lifting whole vehicle from fuel tank skid plate

[criera]

lifting whole vehicle from fuel tank skid plate ok?

ok guys, need your thoughts here. i took my ride to les schwabb tires to have them mount my winter tires. When they pulled it in to the bay, they didnt use floor jacks but a lift with a big plate that didnt really work for the mfgr lift points. They ended up lifting it by the fuel tank skid plate on one side and about 2 inches of the frame on the other side, because it was uneven the whole truck sat crooked tilting to the side by what looked like 4-6". I knew this would not be a good place to lift by and the manager i complained to had a bit of a short and bothered attitude and said they do it like that all the time. we went back and forth for a few minutes and he kept saying its ok, they do it all the time, i shouldnt be concerned. He told me there was nothing they could doat that point cuz it was already in the air and the wheels were off and asked me what i wanted them to do. i told the guy i didnt see that i had any choice and began to walk away and the guy says with attitude that the ball's in my court. Unbelievable (to me) I watched them lower it and when they did it looked like the skid plate flexed back to normal position on the front end by about 1/4" in or so but i didnt take measurements or anything so i suppose i could have just imagined it. So please tell me guys, am i being unreasonable here? is there any damage now or going forward that i should be concerned about? at the end of the day im pretty sure the skid plate isnt designed to bear the weight of the whole vehicle but i dont know if i have unreasonable expectations and maybe im just making something out of nothing. Here are a couple pics, the last pic didnt really come out but you could kind of see how off it was on the other side. the lift plate barely touched the frame but the angle was so off that it almost touched the body outside the frame if that makes sense. i appreciate anybodys feedback they might have to offer, even if its to tell me to chill. oh yeah, before i left i asked the guy since he looked at it after i complained, "since you stand by your assertion that its ok, you would do it that way again?" he replied that yes he would.

Thanks
Chris

 

[criera]

thanks for the reply boo. Yeah i hear what you're saying. Basically Im pretty sure it was a 3 point lift. Because the fuel skid was the lowest contact point on the rear left quadrant, the whole car tilted forward and towards the passenger side. The contact i could see on the front was the crossmember you pointed out on the left and the right front had a couple inches contact along the side frame rail. in the back it looked like the entire weight of the vehicle rear was on the front part of the fuel skid. while they lowered it it looked like the front part of the skid from that mount bracket forward flexed back down by about 1/4". I had a quick look and it didnt appear that the skid gave way into the tank at all and the bracket there didnt seem to give way, but obviously i need a closer inspection. infact im nearly inclined to tackle removing the skid so i can understand the structure of it and inspect the tank. that blurry picture is the passenger side front/rear door seam. its a bad photo but gives you an idea of how the the car is pitching front right. even though the body looks close to the plate, its actually touching the bottom of the side frame rail which is several inches below the bottom of the body. another customer even asked me if that was my ride sitting all crooked on that rack. they didnt think that looked right either. Im guessing everythings prob ok but i swear if anybody tried to hurt my baby... i mean i would step in front of a bus for her you know what i mean?

 

[criera]

and so i guess what im kinda lookin for here is that beyond any major catastrophic failure that obviously did not occur, should i be concerned about or look for anything in particular, Im not at this point familiar with the structure of how the skid mounts and whats underneath it, and second, confirmation or otherwise that these guys were out of line lifting it like that?

I guess i should point out too that when i nailed the guy down at the end and asked if he would do it like that again, he did say that "in a pinch" he would do it again.

Les Schwabb is a regional tire store pretty big in the pacific nw. This weekend we might get our first snow and these and other stores are crazy busy with a million people trying to get their tires changed over. Ive had bad experience with them in the past and the only reason i went today is because my preferred store had a line out the door and probably couldntt even get to me today and i was there early too. I didnt have a ride so whatever i did, i was gonna have to stay for the duration so Les promised only 2 hour or less wait (took 4 hrs btw) so i chose them.

Thats why im not quite sure if im predisposed to be upset with them or if they really did mistreat my girl. I saw them driving other customers cars all day faster then safe on the premises and on 3 occasions i saw them spinning the wheels a little bit, not full on broadies but more then chirps. New tires with studs too. I camped out at the back of the store for a while so that part is not customer facing and normally not visible to the public

 

[downpour11]

I lived in Salem for 12 years and I've taken my old 4runner to a les schuab and hated their customer service plus I ended up waiting wayyy too long for... i dont even remember, an alignment or an oil change or something. Never went back. I know you are in Portland, but I always took my 4runner to Cascade Auto/4x4 in Salem. It's on 12th & Madrona area... great place, ask for Ryan if you ever get work done there. Plus, they don't have those sketchy lifts lol.

 

[Mr. Leary]

Lifting on the stock tank skid is a bad idea and should not be done. While I don't think you have to worry about a catastrophic failure, I think your fuel capacity just got smaller. Pull the skid plate off. If the tank is dented in ask them to replace it. If they don't, drag their @$$ through the mud on every occassion and on every internet forum you frequent. Businesses with stupid "mechanics" and crooked managers need to be starved into extinction.

 

[brian2sun]

Doesn't everybody do that?

Yeah, I would pull the skid off (5 bolts) like Leary said and see if the tank is dented. Les Schwabb Jr. is a jackass.

 

[Deceptiwave]

I live in Vancouver and only deal with Les Schwab when everyone else is closed and its 3 am and I have to get that damn flat tire fixed...
And what tires did you get put on? Is your runner not 4x4? For me, I cant wait for the snow around here so I can do driving in it

 

[topdown4runner]

My first concern would be the fuel pump / fuel level sending unit which sits at the front of the tank. If the front of the tank was pushed up into the floor pan of the truck, those items may have been damaged.
The access door is under the carpet. I think you can access it by removing the drivers side rear seat bottom, and pulling the carpet up. You might be able to see if the connnectors are damaged there.

