According to my mechanic the folks who flatbed towed my GX470 managed to damage the rear suspension. The air springs sit on a bracket that is welded to the rear axle housing. One of those brackets is bent. According to the mechanic working on the car, he can bend it back in place and then weld in some 1/4" steel plate to reinforce it (the guy builds and runs dirt track cars I think...so he knows what he's doing in this regard). He thinks he can seat a new air spring on it and make it all work correctly...maybe.

However, my cousin who is a Master Certified Lexus Tech says no way...once those brackets are bent there's no going back...your air springs will NEVER seat properly and even if they do you'll have problems in the future. He says the proper fix is to replace the axle housing or swap the entire rear end from a donor (salvage) vehicle. All because of a bent bracket!

Holy #$@% a few days ago I had a wonderful almost 200K mile original owner (that's me) GX470 in absolutely pristine condition that just needed an alternator. Now I'm looking at a huge ($3K?) repair bill and a fight with the towing company.

Is bending the bracket back and welding in the 1/4" steel plate to support it idea viable at all? My wife is the primary driver of this vehicle. If the suspension fails in the future I don't want her stuck (or worse) by the side of the road somewhere. Also when the GX470 hit 250K miles I was planning to make it my toy (2" lift and other goodies).

Any thoughts from the crew here?

I really cannot see how this happened other than the tow. I trust my mechanic and I know I didn't do it because I don't go off road (this is our family car), didn't run over anything and there nothing else damaged in the same general area (brake line, wiring etc is in tact). Also according to my cousin at Lexus it would be pretty much impossible for a driver to damage this part without there being other massive damage to the axle...only a tow truck could cause it.

Help me guys...I'm meeting the rep from the tow co tommorrow with my mechanic. Can post pics if it helps. Urrrgh!

 

Lol, bend the bracket straight, reinforce it (if it's even needed) and go on your way. Your cousin is crazy. This all without seeing the bracket, but I find it hard to believe it would be unrepirable, especially with how guys weld shock hoops in for long travel suspension, it's not like those guys need to replace the frames in their trucks. (And I'm also a tech, but for Infiniti)

 

Cheap option is to bend it back and see if the suspension still works. Replacement could still happen.

Make sure the tow company knows you reserve the right to file a claim if this repair doesn't work.

Chip H.

(anticipating their reply: "Our drivers are highly trained and wouldn't have done that")

 

Thx for the input guys. This really sucks. We've taken such good care of this truck over the years.

 

Ordering this from Metal Tech:

http://www.metaltech4x4.com/p-1546-g...plete-kit.aspx

Will use stock ride height springs for now. When the truck transitions from my wife to me I'll be all set to add Metal Tech's Stage 1 lift kit.

Questions:

1 - Am I ordering the right part?

2 - This set up will be much more forgiving of the bent back into place mounting bracket/seat on the axle right? I've talked to a few guys who have said there is a low likelihood that a new airbag will seat perfectly on the bent bracket, and even if it does initially work it may fail later.

3 - Will there be any negative impact on ride quality. This is my wife's daily driver for commuting round trip 80 miles.

4 - Using this conversion kit sets me up for being able to install a 2" lift kit in the future...meaning I would need these parts anyway right?

Thanks for all your help to the mods and members here...I've been here before lurking and day dreaming about lifting the GX. Just cannot do it right now.

 

Do some research on here. I have not done this yet but but I have read that stock 4runner springs are not appropriate for the rear of this vehicle and people have been using parts like Moog's fj cruiser rear springs with good results.

 

I've received input that FJC Trail Team springs ride great and provide a 1"+ lift. Have decided to try those.

 

Sounds like a winner.

 

Don't be scared when you install them and you have 2.5" of lift. They will quickly settle and level out at about an inch of lift. Forgot to mention that on Mud.