Disaster..A cautionary tale..involves..beer..blood and King shocks!!
 

Ok so back in July on my Limited this year I got in my set of Kings shocks. Got full adjustable all the bits..plus extra stickers..

So in the past Ive owned mostly sports cars. I have done several coilover installs on Audis and some Acuras. All went well.....

Now onto the King install! Ok started late day on a Saturday. I had booked a few days off work..to fully enjoy the time turning some wrenches and having some fun...

Saturday came, started by removing the XREAs system. The check valve bolts were frozen..no joy there :mmph:. So said **** it and went onwards..with trusty number one tool..

The industrial bolt cutter...:hail:

A few snips here and there, safe application of a catch towel and drain box..all is well. Removed rear shocks, springs etc.all good. Installed rear Kings all looking fine... I was feeling pretty awesome right now..so I had some beer..then had some more beer..then fluid filmed the rears and myself in the face..perhaps this was an omen? No matter... time for bed.

Got up the next morning. It still sitting nicely on 8 lift stands . Had breakfast..felt alittle off so figured...why not start late afternoon.

Late afternoon after a few beers turned into just after dinner. No worries I thought..we got a plan..we got the tools..its gonna be a piece of cake

Removed the stock front struts. All good. Now time for the install of the King coilovers. I had an appointment at Toyota the following morning for an alignment..to celebrate great victory!!

Front struts off no problem. Reservoir brackets all good..now onto the Kings!!

Ok at this point first step after some general shitt..was to remove the tie rods so I had side clearance to insert coilover. Did I mention it was not like 9pm? No worries..cause its going well..real well!!!

Got to the tie rods. Went to my trusty tie rod puller kit..hmm it appears when I lent it to my buddy last year...it never came back!!! Ugh I had forgotten.. anyhow tried various other things to pop it out..all worthless..

So I said, maybe Ill macgyver it and find a new way to make it fit..cause you know..metal like shrinks right? :shrug:

At this point figured needed some clearance. So I took out knuckle bolts. I securely put two stands under hub and arm to hold it all. Tied off rotor so it wouldnt flop... ahahh we gonna win here....

Now everything is good. I have a couple of beers..while viewing my automotive success..feeling smug in my install..laughing at those fools who said..you must take out tie rod..year sure kid..:rolleyes:

Now onto the install of the coilover. I was wearing a set of Mechanix armoured gloves, the kind with plastic armour on finger and back of hands..ahha I am unstoppable!!!

So I am installing the coilover enjoying my handiwork...then what can only be described as really ****inn bad luck mixed with... a healthy dose of retardation strikes like lighthing (not not real lighting but it was a cloudy day):pop2:

Any guesses what happened next? No ?

Yes I dropped the coilover from height. It landed on my index finger which it pinned against the tie rod. Finger was totally pinned. The pain was solid...I cry..like Nancy Kerrigan..Why cant I skate again my knee!!! Whore****ars!!!:Cry:

Yes now my hand and finger are bent at wrong angle pinned under parts. I leaned forward on reflex to get free. Yeehaw... my knee took out the support stand..as I pulled back my hand I hit the cords supporting hub... Yes sir.. the hub flopped forward smacking me now in the face..:mmph:. Got hand free. With other hand pulled out body parts. Now hub hanging like a tree in the mirror so the car dont smell.

So I say..****e this. At this point did I mention even withe armoured gloves I had broken my finger? :cheer2: Finger went instantly black..puffed up and I had to take glove off. Couldnt do much work.. I reinstalled xreas front struts..just to hold up the truck. was a battle with bad hand..took hours more than should have..but got them back in.

so I called toyota roadside assistance. Truck was half in and half out of garage on driveway. I was unable to get knuckle bolts back in. So next morning early am tow truck comes..with a flatbed. I tell the driver hey guy, I gotta take a pee..you wait here and lets use your winch and just pull it up on flatbed..it aint driveable and parts are lose I tell him. Buddy at this point is parked not behind my truck for a pull but rather just in front of driveway. He is like year sure hurry up.

I am gone maybe 1 min in house. Come back out and buddy rather than you know...bringing the flatbed into the driveway figures why not drive the runner to the flatbed..cause you know when I said it was all loose and not driveable..that like meant hey baja tonight right? :doh:

I see him driving down the driveway and he makes a quick turn while backing up... you know it!!

Axle which I thought may have been lose...snapped as he was turning the wheel...no matter axles are cheap..live and learn right?

