crack) or not hard enough and cause the springs to loose their strength (sag).

During the earlier spring fix mentioned in the recall, they may of changed the steel and/or hardening specs to prevent cracking and then had to add a leaf to make up the lost tensile difference - hence the change to 4 leafs. As a safety change they added the straps around the springs as well.

My 2012 4x4 has 3 leafs so I'm not sure if they made a steel change on mine as it's still 3 leafs ?? May be mine will just sag in the future and not crack - hence the reason mine is not in the recall ??

 

Gotcha.