Tundra Warranty Voided by Lift

This is something we talk about quite a lot here and other places.

If you haven’t seen his video, DrivenCompanion on YouTube recently had his warranty “voided” by his dealership due to his simple spacer lift. More likely they just denied this specific claim. However, even his claim is concerning due to the limited mileage since his modifications. In his video he documents the issue with his front CV axles and what his dealership experience was.

See his video below:
https://youtu.be/rnrQATHxM1k

There are three things to note here:

1) He doesn’t go into detail if he’s stating the dealer has attempted to void his entire warranty, or simply denied the warranty claim for this particular part. I’m guessing they’re denying just this claim.

2) I do agree with him that I think the Toyota marketing and dealership experience (in most cases) contradicts this and implies these vehicles can be heavily modded, but that’s just a matter of opinion.

3) I am running this exact 2” spacer and have been for 10k miles. Hundreds of people are running 1.75” to 2.5” spacers and the 3”/1” Westscott system. All of us should be at risk of this same axle issue…UNLESS DrivenCompanion’s truck has defective axles, which they should be covered in that case. Regardless, a small leveling kit shouldn’t throw the axles at such an extreme angle that they tear seals. I ran a cheap 3/1 Daystar spacer for nearly 60k miles on my 4Runner with the stock CV axles and never had an issue. This is concerning that he’s already running into this with limited miles on his truck. A basic 2” spacer shouldn’t be enough lift to warrant new CV axles.

Just my thoughts.

Edit: I crawled under my truck to check my axles. I ran my fingers behind the CV axle where it meets the transfer case. I have the tiniest amount of black grease that came out. Nothing that I would consider out of the ordinary. Certainly no “slinging” of grease like DrivenCompanion’s experience or any major evidence of the seal being torn in my case. The transfer case facing is totally clean and shiny and the entire area is free of grease. I’ve certainly wheeled my truck and put about 10k miles on with the leveling kit.

 

I'm fairly certain they have to prove that the modification is a possible root cause of the part failure in order to deny warranty. In this YT's case, it sounds like they're saying the lift is what is causing the leak, and thus denying the warranty.

I don't believe they can deny the entire warranty though based off of any mod (ie they can't say that a 2" lift caused an engine failure).

 

Totally agree. I understand that they can deny a warranty claim if they feel the aftermarket part contributed to the failure. Makes total sense.

I’m very concerned with what this means for the hundreds and hundreds of Tundra owners that have mild spacer/Westscott lifts on their trucks. This is a mild leveling kit, and if it’s truly the cause of the issue…then many of us are in trouble.

Do I expect the my CV axles will wear out sooner because of my 2” leveling kit? Sure. Do I expect “sooner” to mean within a few thousand miles? Nope, and I doubt anyone would either. Sooner should mean 10% to 15% faster…not 80% to 90% faster. That’s a concern.

 

in for later

 

Might need to talk with a lawyer. Unless that dealership can prove that lift caused the failure he is covered under the Magnuson-Moss Act. The Magnuson-Moss Warranty Act states that a dealer must prove that aftermarket equipment caused the need for repairs before it can deny warranty coverage.

 

Had this happen with a Raptor. And actually worked with a Lexus reliability and warranty engineer, they will void the warranty of any components that are affected by aftermarket components and register that with the VIN. So should you buy a used vehicles that is "certified" with a lift, CV joints, shocks, control arms, etc will not be covered. They will go as far as voiding transmission warranty's in some cases for simply putting a larger tire on the vehicle because the increased rolling resistance strain on the drivetrain. Buyer beware

 

Research the Magnuson-Moss Warranty Act of 1975. The warranty could not be voided in whole for a modification but the claim could certainly be denied if the failure was found to be related to the modification. Always a risk when modifying a vehicle.

http://uscode.house.gov/view.xhtml?req=granuleid:USC-prelim-title15-chapter50&edition=prelim

edit: I'm not a lawyer and I have not read through the entire document however I have had a dealer attempt to deny a water pump warranty claim due to lift/tires/dual battery.

 

assuming this was done off site, would the judgement be any different had it been installed by certified toyota installation techs?

 

If nothing else, a very professional video.

