I really can mangle anything . . . (1 Viewer)

[DSRTRDR]

it happened in normal highway driving at a bridge concrete expansion joint (not a bump at all) - HUGE "plonk" sound as if a brick had hit the sheet metal

the GX was multi-point inspected less than 500 miles ago by the dealer where it has been serviced its entire life - service advisor today said he had never seen or heard of this happening

hey, I really can mangle anything . . .

 

[Bluetribal]

It just sheared right off! :whoah:

 

[ChaseTruck]

She did something similar, a few years ago, in the FJ40.
But that was on Golden Spike, in Moab, where the ledges are a little bit bigger than on Hwy 87...

 

[JLee]

Time for an upgrade

 

[SIMKGX]

Yikes! Do you happen to have a spacer on the top of that strut?

 

[DSRTRDR]

no spacer

 

[orion]

That's nuts.

Could you take a pic of the break / the end of the shaft? Curious to know if there was any rust there (from a small, older crack maybe)...or if its all shiny.

Glad you were able to drive it to safety.

Time to upgrade / lift!

- Brian

 

[Moose545]

dang, is that a stock part? What mileage I'm curious, not that it matters

 

[ChaseTruck]

174k miles on the truck, didn't get a good look at the surface of the broken part.
I put the vehicle on a jack, and got the shaft to settle inboards next to the mounting bolt in a 'pocket' on the A-arm, installed a strap to hold the last winding of the coil down to the A-arm, and limped it to the dealership. Driving in that condition, I couldn't feel that there was anything wrong with the vehicle. Lexus dealer rep said they've never encountered a broken strut.

No upgrade/lift for this one, here'll be stock replacement struts left and right. We currently have enough lifted/locked vehicles on mud tires... we need the GX to be more street-friendly, to go skiing, and at most to run a dirt road.

 

[ToyotaDon]

Wow! I have seen a shock collapse in on itself at the dealership, but that was on a Tundra with spacer lift. It wasn't until after we'd replaced it under warranty that I figured out the lift without bump stop spacing was what caused the failure.

 

[half k cruiser]

I bet that drove like $hit without a strut supporting it.

 

[ChaseTruck]

I bet that drove like $hit without a strut supporting it.

Negative, nice and smooth, slight lean to the driver's side. The leftover 'pin' of the strut rested fairly solidly on the lower A-arm, in some sort of pocket about an inch deep. As far inboards as that was it would have taken a fair amount of articulation at the tire for that pin to come free. And Scottsdale streets are fairly smooth...

 

[DSRTRDR]

as posted on our AZ Copper State Cruiser's forum:

Toyota makes 'em - Claudia breaks 'em

Gosh you've never met a piece of steel ya caint break!