Shock top hat failure on our stock 2024 Tacoma Off-Road while offroading

[zbennett]

I am curious to see if Toyota is going to redesign this with a proper fix. Kinda nuts they kept the same thing for the new 4runners too. Pretty lame a dealership is saying that installing the icon plates would void the warranty. Options are to do nothing, install the plates, or spend thousands on different suspension.

Sponsored

 

[CanyonFisherSummitSeeker]

Also, my dealer told me that if I installed the icon plates that it will void my warranty. So instead, I will wait to break the top hats again...

Unreal! The OR stock suspension is such a joke for more reasons than one.

Why would the top hat plates void warranty?

I get that shit happens, design flaws are inevitably going to happen, etc.

But do the right thing. Start sourcing the parts for repairs. Don’t give customers grief for the design flaw, and for gosh sakes if you’re not going to offer a solution don’t void the warranty for something like the top hats.

So what do I do? Take them off every time I bring my car in for service? Have they already noted it and is my warranty already voided after my first two services? Rhetorical. Don’t expect answers. Thanks for reading.

 

[maxx075]

Unreal! The OR stock suspension is such a joke for more reasons than one.

Why would the top hat plates void warranty?

I get that shit happens, design flaws are inevitably going to happen, etc.

But do the right thing. Start sourcing the parts for repairs. Don’t give customers grief for the design flaw, and for gosh sakes if you’re not going to offer a solution don’t void the warranty for something like the top hats.

So what do I do? Take them off every time I bring my car in for service? Have they already noted it and is my warranty already voided after my first two services? Rhetorical. Don’t expect answers. Thanks for reading.

Lazy dealer that doesn't want to do any work. They don't void the warranty.

 

[CanyonFisherSummitSeeker]

Lazy dealer that doesn't want to do any work. They don't void the warranty.

I'm not sure I agree it’s as simple as a lazy dealer who doesn’t want to do any work. The top hat could potentially save them from having to do the work again as his already failed, yet they are saying it will void warranty.

 

[maxx075]

I'm not sure I agree it’s as simple as a lazy dealer who doesn’t want to do any work. The top hat could potentially save them from having to do the work again as his already failed, yet they are saying it will void warranty.

For one, what warranty are we talking about?
Two the Magnuson Moss Warranty Act states that the dealer must prove that the modification caused whatever issue to void the warranty.

So again, lazy dealer that doesn't want to do any work or be liable.

 

[TacoFreak]

For one, what warranty are we talking about?

I have the same question. The mod has to have caused a problem and all the Icon plate does is prevent one. It would take a lot of balls to say reinforcing the factory top hat caused it to fail.

 

[CanyonFisherSummitSeeker]

For one, what warranty are we talking about?
Two the Magnuson Moss Warranty Act states that the dealer must prove that the modification caused whatever issue to void the warranty.

So again, lazy dealer that doesn't want to do any work or be liable.

Don’t dealerships make money for warranty work? I’m not saying they’d win arbitration but I don’t think laziness is the motivation behind them saying it.

Edit: In fact laziness makes no sense at all. Clueless maybe. But if laziness and not wanting to fix something is their motivation, what they’d say is go ahead and put it on. Because if it prevents an issue as TacoFreak stated (and I agree with) and laziness/not wanting to fix it was their motivation then they’d say use it, it’s a win win for them if laziness is motivation. 1 top hat decreases failure odds, and if it does fail well then they’ll claim void warranty and not have to fix it anyway. Of course I’m always open to being wrong. But that’s how I see it.

 

[maxx075]

Don’t dealerships make money for warranty work? I’m not saying they’d win arbitration but I don’t think laziness is the motivation behind them saying it.

I mean sure they make some money from the manufacturer, but it's a lower labor rate than what they're going to charge you if it wasn't warranty.

May not be laziness, but to me it comes off as very hands off, I don't want to do this because it doesn't benefit me type response. I would be finding a different dealer if they tole me that.

