Westcott Design - 2017 TRD Pro Tacoma Install

All,

Have a 2017 TRD Pro Tacoma that I ordered in June 2016 and received in August 2017. Love the truck!

As time has passed I used the truck offroad many weekends and was unable to continue on trails as clearance was an issue. I upgraded tires immediately to K02 BFG AT 265/75-16 which gave way better traction over stock tires and a bit better stance as well as a bit of height. I seen many more Tacoma's with lifts or spacer kits and considered removing the Fox set-up but didn't want to for obvious reasons.

After owning the truck for 3.5 years I finally decided after studying different options to purchase the Westcott TRD Pro kit for front and back. My buddy has the same truck and year and he also bought the kit at the same time. It arrived quickly and was packaged really well. Westcott had some great videos on install which also gave me confidence in their product.

Yesterday February 27 I took the truck to my father in laws as he has a shop with hoist to get this installed.

Realized quickly that video posted are on 4 Runners and not Tacoma's. All good so continued on.

Removed tires, and sprayed all threads with WD40. Started on front end lower control arms. The outer nuts on rear most point were accessible with impact gun and both sides were able to be loosened off. The front side of control arms on both sides of truck have the 22mm nut on the inside and impact gun wouldn't fit due to CV boot position. We used a long 3ft bar with a 22mm shallow 3/4" impact socket, and it wouldn't budge. I put a 5ft long pipe on and the socket broke?? Never had this happen before on Snap On impact sockets. Used an acetylene torch to heat and expand the nut and burn off the lock tight the factory applied and it finally gave. Switched to the drivers side and sure enough same thing. This time the extension 3/4" drive sheared off into the socket!! No BS insanely tight, and after heating up too!! Unfortunately when this happened the socket slid back and rounded the nut creating a burr. Pissed off is an understatement. I called the local Toyota dealer's part department and this "special" nut is $46! The nut has the camber graduated dial attached and is 1 week away as in Kentucky. Filed off the burrs and flattened the nut, tried again and again without budging this nasty SOB.

QUESTION : has anyone experienced issues like this or have any suggestions?

Needless to say after taking a trip to Lordco to buy another socket, using the grinder to reduce ass end diameter on the new socket to fit and then running into this we stopped and reversed everything for the day.

I am not a mechanic but know how things work, my buddy is a RS millwright and father in law is a retired helicopter engineer / mechanic. Wasn't working with amateur people. They thought left hand threads but that was not the case.

Didn't even get to opening the Westcott goodies......BUT sent a request to Westcott for some support and feedback.

All feedback welcome.

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IOW-FRDl5wg

It can be very expensive to learn to be a mechanic..... After 28 years of doing this, I get to say that..

 

Hi Ron,

Thanks for the response and for sharing the video. Unfortunately the TRD Pro arrangement is different than both the TRD Sport and TRD Off-road. On both of of non Pro models the nut is accessible from the outside and you can get a impact socket on without issue, the Pro you can not. I also received the exploded view diagrams from Toyota which show the difference.

Again I do appreciate your help and years of expertise.

In Western Canada we also see snow and salt on our roads from time to time which makes loosening bolts more complicated than in dryer climates.

In the time after the post I did have a call with Westcott and they offered excellent advice. They also indicated that they have had to cut the nut off from time to time as a result of corrosion from salt and snow condition exposure. This was from regions in Oregon and Washington states that they experienced in their shop in Arizona.

The owner of Westcott was a fantastic guy to talk with, he is passionate about his products and provided great customer support!!

All the best everyone.

Appreciate your response and feedback.

 

Any updates on your progress on the lower control arm mounting hardware? I highly recommend a mini induction heater. Salt, road grime and age can make those fasteners a son of a gun. A mini induction heater is worth the investment if you plan on doing any jobs under the vehicle like steering and suspension

 

Hey!

This Saturday I will play again. New bolts etc arrived at dealer finally. I like that idea and will check it out. Will update once things progress further. They were a son of a gun to budge...wasn't a fun day.

Appreciate the recommendation.

 

Any update on how the Westcott lift is holding up ? Have you experienced any issues ? I have 2017 Pro in need of tires, would love to go with 285’s and Westcott Design if I can be 100% confident I won’t have to trim or swap out UCA’s.