Stealership is right....
But, as a heads up: there is no charge for recall work at dealerships as far as I know, I think Toyota takes the bill for labor and parts.

The recalled part is a steering relay rod that is found on 94-95 4runners. Look in your Chilton's manual it will show exactly what part it is. I have an appointment for mine to be replaced by Toyota on Monday, and I'm hoping they'll look at the rest of my front end as well. I've got 3 broken bolts that hold the sway bar brackets to the frame, and one of the brackets is bent as well....need to fix that myself before the expensive Toyota techs try to do it for me and charge me a lot of money for it.

 

Ummm - dude, did you read all 17 pages of this thread?

 

Ah, give it a rest. Stealership? But who comes a running with his hand out for a freebie from the dealership? I suspect its a rusted pile being from Alaska and now in Florida and I doubt a dealership tech would even want to work on it. I know I'd just estimate it so high, you'd decline. Might be the reason you think dealers charge too much? All along, they did it so (estimated high) they wouldnt have to work on it. We get lots of these old relay rod rigs on now, some are still nice, some are piles.

 

The dealership charges way too much for parts. That's a fact. The dealership charges a premium for labor, also a fact; but the labor charges are still fair. There is a shop around here that does good work, but I'm here to tell you their labor charges are identical to what the dealership quotes.

But there are options; you don't have to do business with the dealership. I have been bent over by a Dodge dealer hard, so I know what it is to get f@$*#d by someone.

The problem is, even independent shops will screw you on the price of parts & labor etc. & they may or may not know what the hell they are doing! In the end you're stuck with it no matter how bad they screw it up.

At least with the dealership you get a well trained tech (99% of the time) who is going to do it by the book & the dealership will stand behind their work (again 99% of the time).

I say do all the work yourself that you are capable of doing, if you run into something that you can't do, shop around - sometimes you'll find that the dealership is your best option for quality work.

I'm no dealership mouth piece but, other than the ridiculous cost of parts they do good work at a price comparable to other trustworthy shops & you know it's done right the vast majority of the time, there will always be those few that don't but that's not the norm.

 

Thanks for the kind words regarding dealers. But I'm here to tell you, the parts (and I mean common items, ie brakes, belts, plug wires, basically all the stuff the DIYr is after) is very competitive. Take for example a set of plug wires. I have found cheaper aftermarkets. But the Toyota ones will literally last 3 times as long, but doesnt even cost twice as much. And you wont leave the guys from the end on the plug when you pull the wire off the plug. But that said, many parts for Toyota that arent the common items are spendy.

 

[QUOTE=toyota_mdt_tech;50478328]Ah, give it a rest. Stealership? But who comes a running with his hand out for a freebie from the dealership? QUOTE]

I think the majority of us were more concerned with safety than a freebie from the dealership. I know mine wasn't "free". They got plenty of time and money from me when they did mine and I know I am not alone on that one. I am now more informed and know that I can rebuild my idler arm for 15 bucks. I know many of the dealerships are very well run, but Toy of SLO is not and they know they can jack there prices up, because the nearest dealership is almost an hour away. I am not bagging on all dealers and I appreciate all the help that you give on here.

 

Well, I appreciate the kind words. I was upset, a new guy, 10 post deep, comes in bashing dealers and their techs, this forum is full of those dealer techs and he wants free advise from the same people he calls theives. It does wear on one.

Now on your idler arm., you mentioned it "wasnt free", I can assume you had additional work done then? Maybe the idler arm replaced? I see you mentioned it can be overhauled. But for warranty reasons and effeceincy, its not a fix a tech will usually do. But fine for the do it yourselfer. In the end, the owner has say as to what should be replaced. And a tech that sees something, is obligated to tell you. He isnt trying to "squeeze" more $$$, just doing his job. Imagine if he didnt mention a failing idler arm, or didnt give you an opportunity to fix it, you drive away, it snaps, you veer into oncoming traffic. Now you are OK, but a lawyer working for your insurance company is looking for someone else to foot the bill, sees the dealership and thinks "deep pocket", you know where I'm going with this.