 

[CanyonFisherSummitSeeker]

I mean sure they make some money from the manufacturer, but it's a lower labor rate than what they're going to charge you if it wasn't warranty.

May not be laziness, but to me it comes off as very hands off, I don't want to do this because it doesn't benefit me type response. I would be finding a different dealer if they tole me that.

What don’t they want to do? Fix the top hat? They already had to fix it once under warranty after it sat at their repair center for two months. If it breaks again without the plate they’ll have to fix it again under warranty, their hands will be forced. If the top hat actually helps prevent failure and they want to be hands-off it seems like they’d want it on based on the above logic.

 

[cranny]

2024 Tacoma OR Premium IForce Max - After destroying my passenger side top hat in a pothole at 6000km, the part was replaced under warranty after 10 weeks without my vehicle. When I picked up the truck up I was saddened to hear that the top hat was replaced with the same part that had just broken.

As expected, today, at just over 10000km the driver side top hat failed at on a lightly washboarded section on a local FSR doing about 40km/hr. The failure today really demonstrated that the pot metal construction just fails over time. There was no single bit hit today - just the usual expected irregularities on gravel roads. The truck was fully unloaded - just me, dog and some 25 lbs of tools. (I have never hauled anything heavier than mountain bikes and people.) I was getting passed by many other trucks / SUVs on the way in as I haven't trusted the suspension since the first failure. The truck gets used on FSRs a lot - probably about half of the 10000km on the odometer has been on FSRs.

I'm hoping this repair can happen in less than 10 weeks and I'm hoping that Toyota Canada will again provide me with a rental truck which isn't a replacement for my truck but is at least something. Sadly, this truck is the least reliable new vehicle I've ever owned and will be sold as soon as the warranty expires.

I would replace the suspension with an aftermarket product but don't want to void the warranty. I also feel I shouldn't have to pay money to make an 'Off Road' truck something that can be frequently and reliably driven on FSRs.

 

[realbert]

Somewhere in this thread you'll find mention of a few after market parts that may keep this from happening in the future after your next repair. I went with the ICON solution. These plates bolt on the top of the tower and I don't expect any warranty issues. For less than $100 USD, they are well worth the piece of mind.

https://iconvehicledynamics.com/acc...LNtlZ5-C3LWKZtJbTA5y2tCHECza6y-oDKkhBv2dEdnEb

 

[MT-Taco]

2024 Tacoma OR Premium IForce Max - After destroying my passenger side top hat in a pothole at 6000km, the part was replaced under warranty after 10 weeks without my vehicle. When I picked up the truck up I was saddened to hear that the top hat was replaced with the same part that had just broken.

As expected, today, at just over 10000km the driver side top hat failed at on a lightly washboarded section on a local FSR doing about 40km/hr. The failure today really demonstrated that the pot metal construction just fails over time. There was no single bit hit today - just the usual expected irregularities on gravel roads. The truck was fully unloaded - just me, dog and some 25 lbs of tools. (I have never hauled anything heavier than mountain bikes and people.) I was getting passed by many other trucks / SUVs on the way in as I haven't trusted the suspension since the first failure. The truck gets used on FSRs a lot - probably about half of the 10000km on the odometer has been on FSRs.

I'm hoping this repair can happen in less than 10 weeks and I'm hoping that Toyota Canada will again provide me with a rental truck which isn't a replacement for my truck but is at least something. Sadly, this truck is the least reliable new vehicle I've ever owned and will be sold as soon as the warranty expires.

I would replace the suspension with an aftermarket product but don't want to void the warranty. I also feel I shouldn't have to pay money to make an 'Off Road' truck something that can be frequently and reliably driven on FSRs.

Maybe look around for some take offs? And get the icon top hats!

 

[cranny]

I posted about this same idea my first time around and even ordered the icon top hats but my dealer said they may void my warranty!

Sponsored