girlcrazy_4

I called up the dealership and they said there is a recall for my truck and it would take 2.5hrs. The recall is for a "steering link replacement" What part are they replacing exactly? Will they need to give my truck an alignment after this? I feel bad doing a recall on a $500 truck but i'm always up for free parts

This is what i found
Recall Date:
SEP 06, 2005

Model Affected:
1990 TOYOTA 4RUNNER

Summary:
ON CERTAIN PICKUP TRUCKS AND SPORT UTILITY VEHICLES, IF THE STEERING WHEEL IS REPEATEDLY TURNED UNDER CERTAIN CONDITIONS WHERE HIGH STEERING EFFORT AND POWER ASSIST ARE REQUIRED, FOR INSTANCE, WHEN FULLY TURNING THE WHEEL WHILE THE VEHICLE IS STOPPED, A FATIGUE CRACK MAY DEVELOP IN THE STEERING RELAY ROD.

Consequence:
IF THE VEHICLE IS CONTINUED TO BE OPERATED IN THIS CONDITION, THE RELAY ROD MAY FRACTURE, INCREASING THE RISK OF A CRASH.

Remedy:
DEALERS WILL REPLACE THE STEERING RELAY ROD. THE RECALL BEGAN OCTOBER 5, 2005. OWNERS MAY CONTACT TOYOTA AT 1-800-331-4331.

Potential Units Affected:
977839

Notes:
TOYOTA MOTOR NORTH AMERICA, INC. 50N

scuba

In all honesty you answered your own question...

Remedy:
DEALERS WILL REPLACE THE STEERING RELAY ROD

I dont THINK you should have to do an alignment.
someone else will chime in on that, if not, Might be worth stepping near the shop doors and asking a tech if your going to need to GO GET an alignment.
Or hell maybe even the service desk guy..
But half the time they dont know, they just have business degrees.

/Me ranting.

GSGALLANT

They do a partial alignment for free after the replacement to check the toe only. The tie rods are attached to the relay rod.

ozziesironmanoffroad

do the dealers still honor the recall on the '88 pickups with the fuel line recall? and someone was tellin me my truck has recalls for the master cylinder, brake lines, fuel lines. i was doin research and all i could find was the fuel line recall... sorry for the hijack...

girlcrazy_4

Nice, looks like my recall is still valid. I'll post back in 2 weeks once its done and see if I actually get my toe fixed

tc

There's a HUGE thread in the 86-95 forum explaining ABSOLUTELY EVERYTHING about this recall. What they will and will not do, etc.

It's stickied at the very top, hard to miss.

desertcox05

i had my 89 truck done last year. not only did they replace the relay rod but they also replaced the tie rod ends. and the previously stated alignment which i'm not sure was on the money but the tires was almost gone anyway, when i get the new skins i'll just get a fresh alignment anyway

RelayRod

Not everything. It barely scratches the surface.

tc

Ummm ... the actual recall instructions to the dealers from Toyota are included, stating EXACTLY what they will do and how they will do it ... there are a number of accounts of what alarms to put up at the dealer you go to ... there are a number of accounts of how to get your pitman arm, idler arm, and tie rods covered, and a number of other things ... way more than scratching the surface.

girlcrazy_4

so... how do I get my tie-rods covered?

Bigblock

They didn't align mine.Said it wasn't required.So I did it myself,I am the only one that gives a about my truck!It was out.
Bigblock

tc

Basically, hope the dealership wants to do you right, and if not, go to Toyota USA... see the stickied thread for the details of my experience with it.

89OldBlue

They will replace it and do anything necessary to make sure that you are ready to go, or at least my awesome dealer did. I was in and out in one hour and, well, didn't notice that they did anything, but like you said, always good to get new parts.

b/s rules

they recalled both my 91 and 94. they aligned the 94 for me while it was there (no charge) but you should have seen the look on their faces when i rolled in with my 91 after the sas was already done. they thought i put a 3rd gen. body on a 2nd gen. chassis.

girlcrazy_4

Seems that my visit didnt go so well. They had it for 2hrs which was great, courtesy drive home and back afterwards. When I got the truck back I went for a drive and it pulled HARD to the right. I had the wheel about 45degrees turned to the left to drive in a strait line. I went back and the service advisor told me it was my fault and that there is no possible way that his tech could have messed anything up. Finally... he offered to send it to an alignment shop as they dont have a machine. Walk outside for one final look and I noticed the cotterpins for the crown-nuts wherent bent over; but just sitting there.

Jay351

When I had the re-call done I was told my wheel bearings, idler arm and tie rods (they were seized) needed to be replaced, and asked if I wanted to pay them to do the work (no friggen thank you).

All I got was the relay rod, and it took them all day to do it..

tc

Too bad you didn't read the sticky thread - you could have got an idler and tie rods for free.

girlcrazy_4

toyota canada sucks (N)

girlcrazy_4

Went to an alignment shop today and they tried telling that there was no possible way to align my truck as everything would be siezed and the idler and pitman werent good enough. All I wanted was for the toe to be set... I brought it home and used a tape measure and its better than any shop would do.
What they forgot to do
http://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b2...s/IMG00280.jpg
http://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b2...s/IMG00281.jpg

GVOLCRunner

This is a good time to talk about the economy. Toyota has a pretty liberal policy on this stuff, hell I had a dealer tell me they still honor the headgasket recall. Mines never had it done, so something to remember..

BUT, as the economy gets worse. Toyota N/America is down at last estimate 34 percent, your going to see them get stingy. They have to. So you may see them start to put a SERIOUS time limit on recalls. Every recall repair they do is the company OUT money, usually they didnt care. Its great press, toyota builds reliable stuff but when an flaw is found they fix it..thats all paid for at the backend by new car sales..their bread and butter. As thats dried up I bet you, your going to see them get really stingy.

So I guess my point is, I wouldnt wait around if you want a recall done. You might start to notice that the dealers are less likley to give extras..like I got a Full alignment when I had my steering corrected. As toyota proper stops reimbursing for everything.