 

I think he has a leg to stand on here. Toyota offers a 2" front lift kit from the factory (TRD PRO). They need to prove that his particular equipment somehow does something different than theirs and is indeed the cause of the failure.

 

Obviously some peeps are not summoning all of their mana when casting Magnussen-Moss: lvl 5.

 

The Toyota lift included extended length drive shafts, so that’s the big difference between any aftermarket lift and the Toyota lift.

The extended length driveshafts from Toyota aren’t available for purchase yet outside of the kit, as far as I know.

 

He’s probably screwed then. Toyota has already recognized the need for that change with the lift. He’ll have to wait for extended driveshafts sounds like.

 

Likely. It would be interesting to have people running lifts, particularly those with the 3/1 Westcott who have wheeled their trucks to see how their axles are performing.

 

A good dealer would not even mention it in the report.. there is a difference between abuse and manufacuring flaw. no doubt it will be a TSB at some point. My dealer told me on my last tundra to install atleast 1.5" spacer if i was plowing to maintain my warranty... so just dependant on the dealer.. warranty the petty shit and keep happy customers for life, or loose them on 1st sale.

 

Doesn’t the stock TRD Lift come with new cv axles? Assuming they are longer? I may be wrong but thought I saw it in the pdf another member posted.

I also noticed red cv axles on the trd pro. I wonder if they are longer than other models?

 

I wasn’t aware that the driveshafts were any different. The rear doesn’t receive any lift from the factory and the front axle is fixed in the same spot since it’s IFS so a spacer or coilover lift wouldn’t change the driveshaft length or angle.

If you are talking about the half shaft / cv shaft, I’ve not heard or seen any thing about them being any different. Is this just a 3rd Gen thing? Not saying you are incorrect, just wondering where you got that info.

 

I'm going off the Toyota marketing materials for the 3" TRD Lift. See below:

 

Honestly, the more I look at the oem lift, the more it seems appealing.

I only wonder if it would be for sale without dealer installation.

 

Torn and leaking CV boots were a constant plague issue on lifted first gens when I had them. Maybe they’ve since developed a solution for that job on those, but I was glad that issue didn’t carry over to the 2nd gens. Hopefully it’s just a one off issue and not a widespread thing on lifted 3rd gens.

 

Tore 3 on my 2nd gens over the years, only 1 was "our"/ my shitty installers fault- they set my front coilovers at like 4.7in high

 

That’s interesting, I wonder why that is. I don’t see many 2nd gens have trouble with them. I have a lot more combined miles on my lifted 2010 and 2017 2nd gens with no issues than I did miles and issues on my 2000 and 2004 1st gens. Maybe my luck just changed.

 

This is the reason I went with an aftermarket extended warranty that specifically shows "lifted suspension modifications" allowed. Mine allows up to 35" tires and 6" of lift.

 

To be fair I put damn near 600k miles combined on my 07, 14, 16, 19, most of which towing and when not towing pushing them pretty hard.

 

Why aren’t we seeing more failures on 3rd gens? This is honestly the first I’ve seen.

 

I'm assuming this is a one off.

There are literally hundreds and hundreds of Tundra owners that have been running the Westcott 3"/1" lift, the 1.75" Rough Country leveling kit, the ProComp 2.25" leveling kit, and the wide variety of older leveling kits/spacers from the 2nd Gen that work on the 3rd Gen.

Many folks have been running those for months and months now. If going up 2" was a big enough change that caused the front axle seals to start tearing...I would hope that there would be hundreds of people talking about it by now.

That's why I think (& hope) this is a one off.

 

I mean, does this guy actually offroad his truck? Lifting tires and allowing the leveled suspension to hit full droop? That could be an the issue.

I am on the Lexus GX Offroad group on FB and those dudes are constantly tearing cv boots. The GX470 and 460 is identical to the 4th and 5th gen 4Runner

Im sure the cost of the parts is less than a lawyer, so good luck. I also think its 100% reasonable to think a 3” lift will potentially put more strain on CV’s.

 

I’ve rethought my lift plans due to this video.
Probably just stay with 1” Cornfed front.
The TRD will be a bit too costly.

 

What warranty did you go with? I’m in the market for one.

 

I bought it through my Credit Union.