Heya Rip hows your FJ?

[GtoRA2]

I ran into  toyota forum that had a HUGE thread on the inner front fenders ripping, even on stock rigs.

They also mentioned roof leaks too.

This was the forum.


The number on the survey seem a bit low so you are prolly good though.

[Kaw1000]

You gotta be kidding me!!!! A Toyota that has a problem???? OMG I thought  Toyotas were bullet proof??? This should be front page news...A Toyota has a problem I'm just beside myself!!! This is one of the most amazing things I have ever heard!! Alert the Media!!!!!:rolleyes:

[Ripsnort]

Originally posted by GtoRA2
I ran into  toyota forum that had a HUGE thread on the inner front fenders ripping, even on stock rigs.

They also mentioned roof leaks too.

This was the forum.


The number on the survey seem a bit low so you are prolly good though.

Mine's fine. That's my buddie's truck who has a 150 lb. front bumper with a 75 lb. winch attached to it. I think he bangs his up pretty hard when we offroad, but thats my opinion. When I go over a big *** rock or gulley I go slowly, he hits his pretty hard over same rock/gulley.

I'm willing to bet alot of these guys with problems are pushing their rigs pretty hard. About half of our 4x4 meets involve over half the group being newbies with their frst 4x4 rig (FJ)

At least its an internal body rip...could be worse, like a frame tear, etc.

Here is a very good summary by Marc, an avid offroad guy that teaches offroading:

Well it was a looong nights reading but the short story is this.The issue is not with the frame but with the inner fenders in the area of the crumple zones.Most of the vehicles in question appear to be from out west and the affected vehicles have been used for dessert off roading /rock crawling.

The later production vehicles made after 1/07 have inner fenders that were made by a different sub contractor but Toyota has said that is of no consequence.One contributing factor according to many of the posters may be that the tires rub on the inner fender if the entire suspension travel is used and the tire grabs the inner fender and torques it.No definitive cause has as yet been identified.

Toyota has a factory sponsered off road team and some of the FJ Cruiser forum members went to an event and asked them to check the the inner fender . Sure enough they were "ripped"!
Toyota is repairing a couple of the vehicles in question and a TSB(technical service bulletin) or a recall is expected depending on what they determine is the cause.Some of the owners have filed a complaint with the NTSB but have not heard back as of yet.

The interesting part of the whole thing is that none of the affected vehicles have reported bulges in the fenders or fitment problems with the doors or hood etc. After reading over 100 pages of posts concerning this issue I get the feeling that these "off road enthusiasts" are doing some really weird ***** with these vehicles.There is also a certain ammount of paranoia in the posts as it has become known that Toyota is monitoring the thread.

I just checked my FJ and am relieved to have found no rips, bulges or deformities of any kind on my inner fenders .My vehicle is used strictly for the beach and has at present 3000 miles. It is stone stock except for the removal of the rear seat and the addition of a brush guard,lights and an after market roof rack.
Any other FJ owners out there? Please take a look at your inner fenders and let us know if they are bulged or cracked.
Marc

[trax1]

GtoRA2 what did you have in your sig that Skuzzy said (don't do that again)?

[GtoRA2]

Thats good to hear Rip, I didn't read the whole 100 plus page thread. I did find it interesting that some dealers are giving people with the issue a hard time. I gues a bad dealer is a bad dealer and it doesnt mater if they sell Toyotas or Jeeps since I hear stories like that from Jeep people too.



Trax1
The Original qoute was from Straffo and went something like "SO by your reasoning, we were wrong for blowing the germans in WW2"

So my Sig said,  Finnaly a french man admits it with the qoute. ( he meant blowing them up as french resistance but you can't let a slip like that go!)


The I got dinged for more then 5 lines in my sig, so I changed it to "I guess no more stories about Frenchmen blowing germans in WW2?" as my sig.