I Went To The Lexus Dealer In Cherry Hill N.j. To Have The Drive Shaft And Controller Arms Replaced. It Only Took 3 Hours And I Was Out Of There. My Gx470 Is Riding Smoother Than Ever. I Noticed The Acceleration Is Much Better.

Chocolee
2003 Blue Meridian Gx470

 

The Acceleration Is Much Better because they disconnected the battery when they did the service.

 

When I was speaking to the technician, he said that the driveshaft was brand new. Not just brand new from the Factory, but brand new as in the most recently designed. Apparently there is a difference from the one I received vs. the ones they have been putting on all the prior TSB fixes. The one I received is the driveshaft they will be using from now on. I made a mistake when writing this, though: I should have written '07. Sorry for the confusion!

 

Did he explicitly say to you that this new one that will be used for now on is coming already installed on all new 08s?

Cheers

 

No. He said it was from the '07. Again, I apologize for the confusion.

 

Ok, now I am confuse

 

That is bizarre. I can only assume that some bean counter at Toyota has doen some sort of cost - benefit analysis and they've decided it's cheaper to do nothing and just fix the ones that people complain about. Maybe they've got 10,000 driveshafts sitting in a warehouse they need to use up Plus even though all the GX owners on this site are well aware of the problem and have gotten or will get the TSB done, I'm guessing that probably less then one tenth of one percent of GX owners ever come here.

 

Exactly... How many times have you been told "That's normal" or "That's the way it is with those" when complaining about something? I noticed an issue on my BMW way back... hard to replicate, hard to describe... the gas pedal (drive-by-wire) didn't "feel" right... Talked to my SA, claimed he never heard of such a problem... A little research on the Internet, found the TSB that explained it exactly... and the fix, which was to replace the gas pedal assembly... Unfortunately, it all boils down to $$$s, so if they can save some, as long as no one is "hurt", they'll do it...

 

This doesn't make sense since dealers are paid by the manufacturer for warranty repairs. It's part of their income stream........

 

Dealers make less from warranty repairs than they do for non-warranty repairs.

 

I was told that at a BMW dealer, they make 80% of book rate for a warranty repair... so, they would prefer to have their mechanics work on "Full Book" work versus warranty... another reason (in my observation) that warranty work is often handled by less experienced techs... they cost less...

 

The clunk does not harm anything as you guys are well aware. It can also keep you alert at a stop light I had a 2004 4runner SE that had it, just lube the driveshaft and it went away for awhile no big deal to me. I just bought a new 4runner Limited and I am sure it will have it. Just means its time to lube the driveshaft, its kind of like a maintance reminder

 

When the Clunk TSB parts were in shortage at the beginning, my dealer try to tell me the same thing. He said just lube the driveshaft when I change the oil. Then I show them him the TSB which is the more expensive and the permenent fix. In my opinion, is there is a fix for the clunk, I am going to do it before my warranty rans out. I feel bad for the folks with the 4runners, Toyota is not standing by them at all.

 

I've owned a 95 Landcruiser, 99 LC, 2004 4runner, and a 2004 LX470 and they all have the clunk. It is not a defect. If the GX now has a fix then you should get it if the clunk bothers you but it will never cause a mechanical problem. I would be concerned that the fix might be in some way less stout and in the long run cause a problem. I had 160K++ miles on my 95 and no problems.

 

You are right, the chunk will not cause a mechanical problem, but it is a dis-comfort problem in a otherwise very comfortable SUV.