Dealer info
OK so I had a few days at home and took the truck back to the dealer to look a short list of gripes. Truck has 10,500 miles on it.
1. Suspension it feels like the shocks are wearing out and the suspension has a front and rear 1.5 inch sag to it already. Rear is worse.
2. Whine coming from the rear diff at highway speeds
3. Knocking/pinging under acceleration. Using 86 octane gas at 9-3k feet of elevation.
Dealer response after riding around with two different techs and leaving the truck with the dealership for the day.
1. I do have the 4 leaf TSB springs installed already, tech suspected bad metallurgy from suppler. Unfortunately nothing Toyota will do at this time. Agreement that suspension parts are wearing very quickly but without something breaking or leaking they can't replace it.
2. No whine detected (of course). Master tech recommended an aggressive fluid change cycle due to use of vehicle. Annual complete fluid change including the transmission, diffs, transfer case and radiator.
3. Master tech recommended medium or premium gas to alleviate pinging, suggested that it "might" help gas mileage as well. A tank full of 88 octane Shell has made a noticeable improvement in drivabality. See what happens with gas mileage. (Currently averaging 16.5-17)
I know this seems a little nit picky but A. This is my first new vehicle B. This truck is the life blood of my consulting business, broke truck = no work. C. I'm trying to get any and all problems resolved/documented before my warranty expires (at this rate it will expire before I have had the truck a year).
So truck mods are shifting a little this fall - I have to order skid plates before I drive up to CES for the gas tank install. This way they can build the gas tank skid plate and a "bridge" piece that will connect the transfer plate to the gas tank for a smooth bottom.
With my work load I do not have a window to perform truck work until Chrismas.
Once I have the tank and plates on I will think about other armor and necessary suspension mods to carry the extra weight more comfortably. An ARB bumper with winch and synthetic cable is high on the list as is rock guards and a traction bar to eliminate spring wrap.
ARB bumper aprox 78lbs? Winch with synthetic line ???? Bud Built steel 4 piece skidplates steel 147lbs. Rock rails 75lbs?
I will have to think about how weight and use affect the ride, most of the time I am driving solo with a 50lb cooler, the 75 lb topper, the 10 lb roof rack (the front rack went back to REI after combating mpg and wind noise problems) and approximately 200lbs of "stuff" (chainsaw, chop saw, rock bar, shovels, first aid kits,10 lb fire extinguisher, 5 gallon Indian sprayer, 7gal water can, pipeline detector, radiation detector, sampling equipment etc....)
However when I am hanging out with the family the truck really gets punished, 5 passengers (750lbs of people plus the lighter 200lb of stuff in the bed) on a hiking trip over "unimproved" forest roads had me riding on the bumpstops and catching the front cross member on every damn rock I could find.
Looks like a solo driver with bumper, winch and skids and normal load is going to be over 900lbs (400lbs of that is armor). With passengers that will be pushing 1500 lbs.
With the armor, gas and my loads are off the shelf suspension kits going to cut it? I have looked at ARB and Ironman and have a local ARB dealer.
Should I also be looking at Fox, Racerunner, Deaver, Alcan ???
Thanks for reading...
