Sheared CV while stuck in snow, covered by warranty?

Friday night I got stuck in the snow and while trying to get out I broke the front driver's side CV. At first I thought it was user error, but the tow drivers and friends are saying that shouldn't happen without ANY power modifications. As far as I can remember the all four wheels were spinning, then I left off the gas and applied the break to stop the wheels in order to put it in reverse then it snapped (while braking). My theory is that since the wheels were free spinning without the weight of the truck/momentum to create a progressive stop, it became a brake vs engine battle and I lost.

Right now the truck was towed to a third party shop who has diagnosed that I need a new CV and bearing. I saw that the CV had sheared right in the teeth on the wheel side. I don't have any pictures and the truck is two states away. I have 25,063 miles on the truck so it still has a powertrain waranty. The problem is that I will have to get the truck towed and hour away to the dealer in order for them to inspect it and have Toyota determine if it is covered. I don't want to waste my money getting the tow if it is going to be deemed operator error. I know you guys can't tell for sure without seeing it or being a Toyota employee, but I just want to know if you think it is worth getting it towed to the dealer.

Thanks

 

I’d call the dealership and describe the situation. I’m guessing you’d be covered, though.

 

Toyota Care should cover towing to the closest Dealer.

 

The CV joint is designed as a mechanical fuse, which will break first, and prevent permanent damage to your differential. It is absolutely possible, on any IFS 4WD, to break CV joint when high wheels speeds and a stationary vehicle are involved (for example trying to free yourself from being stuck in snow). The extra inertia of the spinning wheel, if suddenly stopped, will in some cases shear a CV, especially if you have larger/heavier tires and wheel. Larger diameter wheels have more leverage against the CV, and heavier tires have more momentum. Do you have stock wheels/tires?

You may have had a defective CV, but there is also a good chance it broke to save you from buggering your front differential. It’s best to think of CVs as a consumable item if you do a lot of extreme stuff.

 

I have spun my tires/ hammered the throttle and rocked back/ fourth in the snow for hours. Both in my tacoma and 4runner. Never broke a cv.

There’s a chance they might fix it under warranty but being that you did it off-roading will probably be a determining factor in the dealers decision. Unless, you can argue that you were just trying to go up skiing? Lol.

Changing a CV is not all that hard of a task and you can find write-ups/ videos on how to do it. And I would carry a cheap spare CV or oem if you plan to venture further out off road!

Good luck

 

Entirely possible. Just like spinning tires then suddenly getting traction even stock can break cv's. Same principle, just instead of suddenly getting traction you are stopping the wheels/ drivetrain suddenly. That's not something I'd imagine the dealer would cover under warranty.

 

Yes, strongly agree with taking this post down. Also if your were mudding or 4 wheeling off road this could negate your warranty? Once noted you maybe in for no warranty during the rest of the time left. I'm no statistician, but everyone is hurting on the bottom line and denying warranty coverage is just that. Also as some have stated are you modded out on the wheels and tires or stock. The reason I ask is my brother had bearing issues with his and they were border line on his bearing replacement. He has none OEM wheels on his Tacoma. They did a good will adjustment as his wheels wen't too crazy.

 

First of all thank you guys for responding so quickly!

I called the dealership, they told me to call Toyota, Toyota told me to get the car to a dealer to get inspected, The dealer told me they just inspect it and send pictures and stuff to Toyota who then makes the decision. I was honest about being stuck in snow the whole time, because I really don't want to get bit unnecessarily.

I called toyota care originally to get towed to that dealer, but ended up just going to the shop because I thought warranty had expired, but I think the shop just charged the toyota care invoice anyways. I will definitely have to pay for at least one of the tows (each was/is an hour)

Only things I have done is plasti dip wheels and put a different grill on it. In my opinion this wasn't very extreme use. The truck was starting to get free, I was on an unplowed public road on a very slight decline and I wasn't revving it over like 3-5 k ever

 

“Well......this here’s yer problum”

 

I suppose it's probably happened before, seems unlikely that the dealer would find this. Regardless of of the post is removed, I'd take it to the dealer or at least call. Don't admit any theories or suspicions though.

 

It should be covered under warranty regardless, it's not like they can deny it simply because you got stuck in the snow. It would be one thing if you had been in the desert jumping the truck and it broke, but getting stuck in the snow is a totally normal situation.

 

You dont apply the brakes at the diff... the brakes are at the wheel so tire size and momentum shouldnt cause the teeth shear.

 

For sure. What I mean, is the CV assembly (which can be repaired roadside) breaks either inboard or outboard, before you strip out your diff, which means a trip to the hoist.

 

Duh....no kidding. I’m implying one of the wheels may have contacted the pavement, or got traction somehow else, and then sheared the CV. I don’t believe you can break a CV applying the brakes, but have certainly heard of it happening when freeing yourself from a snow bank.

 

Getting sudden traction is a pretty common cause of both snapping cv's and breaking diffs. Doesn't matter of the wheel is being stopped from suddenly getting traction or using the brakes. It's all the same relative to the driveline. You are going from a state where there is very little traction allowing the wheels/ driveline to be under little load while rotating very quickly suddenly to a state where you have stopped that rotation and placed the driveline components under considerable instantaneous load. All that energy has to go somewhere...

op hate to burst your bubble but this something that very likely won't (and IMO shouldn't) be covered under warranty.

 

Maybe I should clarify: when you have larger, heavier tires and are spinning you wheels, it is partially the momentum of the opposite wheel that breaks your CV assembly. Basically, when one wheel suddenly gets traction, and the opposite wheel is still free-spinning, the force of the heavy (still) spinning wheel needs to be taken up by the differential. At that point in time, the CV on the wheel that has become jammed takes the full force of the engine calling for the wheels to spin, and the force of the spinning wheel on the opposite side, which is mutliplied through the differential gearing, and BOOM, you blow a CV.

 

I understand the loading and unloading of driveline stresses. We are talking about the OP situation he explained where he was stuck so he went to go press the brakes and snapped the CV. So unless he slammed on the brakes and only 1 brake was working would cause the CV to shear teeth.

 

I'd think that this would definitely be covered under the powertrain warrantee... don't remember reading anywhere in the owners manual about not driving on snow covered public roads or about how you shouldn't try getting out if you're stuck... it's a truck and it should be able to take hitting the brakes if a wheel is spinning, as long as the wheels and tire size are stock.

 

Alright thanks all you guys for the help. I am going to try to get it over to the dealer today. It seems like there is still a slight gamble, but probably worth it. I am not going to lie to them, but I am also not going to admit any wrong doing. As an engineer I just have a natural tendency to blame the end user. If they take my theory in this post as grounds to deny warranty claim that will be pretty ridiculous as my therories are by no means an official Toyota brand interpretation of what happened.

 

You were stuck, used your 4x4 to get unstuck- that's the purpose of 4x4. It was defective. If you can't trust your truck to get unstuck from SNOW, NOT ROCK CRAWLING, then you can't trust your truck or Toyota.