Level Kit and Warranty Experience?

I have a 2020 that I purchased the platinum Toyota extended warranty to 100k miles, 7 years.

I’d really like to put a level kit like Bilstein 5100s or fox 2.0 and larger tires because I would like the additional ground clearance for off-roading as well as making the truck look better

I gave Toyota a call to discuss but they stuck by the book saying if you modify the suspension and it causes another part to fail, the warranty won’t be honored. Which I get if say my CV boots/joint have issues then yeah I’d expect to have to pay to fix that but if the trans over heats and they won’t warranty it because they try to blame it on the level/tires, the level/tires aren’t worth it to me

I’d like to hear first hand experiences of how dealers work with customers when they have a warranty claim and their vehicle is leveled/lifted

 

Bump

 

Extended warranties and owners who modify their vehicles don’t play well together.

 

Depends on the dealer and how you modifcations caused a part to fail or make a unrelated repair more difficult.

If you put a leveling kit on upper ball joints and CV axles are out of warranty.
If you put giant heavy wheels on wheel bearings are fair play for being out of warranty.
If you put a lift kit on and your trans goes thats unrelated and covered.

Some dealers will be willing to look the other way and cover it without any questions but it depends tech to tech, dealer to dealer.
Warranty pay is shit and only pays for the vehicle in the way it left the factory.

Now this is very specific but I am a ford tech and this relates to the modification making a unrelated repair more difficult, F150 5.0 oil pan is a super easy job, drop the cross member, unbolt the pan. But I had a customer who put a 8 inch body lift kit on, the issue is the body lift kit has to be removed to get out the cross member, so I did the oil pan gasket under warranty but charged the customer an extra 2 hours because I had to remove and lower his body lift kit to get the oil pan out, then I charged a two wheel alignment since I cannot guarantee the body lift goes in the exact same place it was before and this will screw with the alignment.
Once again a very very specify example but thought I would throw that in because yes we covered the repair under warranty, but it did add a lot extra to the job that the customer paid.

 

Someone makes an 8” body lift kit? This I’d like to see. Just curious or was that a type o?

 

As for your warranty status this is completely up to the dealer. So many dealers are now selling Tacomas already lifted right on the lot many it’s usually not an issue. I personally have never had a warranty not covered because of the modifications.

 

Just a quick google brought this one up, I dont remember what brand the customers was, truck was fucking horrible to work on since its so high it hit the top of the lift before being high enough to stand upright under. I dont know if you can buy something similar for a tacoma.
https://www.suspensionsuperstore.com/2015-2020-ford-f-150-4wd-8-full-throttle-lift-kit-78002/

 

So you realize that is NOT a body lift kit. But since you are a tech, you surely know the difference.

 

I apologize that I used the wrong term, you do not have to be rude about it, after spending around fifteen minutes looking up the different type of lifts you are correct that this customer did not have a body lift but rather a suspension lift. Never the less it changed the warranty repair in a way not often thought of and was a pain in the ass.

 

If you noticed in the first post I asked if it was a typo. The second was just a fun jab, my apologies if your feelings are easily hurt( also a fun jab) see its all good fun. And yes not being able to stand upright when working on the lifted trucks sucks. I was a mechanic for 20 years.

 

I assumed the typo question was in reference to the height of lift considering it is so ridiculous