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Toyota Tacoma 1996 Complaint

Complaint about SUSPENSION : REAR : SPRINGS : LEAF SPRING ASSEMBLY : LEAF

KENT, WA

Consumer Complaint:
BAD REAR LEAF SPRINGS, CAUSING EXTREME INSTABILITY. VEHICLE: 1996 TOYOTA TACOMA 4X4 REGULAR CAB, REGULAR BED, 4CYLINDER. THE MIDDLE REAR LEAF SPRING HAS A TENDANCY TO BREAK, EVEN UNDER LIGHT LOADS.*AK ON MY TRUCK, THE DRIVER'S SIDE BROKE AT AROUND 100,000 MILES, THE PASSENGER SIDE BROKE AT ABOUT 110,000 MILES. THIS CREATED TWO PROBLEMS: 1) THE REAR OF THE TRUCK TENDS TO LEAVE THE GROUND ON EVEN SMALL BUMPS. 2) THERE IS LESS WEIGHT TOWARDS THE FRONT OF THE VEHICLE, CAUSING A SERIOUS DEGRADATION IN STEERING CONTROL. MY SPRINGS BROKE WITH NO LOAD, I HEARD IT HAPPEN EACH TIME. I CONTACTED A TOYOTA DEALERSHIP EXPECTING THERE IS SOME SORT OF RECALL ON THESE SPRINGS, THEY SAID NO, BUT THERE WAS A 'TECHNICAL BULLETIN' FOR REPLACEMENT OF THESE SPRINGS. TOYOTA WOULD NOT PAY FOR THE REPLACEMENT, EXCEPT IF UNDER WARRANTY. (MY WARRANTY EXPIRED AT 100,000 MILES) THEY WANTED $345 EACH SIDE, PLUS LABOR TO HAVE THE PROBLEM FIXED. THERE WAS NO WAY I COULD AFFORD IT. I DROVE AROUND WITH FOR A YEAR AND A HALF WITH A BROKEN LEAF SPRING ON EACH SIDE, WONDERING WHEN I WOULD GET IN A CRASH. HOW MANY OTHER TACOMA'S OUT THERE HAVE THIS SAME PROBLEM? MANY! I DID SOME RESEARCH INTO FIXING THE PROBLEM MYSELF. I CALLED A LOCAL TOYOTA REPAIR SHOP (NOT THE DEALERSHIP), THEY STATED THAT THIS IS A MAJOR AND VERY VERY COMMON PROBLEM WITH 1996 TACOMA'S, THAT I WAS THE FOURTH CALLER FOR THAT DAY ALONE ASKING ABOUT THE SPRINGS. DOING MORE RESEARCH ON THE INTERNET, I LEARNED ABOUT COUNTLESS CASES OF BOTH LEAF SPRINGS BREAKING, WITH AND WITHOUT A LOAD. THIS NEEDS TO BE A SAFETY RECALL BECAUSE THE SPRINGS ARE PRONE TO FAILURE AND THE VEHICLE IS EXTREMELY UNSTABLE WHEN THEY ARE BROKEN. I HAVE HIGH QUALITY DIGITAL PHOTO'S AVAILABLE, THE WEB SITE IS STILL BEING DEVELOPED HTTP://TACOMASPRINGS.HOME.COMCAST.NET EMAIL OR CALL, I CAN SEND OUT THE WHOLE CD, I HAVE MORE THAN 50 PHOTOS TOTAL, ALL TAKEN AT 3.1MEGPIXEL. OTAR@FASTERMAIL.COM THANK YOU. SEAN

Date of Incident:
20020309