Surf 4runner recall

[IcedJohnno]

Although this is a Surf thread I have recently heard of a Hilux with a similar problem.

As I understand it the guy was backing his 89 Hilux into his driveway and the Pitman arm snapped in half!!!!!!!!!!!! This vehicle has been regularly maintained and never driven off-road by the current owner who has had it for years. Perhaps the lux got upset and decided to sulk

Anyway looks like this should be a warning to Hilux owners, you would NOT want this to happen at any sort of speed!

I have wanted to look at the offending part to see if there is any sign of a long, over time, fatigue style crack or whether the arm is brittle and just snapped but have not yet had a chance to see it. The guy is a mate of one of my work collegues who is currently on holiday.

From what his Toyo mechanic said there are about three differing steering designs in 89 so he wanted photos to get the correct replacement part ordered.

Has anyone else heard of issues with the solid axle Hilux steering?

cheers John

[SupraLux]

The J-arm on the solid axle Hiluxes is a weak point when abused - they do crack through where the 4 studs lock them down onto the knuckle... especially when they've been lifted...

Any pics of the breakage? I've never heard of the Pitman arm going, they are pretty beefy...

Steve

[IcedJohnno]

Not yet but I have been trying to get my work collegue to bring the components in. As I said earlier he's on holiday for another week. If I can get to see the bits I will post photos and my failure analysis.

This vehicle has definately not been lifted, abused nor even mildly 4byed. Just used for towing a trailer.

[tallsam66]

Sorry to say but the guy at Manawatu Toyota is rather underestimating the number of vehicles involved.
According to the official recall information from Toyota the total number of vehicles involved is 230561 world wide.