Dealership woes...

[mosha20]

I took it back to the dealership this morning and demanded they untighten the lugs and properly rotate my tires and then properly hand torque them to specs. After much debate with the service guy about hand torqueing (which I have always done and never had an issue with), they finally complied. Once again a mechanic complained that the spare tire carrier didn't go down all the way, even though you can still get it off. It took an hour and a half after they brought my car in and up on the lift (apparently it is very difficult for them to hand tighten). Overall, very frustrating experience and I would not recommend Woburn Toyota to anyone because of the aggrivation, but I am relieved that there were no further issues and now my tires are rotated and sitting properly. Thanks everyone for your advice and suggestions, I appreciate it.

-Mike

 

[scottm]

apparently it is very difficult for them to hand tighten

You would've cut that time in half if you'd written "righty-tighty" on the wrench.

So you have no idea if the lugs were stretched, cracked, cross-threaded? Hope you don't find out the hard way. Overtightened lugnuts are a classic mechanical engineering college problem, illustrating the many hazards of what seems like a simple error with a simple fix.

 

[mosha20]

You would've cut that time in half if you'd written "righty-tighty" on the wrench.

So you have no idea if the lugs were stretched, cracked, cross-threaded? Hope you don't find out the hard way. Overtightened lugnuts are a classic mechanical engineering college problem, illustrating the many hazards of what seems like a simple error with a simple fix.

I don't, for some reason they were saying they don't allow customers in the work area. I told them I wanted to inspect them but they weren't having it. I think I will double check their work this weekend, hopefully everything is alright though.

Thanks again for the help.

 

[TechWrench]

I'll start by explaining how my question came about. Being that it is cold out and I had a 10% off coupon, I decided not to change my oil and bring it to the stealership, long story short $30 turned into alot more including new front rotors, pads and calipers. I digress...I also wanted them to do a 5 tire rotation. They call me and say my spare tire carrier is broken and they can't get the spare off to rotate, but they do a 4 tire rotation.

Couple days past, I decide to see what's going on with tire carrier....I get the spare off in no time. So whatever, I then proceed on rotating it to my front passenger side. I don't know if it was because it was cold or the lugs were over torqued but I can't get them off. I use a 5 ft. steel rod for leverage, nothing. So my questions are:

1. Does everyone's spare tire carrier only go down about 1.5-2 ft? I had no problem getting the spare on and off, so I don't understand why they couldn't do it.

2. Does anyone have any tricks on getting overtighten lug nuts off? I refuse to bring it back to the dealership and give them any more money.

Sorry for the long post, any tips or ideas will help greatly. Thanks.


-Mike

On my '03, the spare tire lift cable always went all the way to the ground, until after about 4 years, the cable developed a kink, and frayed. Then I had trouble getting it to go all the way down. I tried pulling the cable out by hand, and straightening the kink and trimming the frayed cable ends, and I got another year out of it. I eventually replaced the lift unit with a new one from Partznet, which cost about 150.00 total. It is a b&$ch to change the lift because of the way it is mounted. There are 6 nut/bolts that hold the unit on the crossmember, and there is very little room to work on the top side. I finally had to cut all six bolts off and install the new lift with new ones. I did check the new lift, and as I recall, the cable was able to extend about 4 feet, so unless you have a HUGE lift kit, the oem unit should reach the ground if the cable isn't a problem in the mechanism.

 

[Uneek]

Glad you got it all sorted out.

At stock height, the spare tire winch should touch the ground and some. I can put the spare with the hub opening under the hitch and have extra slack to work with.

The wheel studs are pretty fragile and it doesn't take much to snap them.

 

[mosha20]

On my '03, the spare tire lift cable always went all the way to the ground, until after about 4 years, the cable developed a kink, and frayed. Then I had trouble getting it to go all the way down. I tried pulling the cable out by hand, and straightening the kink and trimming the frayed cable ends, and I got another year out of it. I eventually replaced the lift unit with a new one from Partznet, which cost about 150.00 total. It is a b&$ch to change the lift because of the way it is mounted. There are 6 nut/bolts that hold the unit on the crossmember, and there is very little room to work on the top side. I finally had to cut all six bolts off and install the new lift with new ones. I did check the new lift, and as I recall, the cable was able to extend about 4 feet, so unless you have a HUGE lift kit, the oem unit should reach the ground if the cable isn't a problem in the mechanism.

Ya I think there is a kink or something in mine, but it really doesn't bother me too much. Maybe eventually I will try and fix it somehow but for right now I can get it off with some manuevering so I'm not too worried about it.

Glad you got it all sorted out.

At stock height, the spare tire winch should touch the ground and some. I can put the spare with the hub opening under the hitch and have extra slack to work with.

The wheel studs are pretty fragile and it doesn't take much to snap them.

I am too, even after the aggrivation of being there yesterday. I only rotate every 5k so maybe 4-5 times a year, I can deal with that for right now...although it would be much easier with slack, but oh well.