Then he doubled down with the broken axle and tried to drive it forward..I guess he really didnt like his winch.. yup.. I heard it and almost puked.

The faint ticky ticky noise of sweet lovely low mileage gears in grinding into oblivion... Yes sir the differential was toast :Cry::mad:

At least now its on the flatbed..wrong. Buddy said he didnt want no more of this and left. I got another trucker..from a salvage yard. He came and put wheel dollies under all corners and off to the dealer we go.

I get to dealer..they are like man this is bad..but hey its your lucky day and the differential is in stock and so are the axles. We get it fixed in a few days.. Im like ok and go get rental. :drama:

That was in July... apparently Toyota Canada distribution network has totally failed. The truck now up on the hoist and unmovable at the dealers.. now sits..and sits..

So after almost 2 months I get Toyota to pay for the rental, which previously I had paid for. A few weeks later the parts came in and it was fixed.

So lets recap the cost of the install...that was suppose to be my summer vacation and a quick way to save some cash!!! :loco:

Cost to fix truck

New differential
New axles
Other bits
Alignment
Install front Kings

Cost was around $4100. I spent around $2000 on the rental. :rip:

Got it back yesterday. :shocked:


I still have a hunk of bone chip moving around in my finger. So thats my story of total epic failure...of a legendary level..:hungry:

Truck is back, Kings look great. I stuck to the basics last night..and just cleaned the dash.... baby steps for now :target::naughty:

Hows everybody else's day? :sadwave:

haha!! :third:

:ranger::ranger:
:smashputer::smashputer:
:eek: Wowza, talk about a series of unfortunate events... :eek:
At least now they are installed and you are back up and running? :mmph:

WTF? It was Toyota's roadside assistance that did that to your truck and you still had to pay for the diff and axles? I know you Canadians are supposed to be renowned for your restraint and good will, but that's a lot of coin to pony up after someone ignored your instructions. I wouldn't have paid a dime to Toyota for that debacle.

How's the finger?

I was going to click "like" on your post but that just seemed wrong.
Reading that I literally got sick to my stomach. Sorry for you pain but glad you're back up and running

Finger no longer black! I can bend it..occasionally the bone chip moves around and my finger feels not good!! :censored:

Truck is driving fine now. Minor 0.5 inch off on drivers side that needs to come up. Alignment numbers are good.

Yeah they used Mineral grade 75w90 in the box. Refused usual factory synthetic. Likely ok but I may do more periodic flushes.

Anybody try the Redline 75w90 in the front and rear diffs?

I was debating for abit on posting this whole thread..as it is what it is..but figured its both educational..and mostly entertaining so theres that.

As for the tow truck driver? He basically got outta of there at lightspeed..almost heard the flatbed do a burnout..almost lol.

I really wanted to pick up a solid piece of hickory and give a full shampoo to all around.. but it is what it is..the restraint..came close to failure

Now its fixed :bounce:

The tow truck driver left because he knows he is liable for messing up your truck. He, or his company should be paying for much of your bill.

This is Canada. Harder to sue than US. He would like claim he was acting in good faith. Would be more expensive in legal fees to recoup the money. Typically court with a lawyer and aid runs around $3500 per day in court. Alternative is to go small claims court, but its really iffy on this sort of thing. No point spending $5k to get $4k back. Its not common for judge to assign plaintiffs legal fees to defendant..so its a crap-shoot. I viewed it as more money...for nothing.

Wait. You mean to tell me my fingers aren't invincible in these Mechanix gloves? What a rip off!

I believe the hit was so hard that without the glove I would have had extensive bleeding and far worse damage. But I can type again..so hey theres that!! :frusty:

Holy Sh*t!! Just an onslaught of horrors, one after the next.... :scared: I would have had that tow drivers HEAD for blowing the diff and axles after not listening to my instructions!!

Well all things considered Im glad the ordeal is behind you (aside from nomadic bone frags).

I busted out laughing at the "so I cleaned the dash" baby step. :pound:

I am never gonna cry about a bad day or luck ever again. I've had some tough times in my single car garage climbing underneath these trucks I have a misguided love affair with, but NOTHING like your weekend. Hope your truck and finger are working well. Ummm Good luck, hopefully for the next couple years in your case.

Ive had so much adversary over the last 15 years or so..that this doesnt even rate. :playball:

Couldve been worse.

Bro..the dash..is looking good. Tomorrow I install new dash cam. :crutch:

Lesson to be learned....

Don't drink beer while wrenching. Drink beer AFTER it is all buttoned up.