Westcott and your Toyota warranty

[PNWkip]

Just curious about other folks' thoughts/experiences regarding these claims from Westcott. Anybody checked with their dealerships to see about warranty post-westcott lift ?
My hunch is: no, your suspension will not be covered under warranty if you install an aftermarket lift or level and something fails. Sure you're protected under Magnsusson Moss, but I'd put money on just about any dealer denying any suspension claim if the preload touches it or alters it in anyway.

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[maxx075]

Westcott is 100% right

It ALL depends on the dealer.

 

[PNWkip]

Westcott is 100% right

It ALL depends on the dealer.

I've never met a dealer I trust lol to the point that I'd rather change my own oil than use Toyota care.

 

[maxx075]

I've never met a dealer I trust lol to the point that I'd rather change my own oil than use Toyota care.

100% agree with this too lol. I had my first two oil changes done within 6k using my two free and haven't been back to the dealer since lol. Sitting at 32k now.

 

[izzy]

I could see a difficult dealer would tell you to get lost if you had a CV/tie rod end complaint with any lift kit except factory to be honest

Or they'd ask you to remove the lift and attempt to reproduce the issue...

Honestly, I bet if you switched to TRD OR suspension and had an issue they'd tell you to put the SR5 stuff back on and see if it goes away before doing any diag.

 

[PNWkip]

I could see a difficult dealer would tell you to get lost if you had a CV/tie rod end complaint with any lift kit except factory to be honest

Or they'd ask you to remove the lift and attempt to reproduce the issue...

Honestly, I bet if you switched to TRD OR suspension and had an issue they'd tell you to put the SR5 stuff back on and see if it goes away before doing any diag.

Ha! I bet you they would too. "And put those 245s back on as well, that's likely throwing you all out of alignment"

 

[izzy]

Ha! I bet you they would too. "And put those 245s back on as well, that's likely throwing you all out of alignment"

To be fair if you look at it from the car perspective, it makes sense.

You can't throw GR Corolla suspension on a Corolla hatchback and call in when something is wrong (even if the geometry is the same, it's all McPherson strut/bolts up).

They're gonna tell you to get lost lol

Lifts affect a lot of stuff on Tacomas. If your CV boot explodes (purely hypothetical) the resting CV angle being slightly different than stock could be enough reason for them to tell you to kick rocks.

 

[Airborne]

Well i will chime in, i have had my Westcott, level lift kit on my TRD Offroad, I love it quality product, I had on truck for 3 months, I then put 295-70-10 tires on and wheels ran for month , took to dealer had front alignment checked, it was fine…..I wouldn’t overthink the level/lift. It does what westcott says, inside the box are 4 parts, I spoke to my dealer , service manager asked him if Toyota frowns on this, he told me most people do things of this nature to Toyota tacomas, and Toyota knows this, you don’t sound like somebody irresponsible, seems like you just want a simple ,non invasive level, lift for truck …you’ll be fine.
David

 

[PNWkip]

Well i will chime in, i have had my Westcott, level lift kit on my TRD Offroad, I love it quality product, I had on truck for 3 months, I then put 295-70-10 tires on and wheels ran for month , took to dealer had front alignment checked, it was fine…..I wouldn’t overthink the level/lift. It does what westcott says, inside the box are 4 parts, I spoke to my dealer , service manager asked him if Toyota frowns on this, he told me most people do things of this nature to Toyota tacomas, and Toyota knows this, you don’t sound like somebody irresponsible, seems like you just want a simple ,non invasive level, lift for truck …you’ll be fine.
David

Thanks for this!
Bilsteins were $505 delivered which, with the SR5 suspension, were an upgrade so I ordered those. But a member here is actually giving me his Hybrid OR take offs, so might go that route and see about a preload or spacer later.

Side note: Shock surplus has some damn good service. I had reached out with a question about Bilstein v.s. OEM OR and they didn't even try to sell me anything. Just helped.

Anyways, thanks for the feedback RE: Westcott

 

[Yotota]

Most dealerships will take a new Tacoma, slap on a cheap 2.5" ReadyLift kit with some aftermarket wheels and 33" LT rated All Terrains, and sell it as a $6k "accessories" package. So if a dealer has that truck on the sales floor, I would definitely call them out for pushing back on any warranty denial from a similar lift.

Considering the Trailhunter/TRDPRO is already taller at factory height, along with the TRD lift, and those only swap the springs/shocks/UCA - everything else on the truck was designed to operate at those lifted ride heights.

 

[Yotota]

Thanks for this!
Bilsteins were $505 delivered which, with the SR5 suspension, were an upgrade so I ordered those. But a member here is actually giving me his Hybrid OR take offs, so might go that route and see about a preload or spacer later.

Side note: Shock surplus has some damn good service. I had reached out with a question about Bilstein v.s. OEM OR and they didn't even try to sell me anything. Just helped.

Anyways, thanks for the feedback RE: Westcott

That's a great response from a vendor who is effectively talking you out of a sale. And he is correct in his statements.

Also - "digressive" damping is marketing for a regular shim stack valve. The damping reduces as shock shaft speed increases, which flexes the shims away from the piston port for more fluid flow. Most performance shocks are "digressive" unless they have some additional tech/features.

 

[PNWkip]

Most dealerships will take a new Tacoma, slap on a cheap 2.5" ReadyLift kit with some aftermarket wheels and 33" LT rated All Terrains, and sell it as a $6k "accessories" package. So if a dealer has that truck on the sales floor, I would definitely call them out for pushing back on any warranty denial from a similar lift.

Considering the Trailhunter/TRDPRO is already taller at factory height, along with the TRD lift, and those only swap the springs/shocks/UCA - everything else on the truck was designed to operate at those lifted ride heights.

True!

Something I thought was interesting when I was calling some 4x4 shops to see if I wanted to pay for the labor or do the swap myself, a mechanic said "Well, the OR models have 1 inch extra lift, so you'll gain that if you use OR take-off suspension." And I guess this is a common selling point @ Toyota dealerships, but the extra inch actually comes from the tires. He had no idea.

 

[rijc99]

Well i will chime in, i have had my Westcott, level lift kit on my TRD Offroad, I love it quality product, I had on truck for 3 months, I then put 295-70-10 tires on and wheels ran for month , took to dealer had front alignment checked, it was fine…..I wouldn’t overthink the level/lift. It does what westcott says, inside the box are 4 parts, I spoke to my dealer , service manager asked him if Toyota frowns on this, he told me most people do things of this nature to Toyota tacomas, and Toyota knows this, you don’t sound like somebody irresponsible, seems like you just want a simple ,non invasive level, lift for truck …you’ll be fine.
David

My experience was different. I installed All Dog‘s springs and the Toyota dealer I went to wouldn’t even do an alignment for me citing the ride height was not factory.

 

[PNWkip]

My experience was different. I installed All Dog‘s springs and the Toyota dealer I went to wouldn’t even do an alignment for me citing the ride height was not factory.

Interesting. I wonder if they would do this if I installed the OR Hybrid take offs v.s. a level or Bilstein. I guess I should give them a holler.

 

[PNWkip]

I just called two dealers in my area. One said it would void anything the aftermarket touches or effects if there is an issue, even if it is TRD take-off suspension since it did not come installed in my SR5 from the factory.

The other said as long as it is TRD branded, like the Off Road Hybrid take off suspension a member is giving me, then they'd cover it. Bilsteins or a preload collar they would void the warranty on suspension parts if it changed any associated angles.

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