Pretty disappointed in how rusted my Toytec Ultimate Suspension is

[nb rob]

Why not? His first responses went unheeded?

And Toytec is saying he's wrong, which is phony. Nothing wrong thus far in the situation.

You go find me a set of 9 month old Toytecs that look worse, from the vast vaults of Google. I'll wait.

well, I believe they're made by sway-a-way....

Not sure on the ages of these.

You'll see the same with the other manufacturers.

They're simply not made for salted roads.

 

[Thomasdan]

Wow, that looks bad.

9 months to rust even after the OP stated he'd washed it with water. Giving the OP the benefit of the doubt that he's giving all of us all the info.

First, I wouldn't call myself an off road enthusiast. Not even close. If, I spent 1800 on shocks/coilovers/UCAs. I wouldn't even think to do maintenance after "9 MONTHS". If I had it longer than it would cross my mind that I would need to do something. If maintenance instruction was provided with the order.. knowing myself, I would check every month to see if it's properly maintain.

Second, We use this forum to help us learn and make decision on our 4 runner. I've spent countless hours reading on what tires and wheels, what suspension, what this and what that to do to my 4 runner. And at times, I count on other forum members past experience to help make my decisions.
I Wouldn't say that I will not buy anything from Toytec since I know a few people running the same suspension without issue. I'm sure in the long run.. TOYTEC will lose business over this. If I ran across this thread, it would make me second guess before purchase. My, point.. and my opinion.. This is not extortion.

BUT IM FROM CALIFORNIA.. SO I KNOW NOTHING.

 

[Bumbo]

It’s not hard to keep the shocks pristine and shiny all the time, all you need is an entire race team to remove them from the truck every time it’s used and clean them.

Pretty sure that works, because I’ve never seen rust on BJ Baldwins shocks…

 

[ryslegit]

Basic vehicle maintenance would have kept them from rusting.

If you add aftermarket adjustable coilovers you are a vehicle enthusiast and should know better than to think aftermarket parts require zero maintenance or will be as trouble-free as OEM. Do more research and stop expecting people to take care of your truck.

A company should,to an extent, take appropriate measures to prevent this type of corrosion. This is a product that will be exposed to harsh conditions so it should be expected to have protect coating/plating, otherwise leave a disclaimer. As OP has claimed this has been on the truck for sub 9 months and is unacceptable. Coating or replacing parts [to prevent this] the moment the product is received should not fall on the owner nor is it basic vehicle maintenance, at this point you are completing a product to it's general expectations which the company should have done in the first place...


This is coming from someone who has worked in the automotive industry where we make sure customer service and quality is #1.

 

[Trixx]

Interestingly, nowhere on Toytecs instructions: https://www.toyteclifts.com/images/stories/pdf_files/10upfj4r.pdf

Or anywhere on their site (granted I only spent 5 minutes looking in obvious locations) do I see ANYTHING related to necessary maintenance to keep the suspension from looking like garbage in a short period.

Yet, they have no problem coming in here discussing how “obvious and important” additional maintenance to prevent insanely excessive rust should be.

If it’s so important and seemingly obvious? Why not give some direction to their customers to perform this maintenance and the importance of it?

Edit* found something under their warranty section. Gives absolutely no specifics or direction though lol.

 

[crazi160]

Contact me if you ever have an issue and I will help you get it resolved.
[email protected]

That was the original route I went through for the replacement bulb. I ended up paying 5 dollars for shipping for a replacement bulb and after that, I decided it was better to just get replacement bulbs from Amazon as they were cheap and I would at least be getting a pair of bulbs instead of one.

 

[BlacknTan]

A lot of aftermarket parts are just plain junk. They look nice when new, but steel, in particular is usually not prepared properly to last for any length of time... It's all in the preparation!
This is an awful lot of corrosion for nine months, though. Toytec has (had?) a good name, and I would expect something forthcoming from them if I was the OP...
If I was Toytec, which I am not, I would offer the OP something to make him feel a little bit better. A vendor's goodwill is a valuable commodity, much too valuable to give up for short money.

And, I have no dog in this fight...

I bet the new Fox suspensions on the upcoming Pro's will not look like that in 9 months time. Why?? Because Toyota has to back it up..

 

[Throwback]

Good point. Do the current PRO Bilsteins with remote resis on the rear ever look like that?

