2007 Land Cruiser with an $8000 repair bill

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Otis1971

Otis1971

10 Year
Joined
Jul 23, 2014
Threads
7
Messages
32
Location
Murfreesboro, TN
Hello brain trust! I’m looking for some guidance for a couple things one I took a snapshot of the estimate below and wanted to get your take on if this is a fair price or not. This is at a Lexus and Toyota specialty shop. One of my concerns is my truck has AHC suspension and it seems that the front shocks are rarely replaced when you have AHC. Does that sound right to you guys? Should I be thinking about accumulators versus shocks or do you find that sometimes it’s both needing to be repaired or replaced? Also, I’m looking for the most experienced Shop in the middle Tennessee/Nashville area that has a depth of knowledge around AHC suspensions. I greatly appreciate any insight and guidance.

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Oh this is fun.
  • Do you know if they are going to use genuine Toyota parts?
  • They assessed just one cam seal? Doing a cam seal on the VVT-i truck is very involved also means you would need a valve cover gasket. Are they super ultra sure it's not just a leaky valve cover?
  • What is wrong with the steering rack?
  • Why do they think you need front shocks? Likely they are just weeping due to AHC pressures being high.
  • Why do they think you need front axles? Torn boots? Bad splines? New axles should also include new hub flanges... which aren't quoted.
  • Wheel bearings should be repacked and preload set every 30k miles. Not just one side at a time.
 
Rhetoric said:
  • Wheel bearings should be repacked and preload set every 30k miles. Not just one side at a time.
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Actually? Sorry to hop in but I had no idea 😅 I figured just replace them once their fail, that's a lot of labor just to repack
 
frawstme said:
Actually? Sorry to hop in but I had no idea 😅 I figured just replace them once their fail, that's a lot of labor just to repack
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Yes. The bearings on these trucks can last a long, long time if the proper maintenance / preload procedure is followed.

If one is paying someone else to work on these trucks... they don't make a lot of sense if trying to be budget minded.
 
Welcome to the club! This is how I began my wrench turning journey since I couldn’t stomach paying that much for questionable work. Replacing the AHC globes and timing belt is a great way to jump in with help from Mud and YouTube.
 
Seems a bit high to me, but I do all my own wrenching. But, if this is a Toyota/LC specialist, you'll pay a premium for their knowledge and diligence.

As others noted, make sure they are using Toyota parts, and I would get a listing/receipt with part numbers used for replacement. It would be worth taking it to the dealership and getting the same work quoted from them. My gut says it might not be much more than this indy shop.
 
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Did you specify these repairs or did you take it to them and ask them what it needs? I would've asked the breakdown of the costs. AI is guessing something like below. Seems high on the cost of parts for T-belt/water pump/cam seal job. The low cost of parts on the CV axle job probably means aftermarket axles (yuck) . Shops like to replace CV's for leaking boots but often, they just need the clamps to be replaced. Steering rack seems right... if it really actually needs replacing. The shock one needs further explanation.

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AISIN timing belt kit $300. I'd use OEM timing belt and the tensioner if you don't do 12K a year. AISIN tensioner seems to leak 8+ years later. OEM toyota belt (TOYOTA is written on it) can last 15 years easily (have done that). Getting a used car without being ready to wrench can cost you a lot. Wish you were near!
 
Everything seems drastically overpriced except maybe the steering rack job. The TB and WP job seems to be about double of what it should be. If the front shocks are weeping that should be fixed by adjusting the torsion bars. If the front axles aren't making any noise then they probably just need new boots. If the steering rack is leaking then you can try some at-205 and that will buy you some time. All of this stuff you can learn to do yourself if you read through the forums. Otherwise owning one of these can get expensive. From the estimate this doesn't really sound like a toyota lexus specialty shop. It sounds more like a dealership.
 
jsloden said:
Everything seems drastically overpriced except maybe the steering rack job. The TB and WP job seems to be about double of what it should be. If the front shocks are weeping that should be fixed by adjusting the torsion bars. If the front axles aren't making any noise then they probably just need new boots. If the steering rack is leaking then you can try some at-205 and that will buy you some time. All of this stuff you can learn to do yourself if you read through the forums. Otherwise owning one of these can get expensive. From the estimate this doesn't really sound like a toyota lexus specialty shop. It sounds more like a dealership.
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It should be noted that the TB job includes doing a cam seal. That is an involved job in a VVT-i engine. And I hope the shop can be trusted to follow that procedure to an absolute T.
 