 

I didn't pay attention to his post count, I could see where that could rub you the wrong way. I do see where you are going with this, which is why I don't like that you have to deal with a desk jockey and not the tech working on your vehicle. I know now that I need to talk directly to the tech working and to ask to see the failed parts. In my case, I was too busy and uninformed and paid for new idler and pitman without actually going to see for myself what was going on. On top of that, they said they could not do a full alignment without those replaced, and I would get an alignment once those were replaced. When I picked up the vehicle and asked why my caster and camber were still out of wack, they said they don't do alignments on lifted vehicles. BS! They sell new Taco's on the lot that they themselves lifted, and they are trying to tell me that they can't align a lifted vehicle. So do they just throw lift kits on new tacos and sell them hoping they drive straight down the road. So, I understand what you are saying, but at the same time we have to deal through a middle man who can tell you whatever he wants and I think in my case, my safety was the least of their concerns. Oh yeah, this was when it only had 75,000 miles on it and had only been offroad a few times. My steering was definately not trashed nor rusty. Up till then it was a garaged grocery getter for a rich lady in Santa Barbara. I now know to skip the desk jockey and try to talk to the tech actually working on my vehicle. From what I have seen, the techs have been very helpful (like you) but the dang desk jockeys are a PITA.

 

Chris. The idler arm and pitman arm being lose (and this is common, especially with large oversize tires to wear these out) can not set toe with these parts being worn. Now as for not aligning it. Well, that is BS. We'd attempt it. In some cases, the camber or caster isnt obtainable as the eccentrics wont go as far as needed. But one doesnt know this until they try. To just blindly assume it cant be done is silly.

 

I took my 1990 pickup in for the recall anyway I can't see what if anything was replaced. Does anyone know for sure which rod the are talking about?

 

The recall covers the relay rod replacement

 

The Relay Rod was replaced.

 

I recieved the Campaign letter in the mail. However I don't own the vehicle anymore, so DMV is supposed to let Toyota and the owner know about this?

 

I don't think so. What the new owner needs to do is call the Toyota 800 number and let them know that they are the new owner of the vehicle. Plus, the guy can probably find a recall list on the vehicle. OR you could tell the guy.

 

Yeah the DMV isn't obliged to keep track of who currently owns the vehicle to ensure they get any recall notices. The new owner is responsible for investigating all that his or her self. I agree with Keggo, if you know who owns the vehicle now you could give them a heads up & inform them about how to keep track of future concerns.

 

Just had the Relay Rod recall done here in Australia - no worries...

I had recently done a lot of work to my vehicle (brakes, stabiliser bar, bearings, idler arm) so I knew the front-end was looking good....

I spoke to the Service Manager in advance to see how much he knew about the recall, and to let him know that I knew what I was talking about (thanks Yotatech )
Got an appointment the next business day, they still had some relay rods in stock, and I asked that they save a print-out of the wheel alignment results.

All went well... they advised me that "you just have to watch the timing chains on these vehicles" (duh! but I appreciate the thought ), complimentary wash (we're in a drought over here) and the vehicle feels noticeably nicer on the road - I think they even tightened up my clutch and throttle - both feel much better.

...and of course, Toyota's customer service meant they brought my vehicle up to the front door for me! haha, they probably just want my timing chain job

 

hey, I just bought a 1900 4door last weekend. would i be able to get this recall? anyone had any experience with this in Ontario, Canada? thanks.

 

Call your local dealer & give them the VIN #, they can tell you if it's eligible.

 

I just bought a 94 SR5 X-Cab and noticed that when I am stopped, wheel turned to full lock, and then I accelerate and straighten the wheel, i get a "pop!" from the front end. I'm assuming it's associated with the recall; anyone know if this is the issue that is resolved with the recall? Thanks!

 

I dont even think a relay rod had been invented back in 1900!