 

[honda250xtitan]

To be fair, adjusting any preload on the coilover will remove any protective coating that may or may not be present. Or if it was applied before the adjustment collar was installed. But yea it still looks pretty bad. like my sh1t didn't look that bad after a winter in chicago. and they were used SwayAways....and rusting SAWS is a well documented issue

 

[BlacknTan]

Good point. Do the current PRO Bilsteins with remote resis on the rear ever look like that?

My 6112/5160's have been on more than two years and they look NOTHING like that! I've been very happy with that setup!

 

[e60ral]

We don't normally buy American steel that needs to be machined or CNC torch cut either... too many inclusions and air bubbles. Anything over 1/2" plate is Japanese only in most cases unless it's not available. The cost bump is small compared to the reject rate. Doesn't mean it's all bad. Just that it's bad enough often enough to not be worth the risk.

I was going to comment that 100% of the time I've seen steel rejected it's been American manufactured

Sent from my SM-G930V using Tapatalk

 

[e60ral]

Why are offroad coilovers not anodized? I don't have experience with them on trucks, but on cars I never had a rust issue and they were always anodized including the fittings.

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[rayofsi]

Why are offroad coilovers not anodized? I don't have experience with them on trucks, but on cars I never had a rust issue and they were always anodized including the fittings.

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they aren't aluminum.

 

[wfo9]

they aren't aluminum.

Parts of them are.. and I think that is why they look so bad. Classic galvanic corrosion. Not a good combination when constantly in contact with an electrolyte.

Basic take away... buy a high quality full aluminum body coil over and maintain the stuff if you live in an area where cars and trucks typically rust away. Those environments are just brutal on vehicles. I wold never touch a used vehicle from those areas. Rarely does the older stuff even exist in those environments... unless it was garage kept.

 

[rayofsi]

Parts of them are.. and I think that is why they look so bad. Classic galvanic corrosion. Not a good combination when constantly in contact with an electrolyte.

Basic take away... buy a high quality full aluminum body coil over and maintain the stuff if you live in an area where cars and trucks typically rust away. Those environments are just brutal on vehicles. I wold never touch a used vehicle from those areas. Rarely does the older stuff even exist in those environments... unless it was garage kept.

just playing google metallurgist, but steel and aluminum are right next to each other in the anodic index, and shouldn't cause corrosion like this.

 

[Jetboy]

TRD Pro fox components are all anodized aluminum. No OEM would ever sell uncoated steel.

Fox Factory Series shocks (the common 2.5 coilovers you buy aftermarket) are zinc plated and clear coated. They do tend to rust some in the threads. Mine have some surface rust. Mostly in the threads. Hardware is all stainless.

Steel shock bodies are used for a reason - steel is stronger than aluminum. So the wall thickness is less and you have more volume for oil and larger pistons, etc. It also expands less with heat. Steel isn't used because it's cheap. It has certain material properties that make it better for some applications. But Aluminum alloys are probably just as good if manufactured correctly and engineered well. The primary compromise being less volume in the body due to wall thickness.

 

[1996_Valencia_Owen]

My question about grounding never got answered.

Electrolysis can be accelerated by bad grounding, after things like battery mods/light additions, etc. Curious to know if some current is running through the truck causing this.

 

[Jetboy]

My question about grounding never got answered.

Electrolysis can be accelerated by bad grounding, after things like battery mods/light additions, etc. Curious to know if some current is running through the truck causing this.

Shouldn't be any meaningful electricity running through the shocks. Both ends are insulated by the bearings that have PTFE liners. And they attach to control arms that are insulated with rubber bushings. Now - if you put a few magnets on the wheels... could get some induced flow around the suspension parts.

 

[Thomasdan]

I know this thread was about OP vs Toytec.

But this thread is actually very informative. I've actually learn a few things.

This thread vs "will these tires rub" all day long.

Cheers

 

[wfo9]

Steel shock bodies are used for a reason - steel is stronger than aluminum. So the wall thickness is less and you have more volume for oil and larger pistons, etc. It also expands less with heat. Steel isn't used because it's cheap. It has certain material properties that make it better for some applications. But Aluminum alloys are probably just as good if manufactured correctly and engineered well. The primary compromise being less volume in the body due to wall thickness.

I guess some of them still use a steel body for the shock (but with a lot of heat and other treating)... But for the res and other components.. I can't imagine anything but aluminum. A steel remote res is just being cheap. The heat dissipation alone would