Rhetoric said:
It should be noted that the TB job includes doing a cam seal. That is an involved job in a VVT-i engine. And I hope the shop can be trusted to follow that procedure to an absolute T.
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You're right, I forgot about how involved the cam seals are on the vvti engines.
 
hoser said:
.. The low cost of parts on the CV axle job probably means aftermarket axles (yuck) . Shops like to replace CV's for leaking boots but often, they just need the clamps to be replaced. ..
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The Car Care nut did a recent video on this and agrees 100%. He was fairly adamant about NOT using aftermarket axles because they really suck, typically failing in short order. This applies to all IFS Toyota trucks. The 4Runner he was working on had 250K miles and he was just replacing the torn boot. At least, that was his intention. I stopped watching after he took out one of the axles.
 
I spoke with the mechanic. All Toyota OEM parts except the Axles. Y'all were correct, the boots are torn and it is throwing some grease. No issues with the current axles otherwise. I can do some of this work but I can't be without my truck for an extended period of time and having never done a steering rack I suspect If I am doing it in the evenings it could take a few to get it done. I can rent a car for work travel and have the repairs completed by the mechanic while I am out of town. Any suggestions for boot repair kit for the Axles? Are the kits any good? I am thinking about getting them to do the steering rack (OEM) and confirming the shocks need replacement before they do the work. I am just at the 90K mark for timing belt so I may wait a bit on that as the last one I changed at 130K.
Thanks for the input!
 
Otis1971 said:
I spoke with the mechanic. All Toyota OEM parts except the Axles. Y'all were correct, the boots are torn and it is throwing some grease. No issues with the current axles otherwise. I can do some of this work but I can't be without my truck for an extended period of time and having never done a steering rack I suspect If I am doing it in the evenings it could take a few to get it done. I can rent a car for work travel and have the repairs completed by the mechanic while I am out of town. Any suggestions for boot repair kit for the Axles? Are the kits any good? I am thinking about getting them to do the steering rack (OEM) and confirming the shocks need replacement before they do the work. I am just at the 90K mark for timing belt so I may wait a bit on that as the last one I changed at 130K.
Thanks for the input!
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Boot repair kit should be available from your Toyota dealer. Or here CV Boot Kit - Fits 1998 - 2007 100/470 Applications (FACV60120) - https://cruiserteq.com/cv-boot-kit-fits-1998-2007-100-470-applications-facv60120/
 
I can almost guarantee that you don't need "shocks". Get the pressures adjusted correctly and I can almost promise that they will stop leaking. The problem is that most shops, even "lexus and toyota specialty shops" don't know how to work on ahc. Read the abc's of ahc and work on it yourself. That is the only way you can guarantee that it's done correctly. Even if you get new "shocks" if the pressures are too high the new ones will also leak. Then the shop will play dumb and finally confess that they have no idea what they're doing when it comes to ahc. I would also want to know why they think you need a new steering rack. If they can actually show you where it's pouring fluid out of it then fine, but if it's barely weeping then try some at-205 and call it a day.
 
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jsloden said:
I can almost guarantee that you don't need "shocks". Get the pressures adjusted correctly and I can almost promise that they will stop leaking. The problem is that most shops, even "lexus and toyota specialty shops" don't know how to work on ahc. Read the abc's of ahc and work on it yourself. That is the only way you can guarantee that it's done correctly. Even if you get new "shocks" if the pressures are too high the new ones will also leak. Then the shop will play dumb and finally confess that they have no idea what they're doing when it comes to ahc. I would also want to know why they think you need a new steering rack. If they can actually show you where it's pouring fluid out of it then fine, but if it's barely weeping then try some at-205 and call it a day.
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This is the way.
 
If it is a Toyota specialty shop, they should know that any aftermarket CV is complete crap and not worth installing. Also, about half of the labor for repacking a wheel bearing overlaps with replacing a cv axle. Most shops don't even clean the old grease out of the hub when repacking bearings either, so thats about a 30 minute job tops. Both should be done at the same time as well. Other than that, its about average prices these days.

99+% of shops have no idea how to work on AHC and are not willing to learn how to properly diagnose the system. On the other hand, 99% of customers are not willing to pay for the work on a 20+ year old truck. Thats why so many people work on their own. Its not that complicated and pretty easy to work on, just takes some reading and research. Personally, I delete it every chance I get. Never had a customer miss it once they decide to get rid of it.
 
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