Toytec Rust

I have a 2014 that had dealer installed 3” lift with Toytec shocks and suspension. I’m sitting at 73,000kms and the truck is basically a pavement princess. I recently discovered that both of my front coil overs had broken. Check out the pictures of the corrosion on them too. Now, I live in Calgary which is not exactly a humid environment and keep my truck very clean. I have never seen this amount of rust and deterioration on a pair of springs....EVER!

 

Lack of maintenance. What else can I say. I am under my vehicle at least once a month checking, cleaning and applying protectant when needed.

 

Really? My wife drives an ‘08 suv and the coils don’t look like this. I keep clean, spray off at the car wash but once a month applying protectant seems excessive no? Regular maintenance is regular maintenance but we’re talking an everyday vehicle not a sports car.

 

Have you spoken with Toytec yet? Those look like Toytec house brand coils. 6 years is well past , but maybe they can sell you a set of replacement springs from another mfr (like OME) for a discount.

 

In comparison to the rest of your front end parts that definitely seems excessive but you'll never get anywhere as far as warranty with Toytec

You should probably look into using fluid film and/or coilover boots/covers on your replacement set - as another member said maintenance will do them lots of good

 

You’re right, I didn’t get anywhere with Toytec. I’ve already replaced them with some OME’s. This is my first experience with aftermarket “off road” type suspension parts and to say the least I’m disappointed in Toytec. My leaf springs also look like they’ve been submerged in the Atlantic Ocean next to the titanic! In 30 years of driving I’ve just never seen parts rust like this.

 

I should add that after 3 years the rear Toytec shocks were leaking and had to be replaced as well....went with Billsteins instead. Can’t say based on my experience that I would ever recommend Toytec. Now whether it’s lip service or not the dealership I bought my Tacoma from (they specialize in these type of builds) have told me they’ve seen a lot of Toytec components they installed coming back with issues and they were starting to go with other manufacturers because of this.

 

wow, yea thats pretty bad. In all fairness, it does look like a bunch of rust elsewhere too. But I haven't seen coils that rusty. I also had one side coil break after about 95k miles. Seems like they must use some cheap metal.

 

You should have been using Fluid Film.
Good luck with your truck.

 

Have you inspected the inside of your frame?

You should. And give it a Fluid Film bath.

 

Frame just had the Tacoma recall inspection. They recoated as per the recall but was told it was in excellent condition.

 

Ever hear the phrase 'trust but verify'?

Do it.

Then Fluid Film anyway.

 

There is surface rust, too be expected but no corrosion which is what the recall was about. I’m going to give this fluid film a shot if I can find it up here. Thanks!!

 

Suggest you get a borescope camera. One that attaches to your smartphone is adequate. And look INSIDE the boxed parts of the frame.

I'll bet you the dealer did NOT do this, nor did they do any significant cleaning of the frame before putting on their 'product'.

 

I was disappointed by a set of 883 coils I ran for a bit. That said, I bought them used and the previous installer beat them up a bit putting them in and taking them out. I think that messing up the powedercoat accelerated the rusting and had a lot of spots starting to rust. I have since had Fox springs and was very careful during install and they are still perfect, but they are not super old yet.

I do think springs should last as long as OEMs would though. Maybe there is no good replacement for that nice thick glossy black they use.

 

Good luck with this one. OME springs will likely rust as well (road salt is an alien concept in sunny Australia), but hopefully wouldn't break after just 6 years.

FYI dealer "builds" are a joke. Typically the parts are cheap, and the install is outsourced to a local indie shop (or 4WheelParts) because they charge less per hour than the dealer mechanics. The dealer then marks up the lift by a factor of 4-5. You're running a full 3" lift ( ) with stock upper control arms, because the dealer would never splurge an extra $800 on upgraded UCAs. Unfortunately this causes the upper ball joint to become the droop limiter for the suspension. Keep the truck a pavement queen, because that upper ball joint will snap very quickly off road...

 

Really think they’d risk not doing the Toyota recall when there is another 12 years that’s tacked onto frame warranty by Toyota as part of that recall?