Needle Bearing Failure With Lift (How Many)

Great info. Looking to lift my 2017 and will have ECGS bushing before hand.

What are dealers response to this issue?

 

I suspect most dealers will not consider this an issue because "not stock". I think only a small % may get the TSB needle bearing replacement (still not as good as ECGS) being granted, everyone else will get the PFO response.

 

Bump

 

2017 Sport, just under 2.5 lift from dealer when new. Immediate vibration. Dealer put new bearing in at 350 miles. Vibration returned at 500 miles. Dealer installed ECGS Bushing at 700 miles no charge. 6mo and 3000 miles later still no vibes.

 

I plan on lifting my truck in the next month or so. In the process of gathering information, I ran across smitty99's problems as well as countless others having the same vibration issues. Since I live in North Carolina I made an appointment with ECGS to preempt the problem. I had mine done this past Monday. While I was there, I spoke with one of the managers who told me that a good portion of the dealers in the area are now going straight to them to get the bushing. He said that from what they have seen, it's not a matter of if it will fail, but when.

 

After I told my dealer about the ECGS bushing and the results on my truck and others, they now stock the bushing..

 

Wow that's rare

 

Where in NC are they located and how much did they charge you? Might be time for a road trip from TN.

 

Poor design that for some reason Toyota refuses to fix? Been using that same bearing design for many years.

 

They are located in Raleigh, right next to the airport. It was 160.00 plus tax. The part is $60.00 and they get 100.00 per hour for labor. It was well worth it....if I purchased the part and the bearing puller for another 60.00 that put me at 120.00 plus my time and trying to make heads or tails of some YouTube video while trying not to screw it up!!

 

I just ordered the bushing from ECGS, and I was a little put off when the only shipping option was Fed Ex home delivery for $17.42. So I called them up and asked them if that was the only shipping option, as I told them that I thought $17.42 was high for just shipping a small bushing. So the guy said he could ship it for $8 through the USPS.

 

Damn, really I ordered mine today and they charged me $18. I guess it pays to complain about shipping charges... Nice job!

 

I just got an email from ECGS saying that it was shipped via USPS 2 day priority mail, which I think is faster by a couple of days faster then the Fed Ex home delivery. So to anyone buying the bushing, call up and say you want it shipped USPS priority mail.

I also think that $60 for the bushing is high by about $15 to $20

 

2" lift...no issues. Almost 18k on lift.

 

What lift are you running?

 

I keep waiting to hear the bushing is on backorder, we all know it's coming this thing has been getting more and more and more popular.

 

https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads...cas-and-285-70-17-install-query.440304/page-4

here is my account of this same situation. The bushing fixes the problem. Easy to do, about 4 hrs or less.

 

I was killing some time today in town and I stopped by the biggest and most well known 4x4 shop in the area. They are serious wheelers and build everything from hardcore rigs to mall crawlers. I asked them for an estimate to lift my 17 with a Toytec Boss kit. While they were figuring it up, I asked the REAL question I had. I asked if they had heard about the needle bearing issue leading to vibrations on many lifted Tacos. He had not. I told him about the ECGS bushing and he immediately found it on their site. He asked me if you had to take the clamshell apart to do the job. There was more discussion, but you get the idea.

Finally I asked him if they had lifted many Tacos. He said numerous 2nd gens, 3 2016's and 1 2017. I asked him if any of the owners had mentioned anything about vibrations after. He said none have so far.

Take that for what it's worth. I imagine if a guy paid $2200 bucks to get them to install a lift, that guy would come back if there were vibes... but who knows. I guess If I was a shop trying to sell a lift job... I wouldn't talk about lifts creating vibes either.

 

Time to buy stock in ECGS.

 

Hello all,
New here on TW. The Toyota dealer sold me my 2017 Tacoma with a 3" lift and level, 18" wheels, and 285/60/18 tires already installed and noticed the vibes maybe a week or 2 after driving off the lot 3/20/17.

Mostly when cooler.
Sometimes worse than others.
Sometimes @35mph.
Sometimes @40-45mph.
ALWAYS @50-51mph/1200-1500 rpm

Had them perform my first service @ 2500 miles on 4/26/17 . After the tire rotation it has been reduced by at least 80%. I can barely feel it in the steering wheel now. When as before, I could hear it, feel in the floorboard and steering wheel pretty hard.

Dealer couldn't replicate the problem. Took the service manager for a ride myself the next morning to see if I could replicate it. It had reduced so much that it was not worth pushing the issue.

I have to mention, the temps went up during the 7 days I had to wait for my appointment and have pretty much remained so.

As for now I'll just keep an eye on it. I'm assuming that if the needle bearing has failed and other shit gets fucked up, I'll be covered under warranty?

Also, what can or will eventually happen over time if the bearing has failed and not fixed?