I recently had i 275/70s and a Toyota leveling kit installed by a local Toyota dealership. Once I received my car back I noticed a clanky noise when coming to a stop or accelerating from a complete stop. I took it back to the dealership and notified them of the noise. They looked it over and said it was something in the steering yoke and it was normal. The Land Cruiser is a 2016 with a 145k. I brought the car back this week and now they are saying they need to replace the upper and lower control arms along with the axle. Has anyone experienced a situation like this. If I would have known this from the beginning I would have did a full suspension lift with new control arms. They estimate the repair at 2,500. I Live in Oklahoma City and would love a third party opinion/estimate.
Leveling kit problems.
- Thread starter MWM
- Start date
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By "leveling kit" I assume you mean the 3/8" spacers, which add ~3/4" up front.
I had this installed for a bit and there was no noise. Either something is loose or misaligned. Climb underneath and take a bunch of pics of your suspension and post here.
I had this installed for a bit and there was no noise. Either something is loose or misaligned. Climb underneath and take a bunch of pics of your suspension and post here.
Bottom line for me is that you took in a one of the most robust and reliable vehicles on the road to a dealership for relatively minor work that is well within spec for the vehicle. They did the work and made no mention of any problems. Stock UCAs are fine for what, up to 2-2.5 inches of lift? You return with a complaint that they dismiss or misdiagnose and when you return again you have a $2500 repair?
Does the clunk happen when going over a speed bump a little to fast? Mine did that when I left out a spring spacer on an OME lift.
CharlieS
GOLD Star
Can you please be more specific about what you are calling a "leveling kit"? People use that term with different meanings. It'll help us give you better ideas.
Do you mean these spacers:
If so, your dealer did something very wrong. I've installed them myself, and they just space the strut housing down a tiny amount. You don't even have to remove the spring from the strut. My guess is that something was likely left loose.
Do you mean these spacers:
If so, your dealer did something very wrong. I've installed them myself, and they just space the strut housing down a tiny amount. You don't even have to remove the spring from the strut. My guess is that something was likely left loose.
Last edited:
CharlieS
GOLD Star
Perfect. Thanks.
They messed something up on the install. It literally sits between the stock strut/shock top mount and where it mounts to the vehicle frame. To put it on, you need to remove the shock/strut assembly, put the spacer on top, and then reinstall it. There is nothing to it.
That being said, they'd have to do everything you'd do to remove a shock/strut assembly. They could have easily failed to install nuts/bolts, tighten nuts/bolts, or properly torque nut/bolts.
Leaving the front sway bar link disconnected, or not torquing the mounting bolt properly so it falls out, will make a clanking noise when it hits the strut body. That happened to me when I didn't final torque the swaybar link mount bolt to the LCA, and it fell out.
They messed something up on the install. It literally sits between the stock strut/shock top mount and where it mounts to the vehicle frame. To put it on, you need to remove the shock/strut assembly, put the spacer on top, and then reinstall it. There is nothing to it.
That being said, they'd have to do everything you'd do to remove a shock/strut assembly. They could have easily failed to install nuts/bolts, tighten nuts/bolts, or properly torque nut/bolts.
Leaving the front sway bar link disconnected, or not torquing the mounting bolt properly so it falls out, will make a clanking noise when it hits the strut body. That happened to me when I didn't final torque the swaybar link mount bolt to the LCA, and it fell out.
CV?
What I'm thinking too. Common area to mess up when installing coilovers.
What was it? Sounds like the same iissue I'm having after installing a 1 inch ome suspension on a 08 lc. I even installed upper and lower control arms with new links and sway bar bushings. All oem toyota. Can't figure this noise out? Dealer said I needed rotors and pads. Go figure?