I would def. pull the skid, and maybe the whole tank.
I think they just f***ed up big time.

Take lots of CLEAR pictures to document the damage.

 

[Mr. Leary]

My first concern would be the fuel pump / fuel level sending unit which sits at the front of the tank. If the front of the tank was pushed up into the floor pan of the truck, those items may have been damaged.
The access door is under the carpet. I think you can access it by removing the drivers side rear seat bottom, and pulling the carpet up. You might be able to see if the connnectors are damaged there.

I would def. pull the skid, and maybe the whole tank.
I think they just f***ed up big time.

Take lots of CLEAR pictures to document the damage.

Good points. OP Do you have a body lift? If you do, you may have bought your sending unit some "crunch space," so to speak. Otherwise, you should definitely check this soon as a problem with this unit could leave you stranded.

 

[criera]

thanks for all the input everybody. never even would have thought about the fuel pump. It looks like i might not have a chance to tackle the skid plate removal until thursday. Its dark when i go to work and its dark when i get off, i dont have anywhere indoors so its outside, dont think i want to tackle the inspection in the dark. regarding Les Schwabb, ive had pretty bad experiences there before and i already fired them twice (i really really mean it this time), so i should have known better. I went to Americas tire Co., the other big chain store here in the NW and by 9am saturday when i got there, they already had all appts booked and 40+ walkins already ahead of me. And this was by 9 when they opened at 8. No line at schwabb and they promised a 2 hr wait, it actually took over 4 but fool me once, you know the rest. Point is i was desperate, but should have known better. Next time ill take it to slim shady on MLK and prob get better service. Couple answers, no body lift, just 3" susp. and the tires i was putting on were some studded snow tires i got a real good deal off craigs. my other tires were just about toast so i had to do something with a quickness. and yes, 4wd too, so suffice it to say, im really looking forward to the snow, bring it!

Thanks again for all the help, you guys rock! Ill post up what i find out a little later after i get a chance to give it a proper inspection.

 

[downpour11]

hey there are good shops off MLK... in the area of OMSI... thats where I think of when I hear MLK. It's an industrial part of town I'm sure you can find a good mechanic there.

 

[Deceptiwave]

Hey man if you wann hook up and go snow runnin let me know! I usually play up on Larch Mt in Vancouver, but I have been out to Browns camp a couple times

 

[criera]

update: because of inclement weather here business is real slow so i had a chance to give her a good look over. Doesnt appear any damage was done. Ill consider myself lucky on that. Never knew about the access door under the rear driver seat (thank you topdown) I was able have a good look inbetween the tank and the body pan, no compression there. So here is what i learned from this:

1: Les Schwabb sucks, I cant believe the manager was so little that he coudlnt own their mistake and actually told me they would lift it that way again. Well guess what, no you wont lift it that way again, not mine anyways becuase they will never touch my ride again! their incompetence for a large chain store is baffling, and clearly they can not be trusted to do even the most basic job. That and in a crunch time, they would rather make money then take the time to ensure a job is done properly.

2: t4r.org and its members rock. we have strength in numbers and everybody's input is appreciated

3. perhaps this is my gods way of telling me i should pull the trigger on some bud-built skid plates. this is a sign right? its not just me?

Deceptiwave, id love to get out in the snow with you. I have a couple other friends with runners and we have just started to get out and adventure. Only been to browns so far but im not afraid of WA. I do need to replace an axle though, i have a torn cv boot that ive been putting off fixing. I should probably get that done before planning too many trips but let me know when you get out again. Hopefully we will have better snow next time, this one just turned into an icy mess.

 

[brian2sun]

3. perhaps this is my gods way of telling me i should pull the trigger on some bud-built skid plates. this is a sign right? its not just me?

Don't forget a Lil Skip's gas tank skid. Then you wouldn't have even had to check the tank...
Lil' Skip's Offroad

BTW, I've got full BudBuilts and the Lil Skip's tank skid and they are great! No worrying about my undecarriage ever again.

 

[99runnerwa]

i have banged up my fuel skid plate plenty of times and havnt had any failures, maybe lost some volume but nothing overly bad. could deffinitly use a sturdier skid on it though. i would agree that a company that cuts corners like that doesnt deserve peoples money. if you are interested in a beefed up axle, look into CVJ axles. they are made in colorado if i remember correctly, and they build them stronger

 

[Gerdo]

if you are interested in a beefed up axle, look into CVJ axles. they are made in colorado if i remember correctly, and they build them stronger

We have been playing with some new internals and shafts for the CVJ axles. There may be some significant strength improvements.

 

[FoneRunner]

Don't forget a Lil Skip's gas tank skid. Then you wouldn't have even had to check the tank...
Lil' Skip's Offroad

BTW, I've got full BudBuilts and the Lil Skip's tank skid and they are great! No worrying about my undecarriage ever again.

X2 :bigok:

 

[Gerdo]

X2 :bigok:

Thanks guys!

 

[FoneRunner]

When they see this Lil' Skip's sticker on your rig, they won't even try messing with you!

 

[criera]

When they see this Lil' Skip's sticker on your rig, they won't even try messing with you!

Too funny. Yeah, i knew about the bud builts, already had them on "the list." Didnt know bout lil skips skid though. List just got bigger. From the sounds of it though, maybe all i need is the sticker?